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sleeperblues

Wind Chimes

sleeperblues
9 years ago

So DH was so excited to give me this HUGE set of wind chimes for Christmas. When I opened them in the kitchen they were deafening when they clanked together, almost like a church organ. He was so excited and giddy about the present (??) but I did say something to the effect of "boy, those are loud". He kept saying they won't be when they are outside. Well guess what, they are and they are driving me crazy! The neighbors are either side are seasonal so they are not around to be irritated, but we do have neighbors across the street and 2 doors down but he is an old man and hopefully hard of hearing! It probably doesn't help that I have had a headache for 2 days now, hopefully not getting sick.
But it's a windy, windy day today. Oh joy.

Comments (64)

  • Jasdip
    9 years ago

    I'm in the "no-like" camp. The continuous chiming when I hear them drives me bonkers. I'm sensitive to noise anyway, I like the radio on for background music, not to listen closely to the music. Unless a favourite song comes on, then it gets cranked up.

  • Fun2BHere
    9 years ago

    I love the sound of tuned wind chimes...for about 30 seconds. I like quiet. It's amazing how much ambient noise exists with all of the building systems and office equipment humming and buzzing. The last thing I want to do is add another layer of sound.

  • sleeperblues
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    I found a large rubber band and put it around the chimes, then I tucked the clanker thingy in. Silence! I didn't realize how on edge they were making me!

  • ravencajun Zone 8b TX
    9 years ago

    I have one large set out back under the eaves that does not get a lot of wind but will definitely chime in a heavy wind. I asked my neighbor if she was bothered by them and she said no she loves them and has several of her own around her back porch and patio. I can't hear hers so I was not sure she could hear mine. She said if the wind is right she can hear them a little.
    I have some small ones in the atrium but generally they don't chime they are just for looks they are very pretty with stained glass and glass balls. The atrium does not get much wind inside to make them chime.
    My husband loves them and really would love to have one of the giant wooden gong tuned ones. I told him he was not going to spend that much money on chimes.

  • dedtired
    9 years ago

    I have new neighbors. One of the first things they did was put wind chimes in a tree in the backyard. They drive me nuts. I really feel like they infringe on my personal space. So far it has been winter and I only have to listen to them while going in and out. When the winter winds get blowing, they jangle like crazy. Once spring comes and I can open my bedroom windows, I will be hearing them day and night. Same when I sit on my patio.

    Wind chimes are fine if the only person hearing them is you. It isn't fair to put them up and force the neighbors to hear them too. That unending jangle makes me nuts. I feel like going over and yanking them down. The house is a rental and I know they will not be there very long (they are looking for a house to buy), so I hope they take their chimes along with them. I like the sound of birds and the wind in the trees. I don't need artificial additions.

  • sheilajoyce_gw
    9 years ago

    I dislike them. They are noise to me.

  • redcurls
    9 years ago

    I have a couple of wind chimes that I enjoy, but they are kinda quiet and tinkley (sp?). I once had a set similar to what you describe. I use earplugs at. night, so I never heard them when I was in bed. My DH, on the other hand, got so annoyed at the darn things one particular night that he got up, went out back, got out a ladder, and took them down in the middle of the.night. We never put them back up again. We laugh now and then when we see big ones displayed in the Wild Bird store.

  • FlamingO in AR
    9 years ago

    If I had a nearby neighbor who hung windchimes up and I didn't feel like I could ask them to take them down or move them farther away from my house, I'd be shooting at them with my slingshot, trying to knock them down. Or I'd sneak over and steal the clapper thing. That would drive me insane.

    :)

  • joyfulguy
    9 years ago

    Another use for ...

    ... duct tape!

    o j, O.K?

  • murraysmom Zone 6a OH
    9 years ago

    Gosh, I am really in the minority here. I have a set of Corinthian wind chimes that I bought at a home and garden show one year. I love them. I have them hanging right outside the family room door. I can hear them right now actually. But unless it is really windy, they are just a gentle tinkling. I also have a set that is glass and that is a much higher pitched tinkle. I do bring that in if high winds are expected.

    My chimes are not near my neighbors' bedroom windows so I don't think they are annoyed. I will have to ask. LOL They have been there for probably at least 7 years, so I would hope they would have said something if it was a problem.

    Of course maybe they cut me slack on the wind chimes because they have noisy children and I have never complained about them. LOL

  • susanjf_gw
    9 years ago

    we have a huge set but hang from under the fish pond cover so we rarely hear them...I too, have set inside the house but they never chime...more for the good luck they're supposed to bring?

  • katlan
    9 years ago

    I love windchimes. I have two. They are beautiful. My sister had the huge cathedral sounding ones, I will admit they were loud, and I loved them. I would love to have a honkin' set, haha.

    I don't like the little dinky ones that sound tin-y (sp?)

    I think you guys are right, you either like them or you don't.

  • donnakt_gw
    9 years ago

    I have some but where I live you can't use them..it could be we are near a golf course and you know golfers don't like extra noise around when the are playing.

  • emma
    9 years ago

    There is someone in our neighbor with loud wind chimes. They hung close to their neighbor's bedroom. He put up with it for awhile, then got up in the middle of the night and laid them on the deck table. Their neighbors took the hint. I would not put up with anything like that. Good neighbors would not do that.

    I bought a very expensive pair of binoculars at Gander Mt and got 2 $50 gift certificates free. I looked all through the store and could not find anything I wanted until I saw 3 ft long wind chimes. I got those and hung them in the window well. The wind can not reach them in the hole, but if a burglar tries to lift the 2X2 covers, they will get a noisy shock. LOL

  • FlamingO in AR
    9 years ago

    I'm confused Emma, which neighbor misbehaved? The one who hung the noisy windchimes near someone's bedroom or the sleep deprived neighbor who took them down and placed them (without twisting them into a pretzel shape, LOL) on a table?

    ;)

  • PKponder TX Z7B
    9 years ago

    I am in the 'loves windchimes' camp.
    I find the sound relaxing and peaceful. I do need to check with my new neighbors, but all of the older neighbors are good with them.

    We saw these amazing wind chimes made from old oxygen tanks at the Victoria Educational Garden. It took a really strong wind to make these chime, the sound was low and mellow .

    This post was edited by pkponder on Fri, Jan 30, 15 at 17:23

  • rob333 (zone 7b)
    9 years ago

    How close together does eveyrone live to their neighbors that they can hear their chimes? I can't hear my neighbors (I'd love to!), so I am wondering. We share one driveway and I don't hear them. Their chimes are literally 10 feet away from my bedroom door. I had my hearing checked recently and I'm in normal ranges. I'm surprised others can hear their neighbors' chimes!

  • blfenton
    9 years ago

    Count me in the can't stand wind chimes category. My MIL gave us some for a house warming gift 25 years ago and they are still in the box. Actually I think I managed to get them into recycling at one point.

    After a number of times of being asked where they were I finally told her I can't stand unnecessary noise. I really can't.

  • FlamingO in AR
    9 years ago

    Fortunately, our nearest neighbors are about a mile away. The only thing I hear out here are their cows mooing waaaaay down the hill, or other animal noises like coyotes or birds. When we lived on FL though, everyone had 1/4 acre lots and you could hear everything and see it, too, if people didn't put up window treatments. I glanced out my BR window once just to get mooned by the unknowing woman next door. Eeeeesh.

  • redcurls
    9 years ago

    Sometimes sound really carries. In the still of the night, I can hear a train on the tracks over a mile away when my windows are open. (I love the sound.). I have never heard it in the daytime.

  • OklaMoni
    9 years ago

    I love wind chimes! Have one hanging out front, and one out back.... but on one of my bike rides I saw the BIGGEST one ever, and of course, had to get off the bike, and make noise! :)

    {{gwi:2135086}}

  • joyfulguy
    9 years ago

    Hi Susanjf ...

    ... it seems to me that when you have some in the house that remain silent ...

    ... you either blow on 'em yourself occasionally ...

    ... or invite neighbours in who have a reputation for being windbags.

    o j

  • PKponder TX Z7B
    9 years ago

    I love those OklaMoni!

  • emma
    9 years ago

    Flamingo, I don't know who did wrong, I just know the noisy neighbor took the hint. The guy didn't throw them away or anything. If it had gone face to face it might not have turned out so well.

    We had a feral rooster turn up in our neighborhood one time and it woke me at daybreak and it annoyed me. Later I got used to it and liked it.

    On one of my trips to Africa I was sleeping in a tent and when we got up we were asked what we wanted for breakfast. I said I want that bird that squawked all night. LOL

  • chisue
    9 years ago

    I don't like them, and I wouldn't hesitate to tell a neighbor to stop forcing me to stay indoors to avoid hearing them.

    I enjoy hearing the sounds of nature: The wind in the trees, birds and animals calling, the bees buzzing, etc. I enjoy hearing the voices of children at play -- at a little distance.

  • emma
    9 years ago

    chisue, I miss the sound of children playing more than anything. My neighbor's grand kids used to visit them and I sat by the window and watched them run and play. If their parents had seen me they probably would have thought I was a weirdo.

  • ascanga09
    7 years ago

    I was given a set of very beautiful wind chimes as a gift when my sister passed away a few months ago at the age of 36. They have her name and a beautiful poem on them. I really wanted to hang them up because they would remind me of my sister when I heard them. My wonderful husband reminded me before I did that I can't stand the sound of them constantly chiming. I figured I would at least put them up to see how bad it was. First I text my neighbor and told her to please let me know if they get annoying and I will take them down. (I will not force someone else to lose their mind over wind chimes. Lol) So my husband officially won! I couldn't take it anymore and went outside at 1am to take them down. Does anyone know if I fill the tubes with silicone if they will be quite? I don't want to take the middle string out or the thing that hangs from the bottom because that is where my sisters name and the poem are. I really want to keep them displayed as they really are a beautiful gift and a way to think of my sister but I can't stand the noise anymore!!!

  • Elizabeth
    7 years ago

    I absolutely hate them. I call it noise for the sake of noise. I had a neighbor years ago who's house was only rarely occupied as a summer home. She put up a big clanging set of wind chimes in a tree near the property line. They bothered me all day and sure enough, they were near my bedroom window so they kept me awake. I once went and took them down and laid them on the ground. ( I know...not nice ) and I had peace and quiet for months.

  • lucillle
    7 years ago
    last modified: 7 years ago

    I have a collection of wind chimes. Most are indoors because there is a species of small wasp that builds their nests in them if they are outside. I just reach up and flick them when I want to hear them. My grand baby loves hearing them.

    I am grateful that I still have enough hearing left to listen to them, I think their sound is beautiful. I don't know how long I'll be able to hear them.

  • Annie Deighnaugh
    7 years ago

    Yes if you fill them with expanding foam, they won't chime any more. Or, if you want to keep the middle part, there's usually a clapper that does the actual ringing by striking the chimes and then below that the fin that catches the wind. If you remove the clapper part but keep the fin, they won't ring but will look just as nice. And at some future time, should you move to a less windy place, you could put the clapper back and they'll still work. Or you can shorten the clapper so it's closer to the top...the closer to the top, the more wind it will need to ring.

    The other alternative is to keep it up as is and you'll find in a couple of days, you won't hear it any more...or at least not so often.

    We have a number of antique clocks that chime and we basically don't hear them any more unless we pay attention.

  • sleeperblues
    Original Author
    7 years ago

    I forgot all about this! Whoever dredged this old thread up, thank you, ha ha. We couldn't have the wind chimes at our lake home because it is so windy here, so we moved them to our other home and DH hung them on the side of the garage that doesn't get too windy, but near the front porch so if you're sitting out there you can hear them clang softly. I love them when they are slightly clanging, and they don't get the full brunt of any wind so they don't go crazy anymore.

  • hooked123
    7 years ago

    We have set downstairs and can't ever hear them anywhere in the house. I may need to move them where more wind can hit them.

  • bossyvossy
    7 years ago
    last modified: 7 years ago

    @PKPonder, DH built a very similar to one you posted which lives in east TX. It is very windy there and a neighbor can hear it 1 mile away. Says they enjoy them. I love wind chimes but do not like the cheap ones with their tin sounds.

    we have 2 cathedral ones in our regular home but not windy so not much music going on.

  • Debby
    7 years ago
    last modified: 7 years ago

    I LOVE my windchime!!! I have the one in the link below. It's hanging outside in front of my living room window. I bought it on Prime Day on Amazon. It makes a beautiful sound. I would never hang a chime in the house. I prefer them outside near a window or door.https://www.amazon.ca/Woodstock-Chimes-Amazing-Grace-Medium/dp/B00026W5UK/ref=sr_1_7?s=lawn-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1484060264&sr=1-7

    If you want a quiet one that's very cheaply made and not at all like it appears in the description, get this one: https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B00WTTDO76/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1 I was so disappointed in it. The picture of it sideways with the review is mine. :)

  • caflowerluver
    7 years ago

    I would have several wind chimes if DH would let me, but he doesn't like them so only have one. It is in a place where the wind doesn't blow much so hardly ever hear them.

    We are on 2.5 acres so if my neighbors hear them, they are a distant sound. One neighbor has a weird one that just makes two notes, Ding Dong, all day. That is annoying. Another has at least 3 and only hear them when I walk down our driveway by their property. One of them makes beautiful sounds and I will just stand there and listen when I go get the mail.

    The wind chimes I hate are the wooden bamboo ones. I hate the sound they make. It sounds like bones hitting each other. Not that I know what that sounds like, but what I imagine it would sound like.

  • nickel_kg
    7 years ago

    ascanga09, is there a place inside you could hang the chimes? Perhaps where you could visually enjoy them, and where you could occasionally reach out to "give voice" to your sister's memory?

    If I had a set of chimes I liked, I'd hang them near my laundry area. I'd have a reason to smile when loading/unloading the wash! I don't mean that idea to be disrespectful to your sister, but to give you maybe a little laugh.

  • bossyvossy
    7 years ago

    I don't like the glass ones typically sold at Asian markets. Don't like the bamboo ones either.

  • littlebug zone 5 Missouri
    7 years ago

    Ascanga, how about removing the clanger, where your sister's name and poem are, and mounting it elsewhere on the chimes? Like on the top framework somewhere. You could use superglue or something.

  • Aprile
    7 years ago

    My ears are damaged due to the eustachian tubes not working correctly, My ear drums rupture or suck into my ear due to pressure. They have to keep them tubed or when they rupture I have to let them be. There is no fix for this. Because of my ears and the pressure I get in them it causes me to have terrible migraines and I am super sensitive to certain sounds. Some sounds are maddening almost like nails on a chalk board for me. In my last neighborhood I had a lady down the street from me who had a bunch of wind chimes. I live on the coast in Florida and we get a breeze everyday. Everyday the chimes would go off even with my windows closed in the house I could hear them and they'd go right through me. On days when I had a migraine I'd lay in bed and just cry because no matter how I would try to block the noise I could still hear them chime. I tried for months to live with it because I didn't want to bother someone else's enjoyment but I finally had to ask her to please take them down or to stop the chiming as it was physically causing me pain. She basically told me what I could do with myself and proceeded to add more chimes to her yard with those bird feeder holding sticks.

    I had wanted to purchase the house I was leasing because I loved that house so but I ended up having to buy another house sooner than I had planned because I just could not take the noise anymore. I hate to infringe on someones enjoyment but also want to point out that though people may not say anything to you they may bother others not directly next to you but a few houses down and they may not want to tell you because they feel selfish asking someone to do something for them. Some of them can be heard far greater distances than next door. They are pretty I have seen some beautiful ones I just wish people would enjoy them more indoors than outdoors.

  • bossyvossy
    7 years ago

    Here is our giant wind chime, in need of paint. To be done ASA weather cooperates

  • gyr_falcon
    7 years ago

    I have a problem with my ears, too. High pitched noises, very deep base and random scratchy sounds are painful. Wind chimes are torture devises. I prefer the sounds of nature. I'm grateful our neighbors moved theirs to the other side of their house without us having to ask.

  • wildchild2x2
    7 years ago

    Oh April I'm sorry you struggle with both migraines and sound sensitivity. It's difficult to get people to understand hidden disabilities. I have the same trouble with my hearing issues. I always feel like people think I am making things up when I request to be seated in a certain area of a restaurant or a room with a lot of people. Then when I tell them I am deaf it gets worse. "well, if you're deaf how can sound bother you". The worst is when someone has a TV or radio down low. You know the households that have to have something on 24/7?They don't understand that even thought they don't hear it my unaided deaf ear can recruit the noise.

    DD suffers from migraines and I suffer from hearing loss along with clogged ears and tinnitus. We detest wind chimes. What people don't understand is that sound travels in unanticipated patterns. Your next door neighbor may not hear what you hear in your house from a block away.

  • Aprile
    7 years ago

    Thank you Watchmelol :)

    Oh I totally understand the TV or radio turned low driving you nuts too. All I can hear is a low hum and it is so grating. People really do not understand how you can have hearing loss but yet hear certain things. I try to explain the sounds I can hear at times are sounds others probably don't hear or if they do other sounds probably drown them out. For me certain tones and sounds seem amplified. I have hearing loss in my most damaged ear to the point they have prescribed hearing aids I need one for each ear and they are( cough) $6000 each. My insurance will cover one ear a year so I am hoping to get them done towards the end of this year and then first of next year. Doctors hope it will help. Since my ears are so damaged these will go behind my ears not in them.

  • wildchild2x2
    7 years ago

    Aprile, I wear an aid in my right ear. I have a behind the ear aid with an ear mold that fits inside the ear. The whole contraption is lightweight and pretty invisible if people aren't made aware of it. My hearing loss is too severe to just have the microphone run to the ear. The hearing in my left ear is so bad it cannot be helped at all with an aid. I am a good candidate for a cochlear implant on that side but my doctor advised me to wait since new research is showing that they may be able to grow new cells in the ear. He said they are very close and that since a cochlear requires them to disable the ability to hear completely I would never be able to have the new procedure if it becomes reality soon. So I am giving it two years of wait and see. The aid helps but it's still difficult and I have horrid recruitment hearing.

  • Aprile
    7 years ago

    Right now I am dealing with a nasty case of Mastoiditis. They are trying oral antibiotics but if it doesn't clear up in next few days I will have to go in for IV antibiotics. It hurts lol. I am told the eardrum in my left ear where the infection is has now wrapped its self around the bones in my ear. It is because the ear drum sucked in so far into my ear it is now wrapped there. I have to go Tuesday for a cat scan to see if the mastoiditis is getting any better. I am hoping my right ear doesn't follow suit. I can not regulate the pressure in my ears. My doctor told me last week that next year there is a surgery coming out for eustation tube dysfunction he says I am a great candidate for it.

  • murraysmom Zone 6a OH
    7 years ago

    Aprile, I am so sorry you have such a horrible reaction to the wind chimes and I'm appalled that your neighbor treated so unkindly. I have wind chimes outside my back door and I love them. My house is very close to my neighbor's, so I did ask if the wind chimes bothered them. They assured me they did not and in fact they liked hearing them. But I would say this, if any of my neighbors came to me with a situation such as yours, I would be the first one to take down the chimes. Yes, I certainly would have the right to keep them up, but I can't believe that people cannot have compassion for someone that truly suffers from something that can be changed. I hope that if that was the case, that person would approach me. I will keep my chimes up and enjoy them until I am aware that they are a problem to someone else. I think that should be true of all our surroundings. If a neighbor blasts music, especially at late hours, it should be addressed. If someone's dog barks incessantly, especially at late hours, it should be addressed. But if no one complains or speaks up, it must be assumed that there is no problem. So don't be afraid to say something. It was appalling the reaction you got, but it shouldn't keep you from speaking up, in a non-confrontational way, of course. It is sad how little compassion people seem to have for one another these days.

  • Annie Deighnaugh
    7 years ago
    last modified: 7 years ago

    We've rebuilt my old wind chimes several times and they really don't ring as nicely as I'd like, so this thread inspired me to seek new chimes. I ended up at hay needle where they have a large collection of tuned chimes in different keys and voices. I ended up with this one. There's an audio file, but don't play it if wind chimes annoy you! I spent so much time listening to all the different chimes that I had to prove I wasn't a bot! So many were so lovely, it was hard to choose.

    I should receive it later this week....looking forward to it.

  • Alisande
    7 years ago

    I love your choice, Annie!

  • murraysmom Zone 6a OH
    7 years ago

    I do too! What a lovely sound they have!! And they were competing with my wind chimes!! LOL Just a slight breeze here today. Just enough to keep 'em chiming softly.