Dharma Bells

Dharma Bells (also known as Chinese tree bells or Chinese Confucian bells) are musical instruments in the percussion family. They can be struck individually or used to play glissandos.
Emil Richards
Percussionist Emil Richards collected a set.
The Dharma bells were collected from antique shops by Richards starting in the 1960’s. He added them to his giant instrument collection, the Emil Richards Collection, and used them on many television and movie soundtracks. They are microtonal (but generally chromatic) and have a range of 2 ½ octaves, from F3-C6. According to Richards, they came in sets of 3, 5, and occasionally 7 or 9. He took the Dharma bells and arranged them in rows so they could be played more easily; then once he had enough, he mounted them vertically and chromatically. They can be played with soft mallets or the back ends of drumsticks. Richards used them in scores often by sliding the sticks across them to give a glissando effect, or hitting them individually to create ringing tones. The Dharma bells were used on the music for the show Daktari. They were also on the Kung Fu television series for 5 years, and used in many movies with music by Lalo Schifrin.

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