Bells are a melody instrument from the percussion family, belonging to the class of the idiots. The instrument consists of a series of tubes in the order of a chromatic scale. A plastic or wooden hammer is struck at the top of the tubes. With a rod, a damping mechanism can be operated to dampen the sound of the tubes. The tubes are closed from above and open from below.
Bells are often prescribed in classical (program) music to imitate the sound of church bells. This is the case, for example, in bell chapel passages in the Ochaikovsky Overture 1812, the Berlioz Symphonie fantastique and the symphonic poem Le chasseur maudit of Franck.
Big fame has also been given to the pipe bells by Mike Oldfield's Tubular Bells album, referred to by the instrument.
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