Archive for February 4th, 2010

The Chinese New Year happens to fall on Valentine’s Day this year – all the more for people to wear red, don’t you think? There has been a couple of features on TV and the newspapers about how to attract positive karma in one’s life this year. The Chinese believes that each year, the strategies for acquiring peace, luck and good karma change so they advise new feng shui tips, especially if it involves homes.

One of the feng shui enhancers are wind chimes. One must choose balanced wind chimes, with the appropriate number of tubes and material. Sometimes, they would advice wood chimes or metal ones, depending on the year on the Chinese calendar.

Wind chimes have always been part of different cultures. Originally made to drive away evil spirits and birds, they have also been used for meditation. Nowadays, they make wonderful home accents, with its sounds soothe tired spirits. Wind chimes have always provided calm, that is why it has always been place strategically around the house, mostly in lanais, porches, decks or in balconies, where the breeze enters a house.

The  bamboo wind chimes are usually seen outdoors, specifically in the garden, as they seem to blend within the environment and make pretty, decorative accents. You can make a Hawaiian paradise with these adorable accents from Outdora:

The sound of aluminum wind chimes are a different sound altogether. For example, Corinthian Bells wind chimes are tuned to sound like the ringing of distant church bells.  You can also choose between alto and soprano wind chimes, complete with 10 musical scales. Usually these types of wind chimes have adjustable activity control.

• Here are some samples of the Spheres Soprano Wind Chimes:
  Pentatonic
  Chinese
  Quartal
  Mongolian
  Aquarian
  Hawaiian
  Balinese
  Japanese
  Gypsy
  Whole Tone

I personally like the wooden types as I think they produce more natural sounds and would make me imagine I am close to nature like the mountains and seas.