Pitch distribution in bell chimes of the Chinese Bronze Age Free

Pitch measurements on a number of archaeologically discovered graduated sets of two‐pitch bells [cf. M. Chengyuan, Chin. Music 3(4), 81–86 (1980); 4(1), 18–20 (1981); and 4(2), 31–36 (1981); S. Shen, Sci. Am., 104–110 (April 1987); T. D. Rossing et el., J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 81, 369–373 (1988)] from the Shang (ca. 1500–1050 BC) and Zhou (ca. 1050–256 BC) dynasties were compared, and the patterns of pitch distribution from octave to octave were scrutinized. Over time, an increasing mastery of the technology of manufacturing two‐pitch bells can be observed, especially regarding the ability of manipulating the two fundamentals on each bell in such a way that both could be used in music making. From Western Zhou (ca. 1050–771 BC) onward, the pitch distributions of each chime show a basic division into a lower and a higher register, the former at first manifesting a greater density of pitches than the latter. In the higher register, the Western Zhou four‐tone (mi‐sol/la‐do) pattern was later gradually enriched with additional pitches. The ever denser distribution of pitches seems to reflect the development of bell chimes from a musical instrument of merely accompanatory nature to one on which melodies could be played in full, sometimes in more than one tonality. Caution must be used, however, in generalizing from these phenomena on the development of tonal scales in China.