The tubular bells - also called tubular bell or orchestra bells, is a musical instrument idiophone of the percussion family.

It consists of a series of bells. Each bell is a metal tube usually made of brass, whose diameter varies between a quarter inch and an inch and a half, and fits by changing its length. The tubular chimes are usually grouped into a series chromatic an octave and a half. A series of two octaves exist, but they are extremely heavy and are not really used. Their range is as follows:

The bells are typically struck with a hammer plastic or rawhide. You can also use various types of material from the beater (like the tom-tom or bass drum) to timpani sticks, wood, leather or foam. The bells are struck in their upper part, which often requires a chair, or in the case of musicians from small size, a platform lift.

They were invented as a convenience to reproduce in a symphony orchestra the sound of church bells, while bypassing the problem of congestion such bells are very heavy: the percussionist have here a single instrument of about two meters high and one meter wide, with whom he can play 17 notes (for a standard set of tubular bells).

They are used in orchestral works such as Symphonie Fantastique (including the Fifth Party: "Dream of a Sabbath Night") by Berlioz , Walking Liberty Bell Sousa , or the 1812 Overture of Tchaikovsky , but also the popular music . Mike Oldfield tubular bells used extensively, for example in his debut album Tubular Bells (Tubular Bells in English) in 1973, including the opening theme was repeated for the music of the film The Exorcist.