About the bianzhong
A bianzhong is a set of bronze bells. They hang in a wooden frame and are struck with a mallet.
Each bell can sound two different notes. Its cross-section is lens-shaped, not round. Striking the centre gives one pitch. Striking near a corner gives another, a third higher.
This page tunes its bells to twelve named pitches, the twelve lü. Each pitch is generated from the last by the sanfen sunyi method: alternately rising a fifth and falling a fourth, by adding or subtracting a third of a pitch-pipe's length. The twelve pitches are traditionally grouped into two sets of six, one associated with yin and one with yang.
This page has twelve bells. Every sound is synthesised live in the browser. Nothing here is a recording.