Tuning matters! After my daughter complained about how the toms on her new drums sounded like crap, I bought a Tune-Bot (drum tuner), asked Gemini to help me make her toms sound like Dirty Loops, and got busy.
A few hours later, she pronounced them to be "not bad". Win! I wasn't going to get higher praise out of a teenager anyway.
https://leehite.org/Chimes.htm is the best source of information I've found on chime design and length. They go into great length about the lower octaves and how you can hear them (or not).
The clanky sounds of cheap bamboo or the high pitched screeching of tiny metal chimes are not pleasant. I have two sets of tuned chimes in my garden that are 1" diameter. They both have 6 chimes that are tuned as a set, but they are also tuned when heard together. One set has longer chimes than the other, so when heard together the chords are much richer.
I know it sounds bougie as hell, but it's really quite a nice effect.
Where did you get them if you don't mind me asking
Also do you know the material of the metals? I wonder if it'd be worth it to have them in different metals for different timbres. Like two different instruments
That seems like an argument for using the same material. Different metals will expand more or less with temperature variations. If they all chance a fixed percentage the tonal ratios should be preserved.
A few hours later, she pronounced them to be "not bad". Win! I wasn't going to get higher praise out of a teenager anyway.