Singing bowl

Singing bowls (also known as 'Himalayan bowls' or 'rin gongs' in Japan) are a type of bell, specifically classified as a standing bell. Rather than hanging inverted or attached to a handle, standing bells sit with the bottom surface resting. The sides and rim of singing bowls vibrate to produce sound. Singing bowls were traditionally used throughout Asia as part of Buddhist meditation practice. Today they are used worldwide for meditation, relaxation, healthcare, personal well-being and religious practice.

Singing bowls were historically made in Tibet, Nepal, India, Bhutan, China, Japan and Korea. Today they are made in Nepal, India, Japan and Korea. The best known type are from the Himalayan region and are often called "Tibetan singing bowls."

Origins, history and usage
In Buddhist practice, singing bowls are used as a support for meditation, trance induction and prayer. For example, Chinese Buddhists use the singing bowl to accompany the wooden fish during chanting, striking it when a particular phrase in a sutra, mantra or hymn is sung. In Japan and Vietnam, singing bowls are similarly used during chanting and may also mark the passage of time or signal a change in activity.

The use of singing bowls in Tibet is the subject of much debate and many stories. Some people say they were used for meditation while others say they were magical tools for transformation of self and of matter.

As Perry (1996) and Jansen(1992) state, little is known in western scholarship regarding Himalayan singing bowls. It is likely they were used in rituals, having a specific function like other instruments (such as the ghanta, tingsha and shang). The oral and written traditions from the Himalayan region are vast and largely unknown in the west. To date, no specific texts have been found discussing the use of singing bowls in depth, but according to Joseph Feinstein of Himalayan Bowls (2006), paintings and statues dating from several centuries ago depict singing bowls in detail. Singing bowls from at least the 10th-12th century are found in private collections. The tradition may date significantly earlier since bronze has been used to construct musical instruments since ancient times. Bronze bells from Asia have been discovered since as early as the 8th-10th century BCE (Feinstein, 2006).

Singing bowls are played by the friction of rubbing a wooden, plastic, or leather wrapped mallet around the rim of the bowl to produce overtones and a continuous 'singing' sound. Genuine antique singing bowls produce a complex chord of harmonic overtones. Singing bowls may also be played by striking with a soft mallet to produce a warm bell tone.

Antique singing bowls are unique because they are multiphonic instruments, producing multiple harmonic overtones at the same time. Antique singing bowls are the fruit of sophisticated metallurgy, techniques currently deemed lost and provide a unique study in the Timeline of materials technology as do high quality bells and other instuments. The overtones are a result of their metalworking and fabrication which consists of multiple metals and were produced by a sophisticated hammered or beaten technique with. The majority of new bowls are cast metal and not hammered and beaten with Metalworking hand tools.

Both Antique and New Bowls are widely used as an aid to meditation (see the "Meditation and the brain" section in Meditation) and as a tool for trance induction. They are also used in yoga, music therapy, sound healing, religious services, performance and for personal enjoyment.

Antique singing bowls
Traditionally, antique singing bowls were made of Panchaloga (literally meaning "five metals" in Sanskrit): an alloy of bronze, copper, tin, zinc and other metals. Antiques often include silver, gold, iron and nickel.

Antique singing bowls produce multiphonic and polyharmonic overtones which are unique to the antique instruments. The subtle yet complex multiple harmonic frequencies are a special quality of the high quality bronze alloy. The art of making singing bowls in the traditional way is considered a lost art.

Antique singing bowls may display abstract decorations like lines, rings and circles engraved into the surface. Decoration may appear outside the rim, inside the bottom, around the top of the rim and sometimes on the outside bottom.

Antique singing bowls are highly prized and collected worldwide. Their popularity is due to their fine craftsmanship and remarkable sound.

New singing bowls


New bowls may be plain or decorated. They sometimes feature religious iconography and spiritual motifs and symbols, like the Tibetan mantra om mani padme hum, pictures of Buddhas, mandala, etc.

New singing bowls are made from industrial quality metal, mainly copper. They are exported widely from Nepal and India.

High quality new singing bowls are made in Japan and Korea but are not widely exported.

New singing bowls and crystal bowls do not produce the warm and complex tone of fine antiques. They sound like clear and simple bells, without the warm undertones and bright harmonic overtones for which antiques are famous.

Crystal singing bowls
Crystal bowls are often categorized together with metal singing bowls but they are very different. The use of the word "crystal" is misleading because crystal bowls are actually made from silicon glass. Their manufacture was an offshoot of medical containers like test tubes. Crystal bowls produce what is referred to as a pure sine tone (refer pure tone). This pure sine tone can be very intense and piercing. The tone is qualitatively different from the warm timbre and complex polyphonic experience of antique singing bowls. Crystal bowls do not produce multiple harmonic overtones and lack the warm and mellow quality of antique singing bowls.