© Windhorse Imports. All rights reserved.
Design by Clive Peaple
Such knowledge would have eventually spread around Asia and northern India along
the established trade routes. Some scholars believe that the tradition of using singing
bowls to produce sound was brought from India to Tibet, along with the teachings
of the Buddha, by the great tantric master Padmasambhava in the 8th century AD. Mixed
metal bowls have undoubtedly been produced in Tibet and Nepal for centuries for use
as begging bowls, chalices or grain bowls. However, there is little historical evidence
that they were widely used in the production of sound, or that singing bowls formed
part of traditional religious practices, as bells other musical instruments are known
to have done.
Many of these early mixed metal bowls were made by the Newar people
of Nepal, and this knowledge has been passed down through generations of craftsmen.
The finest singing bowls are still made in Nepal and they continue to produce many
innovations in singing bowl manufacture and design.
Manufacture
Traditionally singing
bowls were said to be made of seven sacred metals corresponding to the seven sacred
planets: gold (Sun), silver (Moon), mercury (Mercury), copper (Venus), tin (Jupiter),
lead (Saturn), and iron (Mars). Legend goes on to say that the iron was sometimes
replaced by meteorite found on the Himalayan mountaintops, metal from the heavens.
However, in practice most singing bowls are made of five metals and some even less.
There
are two different methods used for the manufacture of singing bowls today. Many are
still made by hammering a flat sheet of metal over a form until it becomes the shape
of a bowl. The edges are then folded over and hammered smooth. In modern production
the inside is often machine polished. Hammered bowls are easily recognisable from
the hammer marks on the outside. These traditionally manufactured bowls are often
insisted upon by purists. Hammered bowls are often sold as ‘old’ or ‘antique’. There
are indeed old bowls still around, although the actual date of manufacture of a bowl
is seldom proven, and new bowls are often aged artificially.
More recently many bowls
are made by pouring molten metal into a cast. Most of the cast bowls favoured by
Windhorse Imports are actually made in two pieces, the bowl and the neck, which are
then welded together. The bowls are then highly polished. This method allows the
more ‘enclosed’ shapes to be produced, resulting in an improved tonal quality and
longer lasting sound. As cast bowls are very smooth when finished, they can be decorated
by acid etching or even enamelling. The smooth edges also make them easier to play.
There
are many different shapes of singing bowls. The sound is determined by the shape
of the bowl, the mix of metals used and the thickness of the material, as well as
the thickness of the rim.
Special Resonances
Although the way the Himalayan people
used these bowls is open to question, one thing is certain - Westerners are often
affected in a particular way when they hear the unique sound of a singing bowl for
the first time. The resonances cannot be reproduced by any instrument in Western
culture, nor can a recording of the sound produce the same effect. Many people feel
their spirit has been touched when they hear the sound.
Increasingly, sound therapy
is being used in healing. Powerful vibrations emanate from a singing bowl when it
is played, and these can spread quickly through the cells of the body. Physiotherapists
also make use of the phenomena of internal massage with ultra-sonic sound waves.
It is claimed that the harmonic frequencies of singing bowls can be used to stimulate
the natural harmonic frequencies of different parts of the body.
Mystics throughout
the ages have used music and chanting to achieve altered states of consciousness.
The normal state of the brain produces Beta waves, whilst Alpha waves are present
when the brain is in a state of meditation and calm. The sound wave pattern produced
by some singing bowls is equivalent to the alpha waves produced in the brain. These
bowls can induce a sense of deep relaxation and access to the inner self.
Furthermore,
healers and mystics often the powerful vibrations of the singing bowl to clear negative
energies within a room.
How to Play
People sometimes pick up a bowl for the first time
believing that there must be a special skill required to play it. However they soon
find that after just a few minutes of handling the bowl, and by following a few simple
instructions, the beautiful sound can be produced.
Resting the bowl in the palm of
your hand will better enable you to appreciate the experience than by putting it
on a table. Keep your fingers outstretched so that they do not touch the bowl and
interfere with its vibration. Hold the striker firmly as if were a pen. Gently tap
the bowl to begin and then firmly and slowly run the striker around the outer rim
using constant pressure.
Some advocate using an action similar to stirring soup, keeping
the wrist straight, whilst others prefer a free rotating wrist action. After a little
practice the user will quickly learn that slightly different sounds can be produced
by altering the pressure or speed of the action, or by playing a lower part of the
bowl, or by using a different striker. The ‘rattling’ sometimes produced can be eliminated
by altering the speed of the action, or particularly in the case of hammered bowls,
by using a leather-covered striker.
Singing bowls can also be used as gongs and played
by striking them with a mallet to produce percussive, pulsating tones.
History
Very little is known about the history of ‘singing bowls’. Whilst singing bowls are
now identified in the Western mind with the music and religious rituals of Tibet,
most scholars of the subject accept that they did not originate there.
The knowledge
of mixing various metals to produce a singing sound was around in Asia from ancient
times. Small metal skull-shaped bowls used to produce sound were known around 1100
BC. Finely tuned bells were being produced in China around 600 BC. By 500 BC the
study of sound and the effect of vibration were so advanced in China that bronze
‘fountain bowls’ were being produced. These very specifically shaped bowls were filled
with water. When rubbed in a special way, the water would rise up and a humming sound
would be produced.