Tibetan singing bowls have been used for meditation from the earliest times and are becoming more and more popular today. Their sound is much different from the sounds of the other musical instruments due to a unique alloy of metals that the bowls are made of. Tibetan singing bowls produce multiple harmonic overtones that evolve sound spirals rotating around the actual (major audible) tone. Such interaction of overtones is based on the wave principle: two sound streams interfere, generating a standing wave and blending into an ocean of sounds. The transparent, full of overtones sound of Tibetan singing bowls is wonderful and energetic; it's a perfect background for meditation and healing. The listener's mind is carried away to the deep world of sounds that seems to be static however being on the everlasting go.
It was only in the late XIX century that the West Tibetan singing bowls bowls for the first time: they were brought from Himalayas after the Chinese invaded Tibet in 1950-s. Initially the bowls were considered to be of some other purpose, i.e. for storing special substances used by Tibetan monks in their rituals. That the singing bowls produce clear and beautiful sounds rich in polyharmonic overtones was revealed not until later. Singing bowls are made of a unique alloy (usually consosting seven different metals, and the reason why it is so is still a mystery for us) timber and duration of the sound produced by a bowl much depends on the composition of metals used. Besides Tibetan singing bowls (of Himalayan origin) there are also Japanese and Thai singing bowls, each type having particular sounding, shape and functionality. However, it's Tibetan singing bowls that produce the purest sounds and overtones.
The potential of a Tibetan singing bowls is so great that its presence within the house brings luck and happiness, as a singing bowl is a powerful energizer of any sector of your home. However, when a bowl 'sings' it not only clears stagnant energy but also generates and radiates new one, live and pure. Walk around your house with such a bowl and fill it with new energy, imagining that a flow of positive energy radiates along with the sound of the bowl and imbues everything around. Make sure you breathe in the right way and think positive.
Before using the singing bowl try and play it or your bowl may fail to sound at the moment you want it to. To make the bowl sing put it onto a special-purpose cushion or onto your flat hand or fist so that it stood still; remember that the less the area of touch, the better. Then take a wooden mallet (made of hardwood) with either hand and start to rub the rim of the bowl with appreciable strain. The easiest way to make the bowl sing is to pour some water into it and rub the mallet (its middle part, to be more precise) around the rim. As soon as the walls of the bowl start to vibrate it begins to 'sing' and the room is filled up with marvelous deep sound that seems to come not from the bowl itself but from everywhere.
"Tibetan Singing Bowls", transl. by Yana Soboleva
