These Bowls Sing

Post election, we need deep relaxation, muscle regeneration, pain relief, digestive help, cure for migraine, improved circulation, a repaired immune system, elimination of toxins (too much wine), and better concentration. This may be just the time for an article on JF’s “singing” bowls from his home altar – a collection of Japanese standing “struck” bowls, one at 12” (quite large), and one at 9 ½”. Japanese standing bowls are distinctive because of the hand hammered (repoussé) pattern of little circles and a blessing in characters around the rim. JF passes his altar and has a whack periodically and feels the “improvements” listed above for good physiological and scientific reasons; his collection is valuable.

Who first discovered the healing properties of such bowls? Why have they been struck for thousands of years for both spiritual and therapeutic healing? 

Ancient people were aware of the healing properties of sound produced by bells and bowls 12,000 years ago, if the archaeological evidence is correct. The modern theory is that sound balances both sides of the brain via vibrations of a certain frequency. Since we now have “discovered” DNA, proponents of “the sound bath” say the “ommmmmm” of the bowl/bell “awakens” DNA. Some say the right sound can even “awaken” the adrenal gland. Terms like “DNA” were unknown back in the day. The way of thinking at that was that sound could balance the astral channels (chakras). 

Musicologists have measured perfectly crafted bowls producing frequencies about 4-6 kHz. Perhaps the ancient craftsmen who created these bowls witnessed the effects that the sound had on people and that was their scientific ‘proof.’

The first singing bowls were made of pure copper 5,000 years ago in Mesopotamia (a region encompassing parts of modern Iraq, Iran, Syria, and Turkey). The brass/bronze bowl was a later technology, also thousands of years old, having been brought to Tibet from India around the time India introduced Tibet to Buddhism (8^th century AD). Singing bowls may be partially filled with water. A Chinese form called a spouting bowl – used since the 5^th century BCE – has handles which, when rubbed, generate sound that makes water
droplets leap.

Our brains produce electromagnetic waves. In the brain’s normal conscious state, the waves are ‘beta.” In deep sleep, the brain’s waves are  “delta.” In mediation, brains produce beneficial “alpha” waves. When such bowls are “tuned” right, the sound helps the brain produce alpha waves. 

Singing bowls are said to “sing” because the sound resonates long after the initiating strike or frictional rub that produced it.

The study of sound in therapy was pioneered by the physician Hans Jenny (b. 1904, d. 1972), who called these modal vibration studies. He discovered that when the brain processes certain types of sound, alpha waves are detected on an electroencephalogram (EEG).

Singing bowls are said to “sing” because the sound resonates long after the initiating strike or frictional rub that produced it. The classic is a bowl where the mallet is rotated around the rim, as opposed to the striking bowl. Both vibrate – as JF’s dog might have told us as he cocks his head to the sound in that picture.

Such bowls are used in Buddhist chants and meditations, ceremonies which are historically assisted by sound emanating from these struck standing bowls and bells. Originating in China, some of the oldest bronze objects that “sing” are goblet shaped iron bells and have been found in varying sizes. These date to the 5^th millennium BCE and represent advanced technological skill in acoustics and metallurgy. The mallet-struck bell reached its finest expression in China and Japan. In 1972 a pair of folk musicians introduced the Tibetan singing bowl to the West – the predominate geographical marketplace for these objects today.

A singing bowl is a musical instrument classified as an “struck idiophone,” meaning the whole of the object, without any added component, comprises the instrument. The whole of the instrument vibrates to produce the effect. People who play the spoons are also playing struck idiophones. By the way, once your singing bowl starts to buzz, it has reached maximum volume and should be left to resonate, not to be further “played” – otherwise the bowl can shatter. Maximum vibration occurs around the rim of the bowl, which echoes around the whole of the open bowl, and that is where the engineering marvel happens. When a bowl is crafted just right, the sound can erase the tensions of November 2024.

JF’s bells are made of “bell metal” – a classic alloy of copper and tin, cast as molten metal and then hand hammered into shape. The Japanese name for JF’s bowls is namarin, but if the largest of the two were any bigger, up to 3 ft, it would be a temple bell called daikin. The value of the pair of the largest singing bowls – significant, as both are late 19^th / early 20^th century – is $2,800.00.