Medium Tibetan Singing Bowl

This bowl can be played in your open palm or on a cushion. Bowls measuring 13 to 17 cm (5 to 6.7 in) fit comfortably in the hand, but your palm may not be large enough for bowls at the upper end of this size range. You will therefore need to rest larger bowls on your lap, a cushion, or a ring so they can vibrate freely. If you hold the bowl, rest it flat on your open hand with your fingers extended to avoid dampening the vibrations. Never hold the instrument by its rim or sides.

Also keep in mind that, depending on your build, a bowl you enjoy holding may eventually feel too heavy.

A medium Tibetan singing bowl is a good choice for beginners because its rim is wide enough to forgive an uneven technique, making it easy to produce a singing tone by circling the rim. It is comfortable to hold and play. In fact, this is the size most often recommended for beginners. Small bowls are generally harder to make sing than large ones, while many medium bowls respond well to both striking and circling the rim.

However, some practitioners recommend starting with a small bowl, while others point out that any bowl can be played from day one. You can start with another size if you are drawn to its sound.

A bowl of this size produces a midrange sound, between the high-pitched, clear, short tones of small bowls and the low-pitched, full, sustained tones of large models.

However, its frequency also depends on its shape, the thickness of the metal, the alloy, the mallet, and your technique. This is why two hand-hammered bowls of the same diameter will each have their own distinct voice. According to tradition, midrange sounds are associated with the centre of the body.

You should use a medium-sized mallet to make a Tibetan singing bowl of this size sing, as the mallet should match the size of the bowl. Mallets come in several sizes, and a medium-sized one will also be useful if you play multiple bowls. Here are the key differences between the materials:

• Bare wood produces midrange and high frequencies.
• Soft felt produces a warm, full sound when you strike the bowl.
• Suede produces a midrange tone suited to circling the rim continuously.

Except during pregnancy, a medium Tibetan singing bowl can be placed on the body during a sound massage. As a general guideline, bowls weighing approximately 0.6 to 1.3 kg (1 lb 5.2 oz to 2 lb 13.9 oz) are used around the heart and shoulders, while bowls weighing 0.9 to 1.4 kg (1 lb 15.7 oz to 3 lb 1.4 oz) are used on the abdomen and back. These figures are only guidelines and vary from one method to another.

Place the bowl flat, for example, slightly above the stomach or on the shoulder, then strike it gently so the vibrations can be felt on the skin. Do not hold it by the rim, as this muffles the sound. During a session with several bowls, the bowls increase in size from the head toward the lower body: a small bowl is placed near the head, while the heavier bowls are positioned toward the pelvis and legs.

Finally, sound massage is a relaxation practice and is not a substitute for medical care.

Even when they have the same diameter, two medium Tibetan singing bowls may not have the same price because the cost also depends on the amount of metal, the origin, the manufacturing process, and the quality of the alloy. Here are the main factors that account for the price difference between two instruments of this size:

• Metal weight: A thick-walled bowl weighs more than another bowl of the same diameter.
• Hand-hammering: A hand-hammered bowl requires hours—and sometimes days—of hammering, shaping, and tuning by artisans, while a machine-made bowl has a uniform shape and costs less.
• Engraving: Detailed symbols and patterns require additional skilled work after the bowl has been hammered and polished.
• Sound grading: The stability of the sound, the length of its sustain, and the depth of its resonance also affect the price.

However, these factors apply to metal bowls and not to quartz crystal bowls. When the same model is available in several sizes, the larger diameter will also cost more than the smaller one.

You do not need to add bowls of other sizes to your medium bowl, as one bowl is enough to get started and covers most uses. However, you can add a smaller or larger bowl later because different sizes produce different pitches. For example, you can sustain the low tone of a large bowl in the background and layer the more melodic voice of a medium bowl over it, producing a richer overall sound than either bowl played alone. For an on-body session, practitioners combine a very small bowl, a medium bowl, and a large bowl.

Some bowls from the Instruments du Monde store are available in several diameters, allowing you to assemble a set with different sizes from the same collection.