Tibetan Singing Bowl in E

This is indeed an E bowl: standard musical notation uses letters to name notes, with E representing mi. Similarly, C represents do, D represents re, F represents fa, G represents sol, A represents la, and B represents si. German notation also uses E for mi but uses H instead of B for si. A number is often added after the letter to specify the octave. Thus, E3, E4, and E5 refer to three E notes in different octaves, so the letter alone does not tell you whether your bowl has a high or low pitch.

Sometimes the letter is also accompanied by a signed number, such as E-27 or E+15. This indicates how many cents the instrument is above or below the center of the note, with deviations of up to 50 cents in either direction still considered E. This deviation indicates pitch position, not quality. A tuner displays this same information: the nearest note, its octave, and its deviation in cents.

Tradition associates E with the solar plexus chakra, Manipura.

The E of a bowl tuned to 432 Hz is slightly lower, as middle E drops from approximately 330 Hz to approximately 324 Hz. The number 432 does not refer to your instrument’s frequency. Instead, it corresponds to the reference A—the note used as the tuning reference—which lowers the E when it is adjusted from 440 to 432 Hz.

There is a difference of approximately 32 cents between these two E notes. This remains less than one-third of a semitone. The difference in cents does not change from one octave to another, although it represents approximately 6 Hz for middle E and only 3 Hz for low E. In both cases, your instrument is still considered to be tuned to E.

Most of our crystal bowls let you choose between these two tunings. If you plan to combine several instruments, you should order them all with the same tuning. Keep in mind that a tuner calibrated to 440 Hz will read an E tuned to 432 Hz as approximately 30 cents flat.

Above the E, you’ll hear higher harmonics that resonate alongside the note and give the bowl its tonal character. The E itself is the fundamental—the instrument’s lowest sound—which determines its note.

Metal bowls produce numerous harmonics that overlap and emerge at different times, so one of them may sound louder than the E itself. This is why a tuner may alternate between two notes when measuring this type of instrument. By contrast, a crystal bowl produces a smooth, steady E that sounds almost on its own. On a spectrum analyzer, bronze bowls have produced 4 to 31 distinct sounds, compared with 2 or 3 for frosted crystal models. However, neither is better than the other; they simply have different tonal characteristics. The stated note of an instrument is the one the ear perceives as dominant.

The price of a bowl tuned to E depends on its material, diameter, and whether it is sold individually or as part of a set. When comparing two bowls that produce the same E, the following factors account for the price difference:

• The material and finish, since a frosted quartz crystal bowl, a rose quartz bowl, and a model adorned with a Flower of Life motif fall into different price ranges.
• The diameter, because a larger bowl costs more when the finish is otherwise the same.
• Whether it is sold individually or as part of a set, since a seven-bowl set containing every note has the highest price.