Tibetan Singing bowl definitions and description.
Tibetan singing bowls are made in a variety of sizes and differing visual shapes. Although the origins of the bowls are unknown it is surmised that they have been in use in the Himalayan region for over 3000 years and made their way to Tibet about 1000 years ago with the advent of Buddhism to that area of the world. It is thought that the ancient shamans known as the Bon were the primary users of these instruments in Tibet.
It may sometimes be difficult for the beginner and even at times for the more experienced player to clearly ascertain what would be best to acquire out of the multitude of bowls in circulation. It is easier to come to a good decision if you have personally listened to many bowls as a reference point. The problems of choosing are eliminated by the careful playing of the bowls in person or by having a trusted source with whom you can discuss your needs and who can ship the best for that purpose.
Since it is doubtful that anyone now alive can judge with any accuracy the age of a particular bowl, we choose to just say to our customers that we in our best estimation, think this bowl is old, or very old, or newer.
For us to say a bowl is from the 15th or 17th century would really be skating on thin ice as it has been our experience that no one here or on the other far shores is possessed of this knowledge no matter what they say. We say this because we personally know most of the bowl sources in Nepal and they are not aware of this information either.
If someone claims that they are certain of the age of a bowl, unless it is new one this is usually just a sales pitch. This is because there is not any solid documentation available, nor any original sources for the bowl makers made tangible, nor any clear references from ethno-musicological sources, really nothing for the inquiring customer to hang their hat on. We would all like to have specific information on a particular bowl in question but this information simply does not exist.
So if someone claims they know the actual age of a bowl be sure to ask them these four questions:
1. Do you have documentation to back up your claim?
2. Where did you obtain this specific knowledge and documentation? Names and places?
3. Can you give me a specific year and date for this bowl? It would be nice to be less vague than a 16th or 17th century estimate.
4. Can another expert verify this? It would be good to have a 2nd opinion.
Don’t be too disappointed if the answer is either vague or no to all the above questions. You may indeed have a great old bowl but there is really no way to determine the actual age other than by guessing. Keep in mind though that some of these bowls may be much older than we think. It’s just impossible to be certain.
With that said we have a great range of bowls and sounds for everyone, and personally hand pick about the top 1% to 5% found in Nepal and India for our store. We do not order bowls from that area of the world over the phone. It is important that we hand pick them in person to get absolutely the best sound quality available.
We acquire and grade the bowls by condition and sound quality as well as rarity. We come from many generations of professional musicians and are well versed with the bowls and we have an experienced musical ear. This is necessary to discern the subtle sonic differences between the bowls.
I have personally taught music in the public school system through university levels, and also professionally played percussion on and off the road for over thirty years. We have released five CD’s: "Celestial Bowls", "Goddess Bowls", "Meditation Bowls", "Mystic Bowls" and "Shaman Bowls" by Temple Sounds featuring antique Tibetan Singing Bowls. These CD’s have received rave reviews nationally and internationally and I have appeared on television and radio with the bowls as well.
To help the customer acquire the best bowl possible I have created a grading system that will visually and sonically give the purchaser a concise and accurate description of the bowls inherent characteristics.
The first thing to understand with the bowls is that there are basically three quality levels of bowls extant. Each bowl will be located in one quality level or another or in some cases slightly in between.
The first level we call Adept (A and AA) quality and this is absolutely the best that is obtainable anywhere. These bowls will produce a magnificent sound that is magical, warm, and unusually well balanced and consistent. The construction will be peerless. The Adept bowls were always hard to find especially in the large sizes but now they are getting nearly impossible to locate in quantity. Once in a while you will find a large one, but this is increasingly rare. Perhaps one in one hundred used to be the ratio. Now it is much less for the larger sizes. There were more small Adept bowls out there than larger ones, but even these are getting difficult to find.
If you are interested in an large Adept bowl let me know and perhaps we can locate some for you. We do normally carry several small Adept bowls at any time as they are easier to locate than the big ones. Our standards are very high here. Very few bowls meet this standard.
The second level is the Healer/Teacher (B) level bowls. This quality level is still very high befitting its Healer/Teacher status, but not quite as exalted as the Adept bowls. The sound quality ranges from very good to excellent and while many of these bowls are wonderful in sound quality, their physical and sonic presence is not as highly refined as the Adept bowls. The better quality Healer bowls are recently getting much rarer and there is talk of these becoming almost as hard to find as the Adept bowls in the B+ versions in the coming future. These bowls are great for all around use whether in healing or concert situations, and like their name implies, they do the job with excellence.
The third level is the Novice/Student level bowls or C quality and they range from decent sounding to poor in sound quality. They produce a sound, but not the beautiful tones you will hear in the upper two levels. They are ok to get your feet wet without breaking the bank but are not recommended for serious sound practice. You will generally see them as the common singing bowl sold in stores or on the internet at bargain basement prices.
There are also more detailed grades in-between the three categories.
1. AA Quality: An Adept quality AA bowl will assume stellar perfection in the bowl world as well as rarity and would include perfect visual condition, and unbelievably good sound quality. 1 in 300.
2. A+/A++ quality: The A+ bowl would sound as great as the AA but with a barely visible mark or two. 1 in 300.
3. A/A- quality: The Adept bowl may also receive a grade of A or A-, depending on the total performance and condition. An A bowl would be just a tiny weenie bit less in quality than the A+, hardly discernable to the ear. An A bowl would be an extremely beautiful sounding bowl to anyone, but maybe with an insignificant mark or two. An A- bowl would have a slightly lesser sound quality than the A bowl but not by much. Truth be spoken, any Adept category bowl from AA to A- will simply amaze! 1 in 200.
4. B+ quality: A B+ bowl would be very near the A- bowl quality but the construction would be not as fine although the sound quality would be excellent. 1 in 50.
5. B quality: The B quality bowl would be a good sounding bowl with a good construction. 1 in 20.
6. B- quality: The B- bowl would have many marks and a good sound. 1 in 10.
7. C quality: The C bowls are ordinary in sound quality and not as easy to play, containing a much thinner sonic presence that does not in any way compare vibrationally with the A and B level bowls, but is usually adequate for the beginner. C bowls will generally not satisfy the serious practitioner.
Recording and concert bowls come in the Adept (A) and Healer/Teacher (B) levels, but not all A and B bowls are good for recording. For recording, a certain sound, warmth, and consistency is needed to interact with the microphone correctly. If you plan to record let me know and I will help you find the right bowl or bowl set for this. I will personally hand test these bowls using state of the art microphones and digital equipment so you receive the best sounding recording set.
Feel confident to shop at Temple Sounds for all your Singing Bowl needs. Let us know what you need and we will probably have it in stock or be able to locate it for you. We have in stock at all times more than 500 stellar quality bowls including over 100 very high quality large antiques up to 14“. No one on the planet stocks this many at one time as far as I know. We are totally committed to the singing bowl aficionado as we are incorrigible aficionados ourselves!
We have a waiting list for certain very rare types of singing bowls so if there is something that you really want please let us know and we will place you on the list and as soon as it is available we will let you know with sound clips and photos. We guarantee all bowl purchases to meet or exceed expectations and will give an accurate tonal and visual description of the bowls to the very best of our ability. We have the experience to do this and (5) world renown CD recordings to prove it. We are sure you will love your purchase, but just in case the bowl and you do not match up perfectly we will gladly refund your purchase price within 7 days minus the shipping/insurance and handling expenses.
Details on bowl grading procedure below:
Most bowls will perform one function better than another whether spinning or hitting. Some do both well but this is rarer. Our grading system is as follows, we use a 6 to 10 grade for all the qualities below. Look for 9’s to 10’s for a great bowl. Keep in mind that sometimes a bowl does one thing well and another thing not so well such as a bowl with a great dominant tone but a silent or non existent harmonic note. Just because the bowl gets a 7 score for its harmonic be sure to look to the other sections to get a better view of the bowls complete sound value.
1. C = Physical construction. Positives and negatives.
2. S = Spinning qualities.
3. H = Hit/strike. Length of dominant tone when hit once.
