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Singing Bowl Questions
I am happy to answer your singing bowl questions.
Please email your questions and comments to
What is a singing bowl?
A singing bowl is a type of bell that is shaped like a bowl. Their musicological name is a 'standing bell' because they sit on a surface rather then being suspended like a hand bell or church bell. Singing bowls come in many shapes and sizes and have been made for centuries throughout Asia. The Himalayan Bowls collection includes examples as old as 600-800 years. Due to increased worldwide demand, new singing bowls have become better and better quality over the last several years. Himalayan Bowls is home to the largest and broadest collection of antique and new singing bowls in the world.
Why are antique singing bowls better than new singing bowls?
For the first 10 years in business, Himalayan Bowls offered only fine quality antique singing bowls. Antique bowls are superior to new bowls for three reasons: 1: Materials. Antique Himalayan Bowls are made of higher quality bronze and sometimes contain precious metals. 2: Craftsmanship. The best examples of antique Himalayan Bowls were exceptionally crafted by expert artisans. The best new bowls today rival the more rustic antiques but are not as finely made as the best antiques. 3: Age. The aging process greatly improves the tone. In fact, I believe age is the main requirement for the best mellow tone. Our high quality antiques produce a much warmer tone than even the best new bowls.
How are your new bowls different?
Our new singing bowls are the best sounding and best looking available. Our new singing bowls are made in Nepal. I work closely with the manufacturers to ensure good quality control and to guarantee a good tone. We hand select each hand made new bowl for the very best sound. Our hand made new bowls are the very best singing bowls made today. They will be the fine antiques of tomorrow. Our machine made bowls are carefully crafted for both beautiful appearance and lovely tone. I do not hand select the machine made bowls because their sound is very consistent. I decided to offer new bowls to make high quality, great sounding and very affordable bowls widely available. You are guaranteed great sound at a great price with a new singing bowl from Himalayan Bowls.
How do you record them?
Himalayan Bowls was the first website to offer sound clips for the bowls we sell. We use high end professional recording equipment to get an accurate sound clip. Many websites now offer recordings, but they use low end recording equipment which produces a more flat and even tone. These recordings hide imperfections in the sound, making the bowls sound more harmonious than they really are. Our sound clips accurately reproduce the multiple harmonic tones and natural vibrations. You will hear a great deal of nuance in our recordings if you use good speakers or hi-fi headphones. They sound even better when played in person.
How should I listen to the sound clips?
We recommend good quality multimedia speakers with a sub-woofer or hi-fi headphones. Built in computer speakers or earbuds will not translate the complexity of the tone and will not pick up the deep tones of the large bowls. Laptop speakers are not sufficient to hear any of the low tones. If the sound is distorted, turn the volume down and try to use better speakers. Good speakers or headphones are required to hear the low frequencies (especially with the Special Deep Bowls). The lowest tones and the highest tones do not travel over the telephone.
I listened to a nice bowl on your site, and then found one that looks the same on another web site. They will sound similar, right?
Definitely not. There is a reason Himalayan Bowls is known for the best sounding bowls in the world. I go to great lengths to find these incredible instruments. I travel to Asia to hand choose the very best. I have built wonderful relationships with my suppliers. I pay top dollar to get access to the best bowls which are never found in shops or warehouses. Every antique and hand made new bowl is individually selected for its purity of sound.
Why are bowls from Himalayan Bowls so special?
When I go to Nepal to select bowls, I hand select from "back room stock" - hidden collections of the best bowls that never arrive in shops or warehouses. Most dealers never get access to these bowls and would not know where to find them. I select the very best out of this special stock. Sometimes I will sift through 100 or more bowls and buy only 1 or 2. The remaining bowls go to other dealers in the USA, Europe and around the world. I pay a premium to get first choice of the best bowls. Other dealers buy in bulk from a distance and do not select their own stock. As a life long musician, voice teacher, healthcare practitioner and leading singing bowl expert, I have a unique ability and years of experience selecting the very best bowls. Today the Himalayan Bowls collection is the largest and most comprehensive in the world.
What is the difference between a singing bowl and a crystal bowl?
There is very little similarity between bronze singing bowls and crystal bowls. Crystal bowls are made from quartz or silica - minerals extracted from sand. They are manufactured by companies who make all sorts of containers, mainly for laboratory and industrial use. Since they are machine made using cutting edge technology, the pitch is very consistent and they are made to produce a single specific frequency: C, G, A, etc. Our new machine made singing bowls produce a similar consistent sound. However, antique singing bowls and our hand made new bowls are each a unique creation with a complex voice. Bronze singing bowls produce multiple tones, harmonizing into a beautiful and complex chord. Crystal and mineral bowls produce one tone and it's second harmonic. They lack the complex chord of harmonic overtones that bronze singing bowls are famous for. Himalayan Bowls produce a rich, warm, and complex tone. The warmth and peaceful feeling of Himalayan Bowls are not present in any other instrument. Crystal bowls produce a powerful and loud tone that some people find piercing or unsettling. I advise caution playing crystal bowls loudly, especially around children or animals, as the frequencies can be extremely powerful, like a siren.
Where do singing bowls come from?
Singing bowls were traditionally made throughout Asia. The tradition continues in Nepal, India, China, Korea, and Japan. The antiques featured on this web site are from the Himalayan region, and are commonly called Tibetan singing bowls. Tibetan singing bowls are quite different from the standing bells of Japan, China and Korea, which are less common.
Are they from Tibet?
The Himalayan region has a rich and complex history of culture, commerce, and politics. The Tibetan people have held an important cultural role and were a dominant political power in the region for centuries. They controlled much of the trade and influenced the culture of the entire region in many ways. Many Tibetan treasures were actually made by craftspeople from other cultures. The Newari people of Nepal played a central role in building temples, casting sculpture and producing other Tibetan arts. Nepalis are among the best craftspeople in the world and most Tibetan items available for trade today are in fact made in Nepal. Antique singing bowls are mostly found in Nepal, where many of them were originally made. They were also made in India, Tibet, Bhutan, even Burma.
How were they made?
Singing bowls were made by pouring molten bronze onto a flat rock, then hand shaping the cooling metal with hammers. This method is still used today in making our hand made new singing bowls. Another known method is hammering the metal around a wooden mold. This technique is used today mainly for thin food vessels, which are often sold as singing bowls (sometimes sold for high prices as "lotus bowls"). Some antiques show evidence of being cast but they are extremely rare. Some new bowls are also cast and then finished on a machine.
What about new singing bowls?
New singing bowls have become very common and dominate the singing bowl market. Our hand made new singing bowls are the very best available. Our machine made singing bowls are an ideal combination of new world style and old world technology. Almost all bowls available in shops or online are new, even if they are called "old" or "antique." Please read our pages on choosing an antique and shopping tips for more information.
What's the difference between the way new bowls and antiques sound?
Our new hand made bowls are the closest thing to the antiques. They produce multiple harmonic overtones and sound great. However, they lack the warmth and beauty that only comes with the aging process. They are the fine antiques of tomorrow but it will take 100 years for them to start sounding like a mellow antique.
If a bowl were made of good metals today, would it sound like an antique?
No. The aging process improves the sound. The older the bowl is, the more mellow and nice the sound becomes. Even our best quality new hand made bowls lack the warmth and relaxing properties of an antique. This is due to changes in the cellular composition of the metal over time.
How can I tell if a bowl is new or antique?
Many new bowls are sold as antiques. Every week I am emailed photos from people who have paid high prices for new bowls that were sold to them as antiques. It is a common and unfortunate problem. It takes years of experience and knowledge to accurately assess antiques. You can start educating yourself with our information pages. You can also email me photos or questions about a bowl and I will help you determine its age.
If it looks old, it's probably old, right?
Definitely not. Metal can start looking old very quickly and fake antiques are plentiful. There are many bowls being made in the traditional shapes and some are 'aged' so they look antique. Even dealers and collectors with years of experience get tricked by these fake antiques. Be very wary of bargain priced antiques. Genuine high quality antique singing bowls are expensive to buy at the source and are fairly hard to get. Today there are very few dealers selling genuine antiques.
What about all the antiques I see selling so cheap online?
If you see a bargain priced bowl it is likely not an antique. New bowls are frequently sold as antique. There are some cheap antiques which are poor sounding and often have major condition problems. A high percentage are cracked, terribly scratched, or don't vibrate well. I carefully choose the best sounding bowls in great condition. There is a big difference in the quality of singing bowls. Make sure you hear it before you buy it.
How did you get into this?
In the 1990's I taught voice at the University of California, Davis and the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco. Some of my students told me that their health was improving through the voice lessons. I began researching the field of sound healing and read Dr. Mitchell Gaynor's wonderful book, "The Healing Power of Sound," in which he writes about using singing bowls with his cancer patients. I asked the question, "what's a singing bowl?" and the universe gave me a big answer. I started finding singing bowls near my home in San Francisco and soon met Karma Moffett, the long time bell ringer and recording artist who was the first American to start working with singing bowls. My bowl collection started with a set of 12 bowls that I received from Karma. I played the bowls every day and began playing sound offerings and giving sound therapy treatments. I continued adding to my collection - a harmonious set which today numbers 64+ bowls and includes other instruments such as bells, tingsha, cymbals, gongs and drums. As the collection grew and I added new pieces, some old pieces no longer fit harmoniously into the set. Before long, I had several bowls stacked up in the corner and new it was time to offer them to others. By that time, I knew many of the top importers and dealers in the country. I made friends with some Tibetan importers in the San Francisco Bay Area and collected a variety of great antiques to offer for sale. I launched the Himalayan Bowls website in 2001. By offering exceptionally high quality bowls and utilizing unique interactive features, Himalayan Bowls quickly became the number one singing bowl site. Himalayan Bowls is today home to the largest collection of fine antique singing bowls in the world and we also offer a wide selection of new singing bowls and other instruments. I am very grateful to the many thousands of people who have visited over the years from more than 70 countries. I continue to play my bowls for individuals and groups, and still have a couple of those original bowls I received from Karma in my set.
Do you do this full time?
No. I also work in a private practice as a practitioner of the Anat Baniel Method for Children, helping infants and children with special needs. I am a movement specialist helping babies and kids with developmental issues learn to move, walk, talk, eat and improve their function in general. You can learn more about my work, read articles, watch videos and find a practitioner at and . You can try movement lessons yourself at
What happened to Buddha Offering?
Buddha Offering was the website I originally developed for other Tibetan art treasures that I find in Asia. In 2008, Buddha Offering Incense was born and I launched the all new website for these wonderful incense blends. Please visit
Your questions are welcome - please email them to
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Singing Bowls from the Source.
Finest Quality. 100% Genuine Antiques. |
| Harmonically Balanced Singing Bowls for a Peaceful Life. |
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We are sorry . the technology that runs the Himalayan Bowls interactive web site is not compatible with the Safari browser.
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Joseph Feinstein
Founder, Himalayan Bowls
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antique singing bowls
