The video below (Windows Media Player) shows the bowl being played. By partially filling the bowl with water (to the right level) you can sometimes get the water to dance and form a fountain that actually sprays up into the air! Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get it to happen here--water level is critical and takes some experimentation! Also, in the video, I didn't get the low note to come out fully, but listen to the audio sample below to hear it--and, trust me, the vibration is much more intense in person!

Bowl being played (from video).

 

Download and watch video (Windows Media Player): Bowl being played (3.2 MB).

Rim detail shows engraving around bowl:

Larger Photo

Inside rim detail shows engraving on rim and inside hammer marks:

Larger Photo

Inside bowl showing circular engraving in bottom:

Larger Photo

Upside-down view shows hand-hammer marks:

Larger Photo

Bottom view:

Larger Photo

Singing bowls produce their singing tones in different ways. The first thing you will need is a 'gong beater'. The size of this beater depends on the bowl being struck. There are no real guidelines for this.

'Gong beaters' are beaters for percussion instruments, especially those covered with felt or fleece. It is a matter of trial and error, as every bowl has its own special requirements. One bowl will sound better with a softer beater, while others need a harder beater.

As a rule, a larger gong beater will produce the full richness of sound in a large bowl, while it is better to use smaller beaters for the smaller bowls. In fact, many different beaters can be used on any bowl. Every beater produces a different sound from the range of the basic note and its harmonics. Apart from the recognised gong beaters covered with felt, fleece, cork, rope or wood, you can use your own hands as percussion instruments - the heel of the hand, the fingers, the nails...

If you enjoy experimenting, you can try using almost anything as a beater. You can use just one beater or try working with two of the same shape. If you give full rein to your ingenuity and your love for playing the singing bowls, you will discover many surprises.

Another way to set the tones in the bowl ringing is to rub a hard stick around the rim of the bowl. This produces a similar effect to rubbing a wet finger along the rim of a crystal glass. A full singing tone is heard and steadily increases in volume. This accounts for the term: 'singing bowls'. According to some authorities, the former shamans of the Himalayas also used the singing bowls in this way to produce the singing sound. It is best to rub with a round stick or club made of hard wood. Again, the thinner the stick, the higher the tone that is produced. Thus it is best to use a fairly thin stick on smaller bowls with a high tone.

It is extremely difficult to work on really large bowls with a thin stick. The vibration of the rim of a large bowl can be so great that the stick begins to 'dance' and this results in an unpleasant rattling sound.

You can prevent this rattling in several ways. You can press firmly and evenly against the rim of the bowl while you are turning it to prevent the stick from rattling. It is also possible to use a thicker stick. The pestle of a large wooden mortar could be very suitable. Finally, there is another technique which does not involve rubbing the stick around the rim of the bowl, but consists of rubbing it backwards and forwards in one particular place on the rim. It is often easier to use this method to produce a singing tone with a really large singing bowl.

With all these methods, the pressure and the speed at which the bowl is rubbed have an influence on the sound and the pitch of the tone produced.

The penetrating singing sound that is created by rubbing the bowl is due to the fact that in this way one of the harmonics is accentuated and developed. To avoid the sound of wood on metal from becoming unpleasant many owners of singing bowls put tape on their sticks on the actual part that touches the bowl. This tape should be strong and smooth to avoid any abrasive sound and to prevent the tape being worn away by the rubbing. Clingfilm, such as the transparent sort used to cover books, also works very well.

This summary shows that really anything is possible. Many people make their own sticks for their bowls. I have seen sticks made of flannel wrapped around hard rope, sticks made of a long strip of felt boiled in starch and then wrapped tightly around the stick. Other rubbing sticks were covered with the inner tube of a bicycle or made from a wooden pan handle. Personally, I sometimes use the fork of a teak wood salad server set which, if it is used carefully, produces a marvellous, clear high tone with some of my bowls.

The handle of the bell is the knob of the dorje, resting on a moon disc. Underneath there is a face.

According to one view, this is the face of the goddess or female Bodhisattva, Prajnaparamita, the incarnation of complete transcendental wisdom; according to another view, it is the face of Viarocana, the incarnation of universal truth, Dharma.

Looking at the outside of the bell from above, you see a mandala (illustrated in the circle on p. 72).

From the centre down to the edge, this contains the following components: a circle of eight lotus leaves, which forms the mandala of the voice of the gods, with the mantras of the five Jinas written in the leaves. There is a broad decorative strip all around this, which often contains dorjes.

The outer (bottom) edge is filled with exactly 51 dorjes, which represent the 51 small unknowns which can be resolved by the effect of the bell.

The sound mantra of the bell is the 'OM' ('AUM') sound, which symbolizes perfection and is seen as the sound of the body, voice and spirit of Buddha, as well as being a symbol of the voice of all the gods together.

In a so-called 'peaceful' dorje, the ends of the spokes come together; in an 'angry' dorje, the spokes are separate. Ritual objects such as the bell, dagger and hatchet have a handle with one knob of a dorje; individual separate dorjes have two knobs; there are also double dorjes (visvavajra) with four knobs, but these are rare and almost only found in illustrations. The top half of the dorje represents the male side; the bottom half is the female side.

From top to bottom, we see the following aspects:
First, there are the five spokes, the symbol of the five Jinas (transcendental Buddhas), which represent the five forms of mystical wisdom. The four spokes on the outside each emerge from the open maw of a sea monster; this symbolizes the liberation from the cycle of reincarnation.
Underneath there is a hemisphere with eight lotus leaves, representing the eight Bodhisattvas. The centre of the dorje is a globe, the symbol of synthesis, the point in which everything is enclosed.
The bottom half of the dorje is the mirror image of the top half. Here, the eight lotus leaves represent the eight dakinis (also called goddesses) of the Bodhisattvas, and the five spokes symbolize the five Buddhadakinis, or 'mothers'.