How to Make Tibetan Singing Bowls

Tibetan or Himalayan singing bowls, mainly used by

Hindus and Buddhists, are a useful aid to the
practice of meditation, relaxation and religious
ceremony. A player will sit in a calm and non-
inhibiting environment in a comfortable position with
the singing bowl on the front of the palm and make
a humming sound by rubbing a striker around the
rim. These bowls, made of metal alloys, wood or
crystal and sometimes wrapped in leather, are
made my skilled artisans and craftsmen.
Instructions
1
ix together and melt the raw metal alloys !copper, tin, "inc, iron# in an open
furnace !crucible# with an exit orifice and a heating temperature of $,%&' degrees
(elsius.
2
)emove the hot melted alloys from the crucible and use a dice !a metal block used
for forming materials like sheet metal and plastic# to pour the hot li*uid into an
already prepared sand mold.
'
Take the round metal sheets and roll and turn by hand beating or hammering to the
desired si"e and weight and thickness of the bowl.
+
Take four or five of the metal sheets prepared above and pile them atop one
another while simultaneously heating them to a ,red hot, burn. The heated metal
sheets should then be hammered until the heat remains in the metal which is them
beaten into the shape of the singing bowl.
-
(ontinue the heating and beating process with the sheets until a desired shape
and si"e bowl forms. The metal should be kept hot in order for it to stay pliable. .f
allowed to cool too soon, it will become hard and will break or crack under the
pressure of being hammered.
/
0nce the bowl is of a desired shape and consistency, begin the process of final
hammering to fine tune and smooth and shape the bowl with more detail and to
prepare it for the finishing touches.
1
(lean and smooth the singing bowl either by hand sanding it to a matte finish or by
buffing or polishing it for a more glossy finish. .f desired, use the etching tools and
chisels and paints for decorating the bowls with hand carvings, anti*ue staining,
colors or for engraved designs. 2inished bowls will vary in tonal *uality and
harmonic sound depending on the shape, si"e, weight and thickness, but in all,
singing bowls have only two true tones.
&
3se the rubber mallet or the 45u6a4 you have purchased to bring out the true sound
*uality of the 7inging Bowl. 8hatever you use as a striker, be sure to strike the
edges of the bowl closest to the rims for the gong sound and rub the insides of the
bowl closest to the rim for a continuous echo or ringing sound. 7triking the bowl,s
bottom will give you more of a timpanic sound.