The Mastery Book of

Himalayan Singing Bowls

A Musical, Spiritual and Healing Perspective

\
by
Emile de Leon
The Mastery Book of Himalayan Singing Bowls. Copyright © 2012 by Emile
de Leon. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced
in any manner whatsoever, including internet usage, without written
permission from Temple Sounds Publishing except in the case of brief
quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

First Edition
First Printing, 2012

Photography: Emile de Leon

Photographic Model: Nomita Ramchandani
Layout and Editing: Melissa Vivigatz

Publisher’s Cataloging-in-Publication data

de Leon, Emile.
The Mastery book of Himalayan singing bowls : a musical , spiritual , and
healing perspective / by Emile de Leon.
p. cm.
ISBN 978-0-9882661-0-0

1. Singing bowl. 2. Singing bowl --Therapeutic use. 3. Healing --Himalaya

Mountains Region. 4. Music for meditation. 5. Music for yoga. 6. New Age
music. 7. Tibetans --Music. 8. Music--Himalaya Mountains Region. I. Title.

RZ999 .D45 2012

615.8/52 --dc23 2012948143

Although the author and publisher have made every effort to ensure that the
information in this book was correct at press time, the author and publisher
do not assume and hereby disclaim any liability to any party for any loss,
damage, or disruption caused by errors or omissions, whether such errors or
omissions result from negligence, accident, or any other cause.
This book is not intended as a substitute for the medical advice of physicians.
The reader should regularly consult a physician in matters relating to his/her
health and particularly with respect to any symptoms that may require
diagnosis or medical attention.
Some names and identifying details have been changed to protect the privacy
of individuals.

If you are unable to order this book from your local book seller, you may
order directly from Temple Sounds Publishing.

Temple Sounds Publishing

228 William Street
Middletown, CT 06457
e-mail: [email protected]
Tel: 860-347-3220 * Website: www.templesounds.net
Emile de Leon performs live with the singing bowls at various
Tibetan festivals, meditation and yoga centers, has made guest
appearances on television and radio shows as a speaker to discuss
the Tibetan bowls and headlined a benefit concert for the Tibetan
Nuns Project. Emile also conducts workshops in wellness centers
across the East Coast regarding the spiritual and healing aspects
of Tibetan singing bowls.

Emile de Leon is available for public and private concert

performances and group meditations, commercial studio
recordings and music licensing for television and film as well as
personal productions requiring the Tibetan singing bowls.

Emile de Leon is a member of SESAC.

 CONTENTS

Introduction Page 1

Different Kinds Of Bowls Page 8

How To Pick A Good Bowl Page 33

Mallets And Basic Playing Techniques Page 51

Advanced Techniques Page 76

Meditation With The Bowls Page 109

Healing With The Bowls Page 126

The Care Of Singing Bowls Page 162

Psychic Experiences With The Bowls Page 174

Sonic Alchemy Page 186

Glossary Page 215

 CHAPTER ONE:
DIFFERENT KINDS OF BOWLS

Beginning the search for a good sounding Tibetan singing bowl

may be a little confusing at first as many sizes, shapes and
tonalities are available. For those just starting out on this journey
it is good to have some knowledge at hand for a wise choice to
be made that will continue to satisfy in the years to come.
Before acquiring your singing bowl, it sometimes is good for
a decision to be made early on as to what the bowl’s intended
use will be, i.e. its function. Consider for a moment what size
bowl might be best to perform that function well. Do you want
the best bowl possible as in professional meditation and healing
services or a less expensive beginner bowl? Do you wish to carry
a smaller or larger bowl? Or perhaps own a set?

There are a wide range of sizes to choose from and these

generally start at 3” in diameter at the smallest, up to 21” for the
largest size.
The majority of bowls you most commonly will see will be in

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 Emile de Leon

the 4” to 6” diameter range. There will be higher and lower

quality bowls within all of the available size categories. This is
subjectively determined by the sound timbre as well as the
fineness and overall construction and its physical condition.
Unfortunately, not all singing bowls are of stellar sound quality
even if at a quick glance they may look beautiful to the eye.
Sometimes a shiny new looking bowl won’t play very well, while
in contrast to that, an ancient dark one might amaze with its
beautiful tones.
This happened to my friend while traveling in Nepal on his
first trip there. In searching through hundreds of bowls he came
to notice a very tiny dark bowl somewhat hidden in the pile. At
first sight he was going to reject it, but just for curiosity’s sake
he decided to play the bowl, and surprise, it turned out to be one
of the best he found on the whole trip.
A few years later the same thing happened to me. While on my
first trip to Nepal and going through multitudes of bowls I came
across a tiny, very dark one and it is now in my collection being
a stellar sound performer. Sometimes when you search for bowls
overseas they can be quite dirty from years of just sitting around
so be sure to check them out carefully.

It is important to remember that the higher quality bowls are

quantified by the tonal quality of the sound, and this is dependent
upon two important things: the skill of the maker and the mixture
of the metals. It is said that the more expensive and rare metals
(gold and silver) and the more sophisticated alloys will produce
the rich, full-bodied sounds which the singing bowls are famous
for. In the case of lower quality bowls, they will produce a sound,
but not with the beautiful, melodious long tones that the higher
quality instruments do. Note that most of the lower quality bowls
are made quickly for commercial purposes and not for their
esoteric sound function. As a theoretical rule the higher quality
bowls are said to use more elements and the lower quality ones
simpler metallic combinations without the rarer elements. The
real test for the best sonic qualities is realized though by carefully
playing and listening to each bowl’s unique sound in person.
A third lesser known determiner of sound quality is more subtle
and revolves around the bowl’s personal history and aura: How
it was played and when, and in what circumstances. And even
more importantly, for how long. The age of the bowl can be a

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 The Mastery Book of Himalayan Singing Bowls

very important factor as sonic vibrations will change the bowl’s

timbre for the better over time.
There are no hard or set rules for the correct musical seasoning
of a singing bowl. One of the most important factors for the best
sound though is related to how the bowl was originally
constructed and who did the pouring and hammering of the
metals. An experienced craftsman with a great ear will always
make the best bowls. The proportions of the metals are important
too, but not as important as the actual craftsmanship. Metal
smiths had their well kept family secrets, especially in
relationship to temperature control, hammering and finer aspects
of bowl construction that are not easily duplicated even if the
elemental proportions are known. When asked if they can
produce today the finest quality bowls as in ancient times, the
invariable answer from contemporary bowl makers is no. The
reason cited is that the secret knowledge to make the best grade
antique bowls has been lost forever.
But I think there is hope yet for perhaps one intrepid individual
to dedicate his life to the reacquisition of this lost knowledge.
However, this will take a very unique person who is part
musician, part metal smith, and part artist who is willing to ferret
out this information gleaned from the great bowls already made
and reconstruct them. I have seen this done in the Turkish cymbal
world by one individual in Italy who did exactly this. No one
thought it could be done, but after decades of searching, casting
and hammering, it was accomplished. Cymbals are not so
different from singing bowls in this regard.
Most of the bowls contain a large amount of copper and a lesser
amount of tin. The tin is usually between ten percent to thirty
percent of the mixture with copper comprising the rest unless
there are other elements added. There are many myths here
regarding elemental composition, but we can be relatively sure
that most bowls are of a bronze mixture, which is the alloy of
copper and tin. Sometimes there is trace silver as well and this
adds brilliance to the sound. Iron in the form of meteorite was
used as well as other elements such as gold in some bowls.
Many cymbals and gongs contain similar metallic proportions
and the creation and development of these instruments took place
largely in the Bronze Age. Some bronze instruments such as
smaller finger cymbals stretch back seven thousand years in their
development. There is much evidence though that mankind is

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 Emile de Leon

much older than previously thought and that his musical

inventions may be older as well.

There is always a striving for the best combination of elements

and hammering for the perfect instrument and sound. Only a
rare percentage make this grade.

If a bowl is well made and with a good and balanced tone it

will most likely only get better with age. On the other hand, if it
started its life off with a poor construction and sound quality
don’t expect much improvement.
An aircraft engineer once explained it to me this way. When
metallic substances vibrate over a long period of time, these
vibrations transform the metal into a more malleable form. The
internal molecular structure of the metal actually undergoes
physical changes from what the original internal composition of
the object was. This can be very good for metallic musical
instruments such as singing bowls and cymbals because as the
bowl is continually played and the metal vibrates, the instrument
over the years becomes less stiff to play and much easier to
tonally manage with a warmer sound that reflects these internal
changes.

ANTIQUE vs. NEW

There is not much debate in the fact that the best quality
antiques will always trump newly made bowls no matter how
well they are constructed or how good they sound. However, it
is also good to remember that some of the newer bowls can rise
to excellence too and should not be discounted as a viable option
for a good sound experience. Some of these modern bowls are
in fact quite surprising how well they play, yet just like the
antiques, only a small percentage of these will rise to the grade
of A quality. As a rough estimate only about one to five percent
of the antiques will sound excellent while about ten to twenty
percent of the new bowls will sound really good. There is
definitely a certain special something in the good antique bowls
that is glaringly absent in the newer ones though. It could be the
gold and silver, or the years of ageing, or the smelting and
hammering, but you can definitely hear it in the warmth and tone
of the older versus the newer. The best older bowls contain a

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 Buy the book to read more!
The Mastery Book of Himalayan Singing Bowls
A Musical, Spiritual and Healing Perspective
By Emile de Leon

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