Crystal singing bowls and Tibetan singing bowls are both used in sound healing, and they are different instruments. At Singing Bowls Australia, sound healing means a relaxation and meditation practice. You sit or lie still, a tone is played, and you listen until it fades. It is not medical care.
We sell crystal singing bowls to people in Australia and overseas. The metal side is here so both instruments are described in the same terms, with the note and the price on each crystal listing.
What each bowl is made of
A crystal singing bowl is quartz crystal, heated and formed into a bowl. The wall may be clear or frosted. Some bowls are infused with a gemstone, a metal or a mineral while they are made, so the colour and the voice belong to the same piece. Paint added later sits on the surface, and the quartz underneath is unchanged. Crystal singing bowls are modern. They came out of quartz work in the 1980s, when crucibles made to grow silicon were found to ring. There is no ancient bowl tradition behind them. We do not connect them to Atlantis, ancient Egypt, or any other past the evidence does not support.
A Tibetan singing bowl is a metal alloy. The usual metal is bronze, copper with tin, and some bowls are brass. Older bowls from Tibet, Nepal, Bhutan and northern India were hammered. Many bowls sold now are cast or spun, and the sound follows that making. A traditional bowl is often said to hold seven metals. The mix differs from bowl to bowl, so we treat that line as a story people repeat, not as a recipe on a label. Quartz is brittle. Bronze is heavy and tough, which is why the mallet and the bag differ.
How they are played
Both bowls can be struck, and both can be sung by circling the outside of the rim.
Rest a larger crystal bowl on a rubber O-ring or a firm cushion. A bowl of about 6 to 8 inches can sit on a flat palm, fingers together, so no fingertip stops the wall. Strike with a suede mallet, held loosely, about halfway down the outer wall, and let the mallet bounce off. Rimming is how the tone keeps going. After the strike, circle a wood-silicon or crystal-silicon mallet on the outside of the rim, low angle, even speed, even pressure, the forearm doing the work. A hard mallet can chip quartz. The holds are written out in our notes on how to play.
A Tibetan bowl is usually struck with a padded wooden mallet, often called a puja mallet, so the metal opens instead of clanging. Rim it with leather or suede, in the same even circle. Metal takes a firmer strike than quartz. A bare stick only scrapes. On either bowl, hear one full decay before you rim. If the start is dull, the mallet is probably still on the wall, or the bowl is touching something.
Sound and sustain
A crystal singing bowl speaks one clear note. The start is like a bell. In a quiet room the tone stays steady, fills the space, and thins into silence. That steady line is why we use crystal bowls for meditation and for a sound bath. A Tibetan bowl is warmer and closer. The strike blooms more slowly, and the tone can seem to move as it rings. That movement is the voice people mean by a Tibetan bowl. A clear note is the easier one to name as a pitch.
Sustain is how long the fundamental continues after you stop. The crystal singing bowls we list sustain a minimum of 18 seconds at room temperature. We check each bowl before it is offered, and we do not claim a longer time than that check. A metal bowl follows its alloy, its thickness and its making. Handmade bronze may ring on. A thin machine-made bowl may die quickly. There is no one sustain that fits every Tibetan bowl.
Tuning
Our crystal bowls are held to a tuning accuracy of plus or minus 5 cents of the stated note. A cent is one hundredth of a semitone, so five cents is a small step from the named pitch. We use that tolerance so a set can ring together. The note on the listing is the note we checked. A row of seven is usually C, D, E, F, G, A and B.
A Tibetan bowl is often sold as the nearest note, sometimes measured with care and sometimes named by ear or with a phone. If several metal bowls must agree, listen to them together. A buzz on one of our bowls is usually the bowl touching the table, the O-ring or another bowl. Move it and listen again.
Portability, fragility and care
A crystal singing bowl can crack from a drop, a knock, or a sudden change of temperature: a hot car into a cold room, or hot water on a cold bowl. Let it reach the temperature of the room. Lift with two hands. Keep it on a cushion or in a padded bag, not on bare tile, and do not nest one bowl inside another. Wrap each bowl when you carry more than one. A chipped rim can buzz from then on. Wipe with a soft cloth and dry the quartz. Keep household cleaners off the crystal and off any coloured surface. Packing in more detail is in our bowl care notes.
A metal bowl is the easier traveller. A large one is heavy, and it will not shatter when the bag is set down, though it can dent and a hard knock can change the tone. Keep the metal dry. A small crystal bowl is easier to carry than a 14 or 16 inch bowl. A crystal singing chalice, held by the stem, is what we use when the crystal has to travel in the hand. A 14 or 16 inch bowl fills a room, and it needs a seat of its own in the car.
Cost
The price we stand behind is the one on our listing, in Australian dollars. A general range for crystal bowls, or for Tibetan bowls, would not be a piece you can buy here, so we leave it off the page.
In quartz, price follows size and finish: clear, frosted, or infused while the bowl was made. A larger bowl uses more quartz. A set costs more than one bowl because several notes have to agree. In metal, price follows hand-hammering or machine work, the weight of the alloy, and any history that is actually documented for that piece. Every crystal bowl we list, and every set, shows its own price. Pickup is free, by appointment, in Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide, so you can hear the bowl first. Email us and we will find a time. A crystal singing bowl set ships worldwide, and the rate is shown at checkout. A single bowl ships within Australia.
A sound bath at home, or a practitioner's room
At home you are both player and listener. One crystal singing bowl, a mallet and a cushion are enough for a sound bath in the room you already have. Ten minutes is a full sitting: strike, wait until the tone is gone, then play again. The sustain is easy to follow when the house is quiet. A Tibetan bowl you already own can be that sitting if you want the warmer voice. Start with one bowl.
A practitioner plays for other people, often several at once, and often in more than one place. You want notes you can name, a tone that reaches the far side of a still room, and packing that arrives whole. A crystal set does the first two when each bowl has its own padding. A metal bowl is simpler on the road, and it is the more ordinary choice when a bowl has to move around a person. Keep a ringing crystal bowl clear of the face and off the body. For close work, the chalice is the crystal instrument that belongs in the hand. Some sessions use both, when a steady tone and a warmer voice are doing different jobs.
Building a crystal singing bowl set
One bowl is a complete instrument. A crystal singing bowl set is the next step once you want more than one note, either for a home sound bath that changes pitch or for playing while other people rest.
A set of seven is usually C, D, E, F, G, A and B, the row often called a chakra set. F is a warm place to begin. We list standard white quartz from 6 to 12 inches and from 8 to 14 inches, and amethyst, morganite and sapphire infused sets. There is a set of three, a white set of three in A, F and D, an Earth Star and Soul Star pair, and a sharps set. A premium white set of seven is made to order. What is in stock, with the price, is on the sets page, beside the wider collection of crystal singing bowls.
A bowl you add later has to match the notes you already have. Plus or minus 5 cents is the tolerance we use so the new bowl can sit with the set. Hearing them in one room, at a pickup appointment, is the sure check.
Side by side
| Crystal singing bowl | Tibetan singing bowl | |
|---|---|---|
| Material | Quartz, heated and formed. Clear, frosted, or infused. | Metal alloy, usually bronze. Hammered, cast or spun. |
| Mallet | Suede to strike. Silicon to circle the rim. | Padded wood to strike. Leather or suede to rim. |
| Sound | Clear, steady, bell-like. | Warmer and busier. The tone can seem to move. |
| Sustain | Ours: minimum 18 seconds, checked per bowl. | Depends on the piece. No single time for all. |
| Tuning | Ours: plus or minus 5 cents of the stated note. | Often the nearest note. Ask how it was measured. |
| Care | Brittle. Two hands, padding, no sudden heat or cold. | Heavier and tougher. It can dent. Keep it dry. |
| Suits | A quiet home sound bath, or a still room of named notes. | A warmer personal meditation, and rougher travel. |
| Our shop | Singles and sets. Price on each. Pickup in Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide. | We do not list metal bowls. |
A home sound bath can begin with one crystal bowl. If you are in Sydney, Melbourne or Adelaide, hear it before you decide. The listing carries the note and the price.
Questions
What is the difference between crystal and Tibetan singing bowls?
Crystal singing bowls are quartz and sound clear and steady. Tibetan singing bowls are metal alloy, usually bronze, and sound warmer and busier. Both are struck or rimmed with a mallet.
Which bowl is better for sound healing?
Sound healing here is a relaxation and meditation practice, not medical care. Choose a clear, steady crystal tone or a warmer, busier Tibetan tone by the sound you want in the room.
How long do your crystal bowls sustain, and how accurate is the tuning?
Our crystal singing bowls sustain a minimum of 18 seconds, and tuning accuracy is plus or minus 5 cents of the stated note. We check both before a bowl is offered. Tibetan sustain depends on that piece of metal.
Are crystal singing bowls fragile?
Quartz can crack if it is dropped, knocked, or moved from hot to cold too fast. Use two hands and a padded bag, and do not nest bowls. Metal is tougher in a bag and can still dent.
Should I start with one bowl or a crystal singing bowl set?
One bowl is enough for a sound bath at home. Choose a crystal singing bowl set when you want several notes. Each set we list shows its price.
Do you sell Tibetan singing bowls?
We sell crystal singing bowls, single and in sets. We do not list Tibetan metal bowls. Hear ours free, by appointment, in Sydney, Melbourne or Adelaide.