A standing bell or resting bell is a bell that is upside-down, held from the bottom with the top part facing up. These bells are usually shaped like bowls and come in many sizes, from a few centimeters to one meter across. They are often played by hitting them, but some—called singing bowls—can also be played by moving a soft cloth-covered stick around the outside edge to create a long, musical note.
Struck bowls are used in some Buddhist religious practices to help with meditation and chanting. Both struck and singing bowls are used for making music, meditation, relaxation, and personal spiritual activities. They are popular with music therapists, sound healers, and yoga teachers.
Standing bells first appeared in China. An early version called nao had the shape of a cup with a stem, held with the top facing up, and was struck with a stick on the outside. The creation and use of bowls designed to "sing" is believed to be a recent development. Bowls that could produce musical tones began to be brought to the West around the early 1970s. Since then, they have become a common instrument in the US-originating new-age music style often called "Tibetan music."
Nomenclature
Standing bells are called by many different names in English. They are sometimes called bowls, basins, cups, or gongs. Other specific names include resting bell, prayer bowl, Buddha bowl, Himalayan bowl, Tibetan bell, rin gong, bowl gong, and cup gong. A bell that can make a long, continuous musical note is often called a singing bowl or Tibetan singing bowl.
In contemporary classical music, other names for these bells include temple bell, Buddha temple bell, Japanese temple bell, Buddhist bell, campana di templo, and cup bell.
In Japan, the name for a standing bell changes depending on the Buddhist sect. It may be called rin (りん), kin (磬), dobachi, keisu, kinsu (きんす), sahari, or uchinarashi, among others. Large temple bells are sometimes called daikin (大磬), while smaller bells used in home altars are known as namarin.
In Chinese, the term qing (磬, or historically 罄) refers to a type of musical instrument made of stone that was used in important ceremonies. This term is now also used for standing bells. Earlier Chinese standing bells were called nao (traditional Chinese: 鐃; simplified Chinese: 铙; pinyin: náo).
Origins and history
There is evidence that metal bells first appeared in China. The oldest known bronze bells, from the Shang dynasty (16th–11th centuries BCE), are among the earliest bronze objects found in China. These bells may have developed from tools used to measure grain, as ancient texts often refer to these tools as "chung" or "grain measure," which can also mean a bell.
Early bronze bells called "nao" show the advanced skills of ancient Chinese people. These bells looked like hollow cups with curved tops and ranged in size from 8 to 50 cm (3.1 to 19.7 in). They were placed on their stems with the curved top facing up and struck with a mallet on the outside. In southern China, nao bells were made individually, while in the north, they were made in sets of three. Some nao bells were designed so that striking them in two different places created two different sounds.
Large bronze bells were made in China as early as the 13th–11th centuries BCE. The spread of Buddhism between the 2nd and 7th centuries CE encouraged the creation of larger bells for religious ceremonies. Unlike other traditions, Chinese culture used both bronze and cast-iron to make bells.
Some people suggest that modern singing bowls may have come from bowls used for eating, but others disagree. They argue that eating bowls would not need thick edges or special design to control how they sound.
Although some say "Tibetan singing bowls" have roots in an ancient Bon-Po tradition before Buddhism, historical records do not mention singing bowls being used for music. Visitors to Tibet, like Perceval Landon in the early 1900s, did not write about singing bowls. Missionaries studying Tibetan healing practices also did not mention them. Today, many bowls sold as "Tibetan singing bowls" are actually made in northern India or Nepal and are not originally from Tibet or used in rituals.
Operation
These objects are a type of bell. A bell is a hollow object that vibrates most strongly at the open edge, while a gong vibrates most strongly in the center. They are often placed on a pillow to let the edge vibrate freely. Smaller bells may be held gently in the hand instead.
These bells are usually played by striking them. When struck, they produce a musical note as a type of struck idiophone, which is classified as 111.242.11 in the Hornbostel–Sachs system.
Some bells can also be played as "singing bowls," which are a type of friction idiophone classified as 133.1 in the same system. To play them this way, a wooden mallet, sometimes called a wand or puja, is moved around the outside edge of the bowl. This action creates continuous vibrations through a process called the slip-stick mechanism. This works similarly to how water-tuned musical glasses produce sound. The loudness of the sound depends on how fast the mallet moves and how much force is used.
Singing bowls can be partially filled with water, which helps tune them. A Chinese version called a "spouting bowl" has handles. When these handles are rubbed with damp hands, water droplets jump up due to patterns called Chladni patterns on the water’s surface. These bowls may have been made as early as the 5th century BCE.
The way these bowls vibrate has been studied in many experiments. When played with a puja, they move in both radial and tangential directions, creating stable and unstable vibrations. The unstable vibration moves around the bowl at the same speed as the puja, causing a sound called "beating" to be heard, even if the bowl is perfectly symmetrical. Rattling or chattering may occur if the puja is harder, the contact force is weaker, or the speed is faster. Scientists have also studied how these bowls respond to vibrations caused by loudspeakers. Research has looked at how bowls filled with water react to changes in temperature and how water droplets are ejected from the surface. A 2011 BBC report included slow-motion video from one of these studies.
Usage
Standing bells are used for religious activities, music, meditation, and to help people relax and feel better. They are often used by music therapists, sound healers, and people who practice yoga or meditation.
In religious settings, standing bells are mainly linked to Buddhist meditation and chanting, though they are also used in Taoist traditions. In Chinese Buddhist temples, prayers are sometimes interrupted by striking a qing, which is a hammered bronze bowl about 10 to 15 centimeters (3.9 to 5.9 inches) wide. The qing is usually used with a muyu, a wooden block. In Japanese temples, a rin (a bell) is used along with a rei (a small hand bell) and two other instruments: an orugoru (a set of small gongs) and a kei (a stone or metal plate). The rin is also used in home worship. Buddhist rituals do not use the "singing" way of making a bell sound.
A 1968 reference describes a rare instrument called the "celuring-set," which was found only in central Javanese regions. It had a large decorated frame with bronze bowls shaped like half coconuts, struck with a small iron bar.
Bowls that can produce musical tones began to be brought to the West in the early 1970s. Musicians Henry Wolff and Nancy Hennings are credited with introducing singing bowls for music in their 1972 album Tibetan Bells (though they did not describe the bowls used). This album was the first in a series of five related recordings released between 1972 and 1991. These albums focus on spiritual journeys, with music as a guide.
Wolff and Hennings’ recording inspired the creation of a style of American music called "Tibetan music." This style became popular in the United States, with many recordings labeled as "World music" or "New-age music" since the 1980s. As a result, "Tibetan singing bowls" have become a common symbol of Tibet in the U.S., often shown as bowls played by Americans.
Standing bells and bowls are included in several modern classical music pieces, such as Les Uns by Philipe Leroux (2001), Double Music by John Cage and Lou Harrison (1941), Total Eclipse by Taverner (1999), Marco Polo by Tan Dun (1995), Lè by Joyce Bee Tuan Koh (1997), and Eating Variations by Robert Paterson (2006). In Japan, they are also used in kabuki theater.
Longplayer is a musical piece for Tibetan bells created by Jem Finer. It uses six short musical selections played at the same time, each at different pitches and speeds, so that no combination repeats for 1,000 years.
In the West, singing bowls are sometimes used in alternative medicine. Their popularity for this purpose may come from studies on vibrations called Cymatics, conducted by doctor Hans Jenny (1904–1972). They are also used in sound therapy and for personal spirituality by people who believe the sound affects energy centers in the body called chakras. Western recordings of "Tibetan music" often connect singing bowls to relaxation and claim they can help heal or create a different mental state. Some argue that this different mental state—whether meditative, spiritual, or linked to other experiences—is a key reason "Tibetan music" is popular in the U.S. and increases the value of how Tibet is represented there.
Manufacture and composition
Most standing bells are made mostly of bell metal, which is a mixture of copper and tin. Sometimes, other materials or small amounts of other metals are added. The colors of the alloy can vary, which shows that the composition of the metal may differ. These bells are usually shaped like bowls and come in many sizes, ranging from a few centimeters to one meter in diameter.
Some sources say that singing bowls are traditionally made from an alloy containing several metals, often seven, each linked to a celestial body. Commonly listed metals include gold, silver, mercury, copper, iron, tin, and lead (or antimony). A 1996 study by Concordia University analyzed two singing bowls and found they were mostly bell metal, with small amounts of other metals like lead, zinc, iron, and silver. No gold or mercury was detected within the accuracy of the testing equipment.
Singing bowls are sometimes said to include meteoritic iron. Some modern "crystal" bowls are made from crushed synthetic crystal that has been reshaped.
The usual method for making standing bells involves pouring melted metal and then shaping it by hand with hammers. Modern bells or bowls may be made this way, or they may be shaped using machines.
After being made, some bells or bowls are decorated with inscriptions, such as messages of goodwill, or with patterns like rings, stars, dots, or leaves. Bowls from Nepal sometimes have inscriptions written in the Devanagari script.