Sound Bowls
What is so special about the singing bowls from the Peter Hess workshops?
The manufacturing process of a singing bowl
Why is Peter Hess ® Therapy Quality singing bowl so valuable?
Care of the singing bowls
All Peter Hess® bowls at a glance
Singing Bowl & body range
What is so special about the singing bowls from the Peter Hess workshops?
The Peter Hess ® Therapy Quality singing bowl with all its vibration and sound characteristics has been developed especially for the sound massage. Considerable importance was placed on the need for the vibrational characteristics of the singing bowl to correspond with the body areas frequency spectra. The singing bowl is in the sound. The sound spectrum is very rich in overtones and responds flexibly, without frequency skipping or noise, and free from inappropriate overtones (such as high challenging tones). The design and manufacture is based on the ancient knowledge of the production and the material composition.
The most important parameter for the optimisation of Peter Hess bowls are the millions of past experiences with singing bowls in Peter Hess-sound massage framework. Reflections from this practice, findings from research and a resulting development flow continuously into the production. Thereby the unique quality singing bowls emerged, for the sound massage and therapy work with singing bowls.
Peter Hess ® Therapy Quality singing bowls – consist of a bronze alloy most advantageous for the development of sound and vibration. To partly honour the tradition of singing bowls, 10 metals more are added to the bowls only in homeopathic potencies. So, to each batch of molten metal for singing bowls we add, among other things, a piece of an old sound bowl.
The traditional metals in an old singing bowl:
- Gold * – Sun
- Silver* – Moon
- Mercury * – Mercury
- Copper – Venus
- Iron * – Mars
- Lead * – Saturn
- Tin – Jupiter
Other metals are:
- Zinc * – acts against stress states
- Meteoric * – promotes energy and activity
- Bismuth * – promotes the digestive system
- Galena * – against arthritis
- Pyrite * – to strengthen the lungs
- * = under 0.05%
The manufacturing process of a singing bowl
The alloy is produced according to old recipes, whereby we have increased the proportion of tin to improve the sound quality. The metal alloy is firstly cast as a thick disk and then forged in the glowing state to a singing bowl by four to five craftsmen in perfect rhythm. The singing bowl has to be repeatedly heated to incandescence. Depending on the size, the singing bowl is heated 20 to 90 times. Those multiple heating and cooling (quenching) operations advance the singing bowl to particularly good sound. Last subtleties in the form of the singing bowl are achieved by certain forging techniques. The singing bowl is then cleaned by hand scraping and thus gets its shiny surface.
The Peter Hess® therapy singing bowl is of a quality that is not otherwise found on the market. This singing bowl are the result of the diverse experiences that have been made since 1984 with the Peter Hess-sound massage and consistently implemented in the development of singing bowls.
They have set up their own workshops. The production is controlled by appropriate experts, inter alia, by an experienced metal engineering. Rigorous controls guarantee compliance with high quality standards.
Why is Peter Hess ® Therapy Quality singing bowl so valuable?
Use of pure materials
We only use pure quality metals, thereby, producing pure and high-quality sound, among other guarantees. Many other manufacturers use scrap metals in the manufacture. This significantly reduces production costs.
High tin contents
Tin is a very expensive raw material, our singing bowls have an optimally high tin content. It is often reduced in the production of bowls or replaced with lead (or zinc) because tin costs 8 to 10 times as much as lead or zinc.
Elaborate forging technology
Our singing bowls are forged from a cast ingot and not made out of a rolled sheet. This means about 30% more work compared to the efficient production. Forging technology we use, produce the singing bowls resonating longer and more evenly. Singing bowls, which are manufactured from rolled sheet metal, do not reach this sound quality by far.
High quality standard
Approximately 320 kg of Peter Hess® Therapy Quality singing bowls is produced from 1000 kg of high-grade bronze. This is partly because the bowls which do not meet our quality standards are removed from the production process. These singing bowls are then remelted and suffer material losses (for example, upon evaporation of the metals). In the “fine tuning” or polishing of the singing bowl, fine metal chips are dislodged and can be used again only with great losses (by evaporation during melting).
Good working conditions and fair wages for our workers
We provide good working conditions for fair wages. We check that no child labor is taking place in our production sites and there are regular working hours. In addition, the workers receive financial support in case of illness and at large ritual feasts in the family or in the religious society.
Strict quality controls
Although initially graded in Nepal and India, some of the manufactured sound bowls do not match demands of our quality seal for Peter Hess® therapy singing bowl – to obtain professional therapeutic quality. All bowls are re-examined in Germany for their quality and are then classified into the quality grades. All bowl sets are individually assembled in Germany.
We support the association “OPPORTUNITIES – Education in Nepal”
Purpose of the association is to promote charitable causes in Nepal with emphasis on the area of education and youth services. In conjunction with the charitable organisation “Boris Hess Foundation” in Bhaktapur or other nonprofit organisations in Nepal, free education, shelter, food and adequate health care should be made possible for primarily underprivileged children.
More information, www.chancen-nepal.de
The quality is our top priority. A good quality of course in the high production costs at a price. If our singing bowls appear more expensive, in some cases, they are still reasonably priced compared to the quality of the other bowls.
Incidentally, you will also find inexpensive yet very good singing bowls on offer.
Care of the singing bowls
The bowls are made of different metals, thereby forming galvanic elements, i.e. there is a tension between two dissimilar metals. It promotes corrosion when these metals come into contact with salt or acid liquids.
So you see, for example, in the singing bowl, which was previously in contact with salt water and was not cleaned afterwards that Copper portions increasingly come to the surface after some time. This can be seen as a reddish-brown spot. For this reason, a singing bowl should be protected against salt and acidic liquids and always cleaned.
Therefore, after finishing the singing bowls in Nepal and India, the singing bowls are cleaned well, and as protection a thin layer of mustard oil is applied to the surface. It will then be handled only with gloves (so as not to leave the salty sweat residue on the surface). Also corrosion opportunity would arise due to the salt air during the sea transport .
In Nepal, the bowls are cleaned with the rice straw ashes. The ash is moistened with water and the bowl cleaned via prolonged rubbing. This results in a clean surface. Particularly this process allows us to recognise the authenticity of the singing bowl in a very old singing bowls that have been cleaned for decades or even centuries. The hammer marks which have arisen during the forging of the bowls were smoothed gently through thousandfold cleaning. The rather sharp edge is gently rounded in the same way. So you can tell by careful observation if a singing bowl is really old or has been artificially aged to thereby obtain a better price . After cleaning with the ashes of rice straw, the bowl is then finally rubbed with mustard oil and desensitised.
In European latitudes,the singing bowl generally requires no special protection. But if you want to protect your bowls and the “Nepali variety” is too cumbersome, then why not try the following:
A mixture of a cup of cheap vinegar (about 150-200 ml) stir with four-five tablespoons of dissolved salt and leave this mixture on the surface of the bowl for a three-five minutes (this will cause a galvanic process ). Thereafter, the surface must be thoroughly cleaned with water, so that salt or acid residues are no longer present. Then the completely dried with a soft cloth bowl, should be ever so slightly rubbed with beeswax, mustard or olive oil. This thin protective layer should be polished in until no residue remains when setting the singing bowl (for example on the clothes).
We clean and polish our singing bowls and gongs with the cleaning stone, a biodegradable cleaning paste.
The colour of the singing bowl will change over time, depending on how often it is cleaned. If you want to get the golden gloss, they should be cleaned regularly (about every two months) .
It is of course a matter of taste, in which patina you want your bowl. The cleansing does not affect the sound of the bowl as the rule. Only when over long period time some metal is removed by the cleaning, there may be slight changes in the sound. However, this would usually be at least after 20-30 years and is not noticeable in everyday use.
You decide for yourself, how you deal with your singing bowls. For example, two different people bought an old, heavily soiled similar singing bowl from Nepal from Peter. One shows him the next day full of pride his high gloss, shiny, gold singing bowl, and told him how he did it. The other comes after a few years with his singing bowl and is also full of pride, because in his singing bowl the “holy” dirt of Tibet is still like at the time of purchase.
All Peter Hess® bowls at a glance
Peter Hess is the pioneer in the development of special bowls for sound and therapy work. There were no bowls on the market that met requirements of our method. Therefore for many years now, we have produced the singing bowls in our own workshops to our high quality standards, manufactured under socially acceptable conditions, of pure materials in old manufacturing technique.
Peter Hess ® Therapeutic Quality sound bowls
Our top product among the bowls – from practice with the sound massage since 1984!
The Peter Hess therapy singing bowl with all its vibration and sound characteristics has been developed especially for the sound and therapy work.
We place considerable importance on the need for the vibrational characteristics of the singing bowl to correspond with the parts of the body frequency spectra. The singing bowl must sound harmoniously, without any frequency jumps or noise and without inappropriate overtones. These singing bowls have a particularly clear harmonic tone production and clean overtones. The sound spectrum must sound rich in overtones and respond flexibly. These are some of the important features of the Peter Hess® Therapy Singing Bowls. We manufacture bowls based on the old tradition. In order to improve the vibration behaviour and the sound of our bowls, we have made some changes in the metal composition and the manufacturing steps performed, based on years of experience and testing.
Peter Hess – Assam sound bowls
We have this singing bowl borrowed its name from the area, from which comes its original flat shape. The Assam singing bowl is characterised by a very clear sound which, according to the shape of the bowl is open compared to the Zen singing bowl. These bowls are not forged but cast. They are used especially for the head area.
Peter Hess – ZEN sound bowls
The cast Zen singing bowls are modelled on Japanese Rin Bowls. Due to their special metal composition and production, however, the sound spectrum is much more intense. The sound of this singing bowl is comparable to that of a tuning fork.
Zen singing bowls are used primarily for the head area and wherever attention is to be directed. They are also wonderful for introducing and ending of meditations.
Singing Bowl & body range
Based on over 20 years of our experience in working with singing bowls in the sound massage, sound massage therapy and sound pedagogy we could optimise the bowls in sound and vibration behaviour and form more and more versions . That is, the bowls are manufactured specifically for the sound massage and therapeutic work. Depending on the body area, there are singing bowls made which allow their sound spectrum address a specific part of the body. Following sound bowls types have been developed for our work:
“Head bowl”
Thin singing bowl with a vibrating, high sound and is suitable for face and sinuses.
Small and large “heart bowl”
The frequencies of these bowls will appeal particularly to the upper body area. The small heart bowl was specially developed for work with children, but also very often used in the normal sound massage. The large heart bowl is ideal for professional use.
Small and large “pelvis (belly)bowl”
Pelvic bowls provide a sound suitable for the abdomen, which can be varied with different mallets. Struck with a large (soft) mallet, generate the low frequencies for the abdomen, a medium (medium hard) mallet generate the frequencies for the solar plexus (the area above the navel).
“Joint or universal bowl”
Has a wide spectrum of sounds, which serves the entire body and is characterised by an intense vibration. It is particularly suitable to be used in hand or foot reflex zones or at the joints.
Gong in the sound massage
The gong can be called a special form of a singing bowl and equipped with the sound characteristics to the same family. It is made of a bronze alloy.
The special flat shape of the gong creates a much more intense development of sound and sound radiation than in the bowls. Therefore a particularly mindful use of gongs for sound massage is called for.