The Beau
ty Of The Handle Bowl
During a slow weekend morning, I was sitting in bed and decided to take a handle bowl down from its wall holder, and play it. It is not a 440hz or 432hz bowl, just an off-pitch F bowl, that I just love. I started tap it with a gentle rhythm, and tone with the sound, and my wife joined in with the toning. It was not a serious meditation, just a light a fun toning session during a sleepy morning. The experience really captured the dynamic beauty of the handle bowl for me, as an almost necessary part of a crystal bowl collection.
Handle bowls are essentially a clear quartz crystal bowl with a crystal tube fused onto it. You hold the bowl in one hand, with the striker in the other hand, and play it just as you would any other crystal bowl; except, the handle bowl does not need to rest on the floor. You can take your handle bowl and play it standing up, sitting down, lying down, lounging on a chair, while frolicking through the woods, moving it across your whole body, or another person’s body. With a frosted bowl, or a clear bowl, there is set up necessary. You need to take the time to place the bowl on the floor, to get your body in the right position, and then you can play it. The handle bowl allows for spontaneity, as you can just pick it up, wherever you are, and don’t need to be anywhere in particular to play it. You can be in bed, you can be at work, you can be lying in your recliner, or hanging out by the pool. It is truly a liberating and dynamic crystal bowl instrument in this way.
Handle bowls are especially useful for bodywork practitioners. As the vibration exits the bowl, the bowl can be placed all over the body, with that vibration felt in the body. You can place the bowl over a participant’s heart, belly, third eye, over their head, or close to their ears, drawing in extra attention to the areas that are being worked with.
Handle bowls are also loud instruments that somewhat rival the power of a frosted bowl. Clear bowls on their own are quieter then frosted bowls, as they are light weight and can’t handle as much vibration. With the addition of the handle to the clear bowl, the handle bowl can be played louder than clear bowls can manage. You can almost fill a room with sound with a handle bowl, which you can’t do easily with a clear bowl. But you also get the beautiful tone of a clear bowl, without any of the grating noise that typically comes from a frosted bowl.
You can buy a handle bowl that would work harmoniously with the rest of the crystal bowls you have, however it is difficult to play a handle bowl with other crystal bowls, as you need both hands to play a handle bowl. You would need to play a handle bowl, put it down, and then play other instruments. In this way, handle bowls are great stand-alone instruments. As you look around for your handle bowl, just try to find a note that you really like, that you can tone easily to, and that you find moving. It really is as simple as that.
Jonathan Wood
Development Manager
Sunreed Instruments