Here is a review of our top suggestions for crystal bowl strikers
Strikers for Empyrean and Frosted Crystal Bowls
Generally, the quartz crystal striker is the best mallet for frosted or empyrean crystal singing bowls. This is why:
1) They have a good weight, and are easy to hold in hand. The feeling of the crystal rod is nice on the skin.
2) The silicon casing for the striker strongly minimizes contact noise between the bowl and the mallet, so you get more of the pure sound of the bowl. It gets rid of 95% of the contact noise on frosted bowls, and all contact noise on empyrean bowls.
3) The silicon casing is slightly soft, so when you go around the rim of the bowl, there is more friction, and the sound of the bowl comes to volume faster.
4) Because there is more friction, it is easier to play the bowl with a light touch, and control the quality of the tone coming from the bowl.
5) Because the silicon is soft, it gives a pretty coherent strike.
6) The mallet is ideal for both frosted/empyrean but also getting metal singing bowls to sing well.
The Fluffy quartz crystal striker, is generally the second best mallet. You get the benefits of the quartz crystal striker spoken of above, with a fluffy ball on the end. This fluffy ball is absolutely the best mallet we have found to get the best striking tone from your frosted or empyrean bowl. It also makes a fantastic tone with metal bowls as well.
The best striker for large bowls, is the Large silicon ball striker. This is excellent for bowls that are 13 inches or larger. The benefits of the striker are:
1) Absolutely no contact noise.
2) You can play a large bowl with a simpler playing technique. You can just massage the bowl back and forth in a 5-6 inch section. This means you don’t need to reach your arm all the way around a large bowl.
3) The striker has a lot of friction, so you get a lot of control over the tonality of the bowl.
Strikers for Clear and Handle Practitioner Bowls
The best striker generally for a clear or handle practitioner bowl is the classic suede mallet. A silicon-based mallet, or rubber based mallet, can be too sticky for these clear glass surfaces, so you won’t be able to get a tone from the bowl. The suede mallet is smooth enough to play the clear or handle bowl easily. The suede mallet also offers the best tone from striking the bowl, as you need a harder mallet with these bowls so they don’t rock on the o-ring when you strike the bowl.