A lot of this music takes quite a bit of training to make. Learning Tibetan throat singing is no easy task, and many of the traditions are hidden except to initiates. With Tibetan singing bowls, however, you can take a piece of this unique musical tradition home with you to cherish and revere.
The singing bowl is basically a heavy, simple copper bowl. Apparently, the tradition behind the Tibetan bowl is also rather simple. The Tibetan monks often travel carrying as little as possible and living off the charity of the people they encounter.
Singing bowls were used to eat food with, to drink water out of, and as a meditation aid. For a monk, a singing bowl is one of his only possessions. It fulfills all his needs simply and elegantly.
Of course, nowadays singing bowls are used for quite different purposes. The western world has really picked up on the sometimes eerie and fascinating tones created by singing bowls, and they are collector's items.
There are even variations, such as crystal bowls, which can produce different interesting tones. Crystal singing bowls are usually much larger, louder, and lower in pitch than the traditional ones are. They can produce a low humming that can make the whole room rumble from their vibrations.
You used to be able to only find singing bowls in the country of Tibet itself and specialty shops. Nowadays you can find them everywhere.
People in certain small artistic communities love Tibetan souvenirs, and these meditation bowls are no exception. Sometimes, you can see them for as much as a hundred dollars, or even more, it depends on what it is made of, where it was made, etc.
