Singing bowls
Updated 22 October 2026
A singing bowl is a metal bowl that rings for a long time when struck or rubbed. Its tone shimmers as nearby frequencies beat against each other. Here real Tibetan bowls, recorded by musicians on Freesound, are struck every 10 to 25 seconds over a quiet drone.
Press play
Play opens the sound masker with this mix already loaded, so you can hear it and shape it.
How to set it up
- Press Play on Singing bowl.
- Let each bowl fade completely before you breathe in again. It is a natural pace for meditation.
- For more bowls, open it in the sound masker and raise Singing bowl.
Where singing bowls come from
Standing bells and bowls have long been used in Buddhist practice across Asia. Bowls called Tibetan or Himalayan singing bowls became popular in the West from the 1970s for meditation and sound baths.
Singing bowls and stress
A few studies of sound baths report people feeling less tense afterward, though they had no comparison group. The relaxation probably comes from the setting as much as the bowls. Either way, many people find them a lovely way to slow down.
Why the tone shimmers
A bowl is not perfectly round, so each partial splits into two close frequencies. They beat against each other and make the tone wobble. You can hear that wobble clearly in these recordings, especially on headphones.
Questions
Are these real singing bowls?
Yes. They are recordings of Tibetan bowls from Freesound, released under CC0. Each strike plays at a random moment.
What are singing bowls used for?
Meditation, yoga, relaxation, and sound baths.