Tibetan Singing Bowls and Vibroacoustic Therapy
Tibetan singing bowls are metal bowls used by Tibetan monks in spiritual ceremonies, they are usually made from a combination of alloy metals. The bowls produce sound when someone strikes it, or when a mallet is rubbed in a circular motion around the outside rim, this produces a consistent sustained tone.
There is evidence to suggest that these metal ‘standing’ bells originated from the Shang Dynasty in China (16th-11th Centuries BCE), they are believed to have developed from grain measures. Singing Bowls are used in prayer chants in Buddhist and Taoist practices. The bowls are also used as a meditational tool, as they produce sustained consistent tones that are pleasing to hear. The singing bowl can be found in temples all over Asia, and is used for spiritual and ceremonial purposes. The bowls have been adopted in the West as a sound therapy tool, and have been shrouded in mystery and legend. Stories of secret alloys, monks chanting as they are being made and hammer marks representing mantras recited are all fictitious and probably originated to sell them to uninformed buyers. They are made with bronze by metal smiths.
I am not interested in the Western mystical side of Tibetan singing bowls, relating them to Chakras and energy fields. I am interested in the fact that for thousands of years humans have been attracted to sustained consistent tones, and that these are predominantly found in places of worship or meditation. I think the question I am interested in is, Why do long consistent tones relax humans? And there is evidence to suggest that this is the case. An observational study on the effect of singing bowl mediation on moods published in 2016 found that 60 minutes of sound meditation using Tibetan singing bowls reduced depression, anxiety and tension in people of ages ranging from 21-77. Strangely they found that previous experience with singing bowls effected the results of the study. Specifically they found a significant change in the mean tension sub-scale from baseline to post meditation for participants between the ages of 40-59 who had no previous experience with singing bowl meditation.
Although there is no clear explanation as to why this happens, there is a theory that includes the potential effects of binaural beats. Binaural beats are when the right ear and left ear receive slightly different frequencies, the brain processes this information to perceive it as one single note, it is believed by advocates of this therapy that this process can cause relaxation, reduce stress and anxiety, and induce deeper sleep. However, research into the effectiveness of binaural beat therapy is inconclusive and it is not recognised as a part of standard care for any condition.
During research on singing bowls I came across vibroacoustic therapy. This is a practice created by a Norwegian man named Olay Skille in 1968. Vibroacoustic therapy is the practice of applying vibrations directly to the body in the form of low frequency (between 30Hz and 120Hz) sinus tones in combination with selected music.’ The impulses emitted by the vibroacoustic equipment are perceived not only through acoustical receptors in the body, but through vibrotactile receptors.
Some observed positive effects on patients symptoms are as follows:
Autism- Contact-defying autistic children would become so engaged with the sensation of vibration, that they would permit people to give them more physical contact than in other situations.
Rett Syndrome- Some symptoms of Rett syndrome are unusual repetitive jerking movements of the muscles, irritability, stress and difficulty sleeping. Skille found that during vibroacoustic therapy, people with this condition would be able to sleep, and he noted a muscle relaxing effect.
Cerebral Palsy- A significant reduction in spasms.
Insomnia- Sufferers of insomnia often fall asleep during vibroacoustic therapy, also the duration of sleep would be longer than normally experienced.
Circulatory deficiencies- People with this condition have found effective relief through vibroacoutsisc therapy as the vibrations encourage circulation in the body.
I have only provided 5 examples but the list is 24 items long. I think the medical use of sound is very interesting, and I would like to explore the idea of inducing relaxation through sound, and how this could be used as a compositional tool. I think I will keep Olay Skille’s three ‘universals’ of therapeutic use of vibrational sounds in mind when making a piece of sound art.
1). High pitch (high Hz values) gives stress; low pitch (low Hz) induces relaxation.
2). Rhythmically strong music increases energy; rhythmically neutral music decreases energy.
3). Loud music (low dB values-high amplitude) activates; soft music (high dB values-low amplitude) pacifies.
Bibliography:
Goldsby, T., Goldsby, M., McWalters, M. and Mills, P., 2016. Effects of Singing Bowl Sound Meditation on Mood, Tension, and Well-being: An Observational Study. Journal of Evidence-Based Complementary & Alternative Medicine, 22(3), pp.401-406 [Accessed 17 January 2021]
Soundtravels.co.uk. 2021. Singing Bowls – Separating Truth From Myth. [online] Available at: < https://www.soundtravels.co.uk/a-Singing_Bowls__Separating_Truth_from_Myth-732.aspx > [Accessed 17 January 2021].
Medicalnewstoday.com. 2021. Binaural Beats Therapy: Benefits And How They Work. [online] Available at: <https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/320019> [Accessed 17 January 2021].
Olav Skille, VibroAcoustic Therapy, Music Therapy, Volume 8, Issue 1, 1989, Pages 61–77, https://doi-org.arts.idm.oclc.org/10.1093/mt/8.1.61 [Accessed 17 January 2021]