Questions I Want To Ask

Taylor Cook
Nov 20, 2025
4 min read

As I explore the world of singing bowls more deeply, I keep running into questions that the existing research hasn’t yet answered. From the nuances of mallet design to the hidden details of technique, there’s so much we still don’t fully understand about how to play these instruments well. This article gathers the questions that push my curiosity forward as I ask not just what we know, but what might be possible.

Mallets

The size, shape, and material of a singing bowl mallet have a major influence on the sound a bowl can produce, yet most bowls today are sold with a generic “free” mallet that may not be well-matched to the instrument. A mallet that is too soft, hard, too small, or made from an unsuitable material can make a bowl sound thin, harsh, or unstable with chattering, while a well-chosen mallet can bring out clearer tones, richer overtones, and smoother sustained singing.

Hard wooden mallets tend to excite brighter and higher frequencies, while softer leather, felt, or rubber-wrapped mallets generally encourage warmer, lower vibrations. The width and weight of the mallet also matter: thinner, lighter pujas may slip or chatter on larger bowls, whereas thicker, heavier ones may overwhelm or distort smaller bowls.

Because most buyers are given a random, one-size-fits-all mallet, they rarely learn how these variables interact, and may never hear the full potential of their bowl. Understanding and experimenting with mallet characteristics is therefore an essential part of exploring a singing bowl’s true sound quality. This is what I want to explore

My personal collection of free singing bowl mallets — My personal collection of free mallets, when there's no advantageous mallet, how do you choose?

What Is An "Optimal" Mallet?

There are many things we can look at to figure out whether a mallet is a good match for a singing bowl. These are the questions I’m most curious about, and over time I hope to make and test different mallets, record how they sound, and share the results so you can decide which tones you prefer.

Where does the mallet usually touch the bowl?
- How does sound travel from this contact point inside the mallet?
How easy is it to make the bowl chatter by accident?
- Is there a small or large margin of error in technique?
How quickly can you get the bowl to start singing?
- How quick can you reach thrumming from zero motion, creating it to sing?
How strong or loud is the bowl’s main (fundamental) tone?
- Is the energy transmitted to the bowl dependant on the acoustic qualities of the mallet?
- Does a mallet's acoustic qualities affect the frequency range of each note produced by the bowl?
What type of grip feels best and gives the most control?
- Can poor grip affect chance of chatter?
- What would be optimal hand contact with mallet?
How do you want wood to use vibrational energy?
- Is softer wood cored mallets absorbing more energy desirable?
- Is denser wood cored mallets transmitting more energy desirable?
Is weight a factor?
- Would a lighter or heavier mallet affect endurance of the musician?

Follow My Future Articles Titled "Designing Custom Mallets"

To Explore My Findings As I Experiment With These Questions

Biomechanics of Technique

Although a growing body of research exists on the acoustics of singing bowls, almost none of it examines how humans actually play them. Nearly all technical studies use bowls held in clamps or mechanical rigs, and the mallet is often driven by controlled laboratory equipment rather than a real player’s hand. This creates clean, repeatable data; but it leaves a huge gap in our understanding of how playing technique shapes the sound. In real life, people thrum bowls with different pressures, speeds, angles, grips, and rhythms, none of which are represented in current scientific literature.

Because of this, we don’t yet know how personal technique influences the sound and use of a bowl; whether certain mallet motions bring out deeper fundamentals, or whether softer pressures or subtle shifts in angle help reveal higher overtones. Every singing bowl responds differently to touch, and every mallet technique interacts with its surface in its own way. Players learn these nuances through feel rather than formulas, which makes the technique deeply personal but scientifically undocumented and very difficult to teach when basic language use about technique is not identified or just plain missing.

My goal is to explore this missing area by studying how technique varies from bowl to bowl and mallet to mallet. I want to examine how focused thrumming can isolate a strong fundamental note, and how intentional changes in pressure or speed can coax out specific overtones. By observing and recording these human variables, something machines cannot replicate; I hope to uncover the hidden techniques that allow skilled players to shape, color, and control the voice of a singing bowl.

Some Questions I Wish To Answer:

What Handgrip gives strongest proprioception?
What Handgrip reduces the chance of chatter the most?
Can you thrum a singing bowl in more locations than the rim edge?
What is the margin of error in thrumming rpm?
What is the natural variation of thrumming technique?
How does singing bowl shape variations affect technique?
How does adjusting thrumming rpm accentuates an overtone more than a fundamental note?
What is the optimal technique to create a positive feedback loop?