How to use the measurement of the note to identify which bowls create harmony together.

A cent is a unit of measure for the ratio between two frequencies. An equally tempered semitone (the interval between two adjacent piano keys) spans 100 cents by definition 100 cents by definition.

As you will notice, each bowl is described by a letter, followed by a plus or a minus and then a number.

The number donates to a musical note. The easiest way to visualise this is on the notes of a piano.

The white and black keys in the image above take you through the 12 notes in an octave.

The space between each note i.e., between A and A#, is called a semitone.

Within each semitone, there is a movement of sound from one note to the next. The ‘cent’ is an interval measurement unit within the semitone and is exactly 100 equal parts.

So if, for example, we can look at the movement between an ‘A’ note and an ‘A#’ note, the space between them is divided into 100 equal cents. With the Crystal Tones® Singing Bowls, the note and cent measurement will be like this:

A-30, A-25, A-20, A-15, A-10, A-5

A0 - This is a classical ‘true tone’ note, tuned to the 440Hz.  

A+5, A+10

A+15 - This cent interval is tuned to the 528Hz scale

A+20, A+25, A+30, A+35, A+40, A+45

A+50 / A#-50 At this point we are exactly halfway between the 4th octave note of A & A# 

A#-45, A#-40, A#-35

A#-30 - This cent interval is tuned to the 432Hz

When choosing bowls that harmonise with each other, the desired distance between the notes is at a maximum movement of 20 cents. For example, a collection of Alchemy Crystal Singing bowls in notes that all range between ‘-20’ and ‘-40’ cents. Musicians playing the bowls with other instruments may choose to have exactly the same pitch on every bowl: If they were playing with other musicians in a classical orchestra they may be ‘0’ - True tone to 440 Hz.

I am here to answer any questions that you may have if this feels complicated and am always here to find simplicity and help you find the bowls that are perfect for you and that harmonise with other bowls that you may have.