Lyre Bowl in Yew 15string

Description

Yew Lyre Bowls of this size are hard to come by. Most Yew trees do not grow this large, and those that do are treasured individuals. This tree was wind-felled in Shropshire and was offered to me as a rarity. Another remarkable feature of this one is the tuning peg-heads, which are made of Gorse. Normally a smaller shrub, Gorse (Furze) will grow into a sizeable bush if conditions are right. This shaft, found on the heath after some prickle-clearing, produced small boards of yellow wood that dried to a disappointing grey. When scorched, it shows a delicate grain structure that complements the smooth Yew very well. Gorse has Venus and Mars characteristics, harmonizing these opposites quite beautifully.

The sound of a large Lyre Bowl is powerful and can be felt in the body even if you are not touching the wood. The sound of Yew is shamanic, it speaks with the voice of the Ancestors into our deep-self. Together they create an instrument with deep healing powers. Do not take this lightly. Yew Sounding Bowls bring changes into the lives of their keepers as much as any clients they may work with. This instrument is a teacher and guide to treasure.

The two sound samples show different ways the bowl can be tuned. Most people keep them in the “Gong” or arpeggio tuning,  where a simple strum from one side to the other releases powerful harmonies and every note you pick is in a rich harmonic relationship with every other note. The “full scale” tuning is a C-Major scale with all seven diatonic notes giving two full octaves. The manual also shows you how to tune minor scales and ancient modes, including the popular middle-eastern Hijaz mode.

As with all larger Sounding Bowls this one comes with a hard case, soft lined and padded as well as an auto-tuner and manual.

This sold within two days of posting. Every Sounding Bowls is unique but at time of writing, we have one more piece of timber for such a Lyre Bowl.

This is a “Cathedral Bowl.“ Not all trees develop tone-wood. Not all cuts produce the finest harmonies. Certain pieces of certain trees sing-out in ways that others can merely dream of.  Occasionally a tree comes our way that offers a few pieces of truly outstanding harmonics. Patterns in the wood point our way, careful cuts lead us in. Final sorting reveals potential. Experienced making brings out the very best. This is one of those that offers such a huge, harmonic resonance that we call them Cathedral Bowls.