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BowlTune · Method and limits

How to interpret a BowlTune measurement

BowlTune is a practical tool for recording and comparing sound. A displayed frequency is an estimate for one selected resonance, under the conditions of that capture.

What a useful measurement includes

  • The bowl identifier, and the recording or trace it came from.
  • Date, playing method, microphone distance, support and room conditions.
  • Device, browser and BowlTune version.
  • The selected resonance, measured Hz, note, octave and A4 reference.
  • Repeated captures, their spread, and the reason any result was excluded.

Frequency, resolution and accuracy

Decimal places and hertz-per-bin resolution do not establish absolute accuracy. Repeating a measurement tests consistency, which is not the same thing. Establishing accuracy needs an appropriate reference, a documented uncertainty, and tests across the conditions the tool is actually used in.

Real-device error bounds for BowlTune have not been established yet. Synthetic examples show that known inputs are read correctly; they say nothing about any particular phone microphone.

Two different validation tasks

Imported-file analysis. Run known synthetic signals and the same recorded files through each tool being compared. This tests the processing path without testing a microphone. Record the selected resonance and any disagreement.

Live microphone capture. Test real bowls across devices and browsers, with documented positioning and a reference setup. Room noise, clipping and the phone’s own audio processing can all change the result.

Strongest, lowest, and close pairs

These are different observations and should not be mixed. A valid comparison follows the same resonance in every recording. When two close tones are resolved, report both frequencies; when the tool is uncertain, say so. A midpoint between two tones is not evidence of a third one.

Sound Passports and public bowl records

A shared Sound Passport carries editable measurement values and is not independently verified. A public workshop record should link to the specific bowl, the recording and its conditions, and say who made the measurement. Owner-supplied data should never be described as a tuning certificate.

Audio and privacy

Microphone and imported audio are processed in your browser. The demonstration sounds are generated locally and send no analytics request. That is a statement about the tuner, not about the whole website: site-wide cookies and analytics are separate. Share only recordings and records you have permission to publish.

Traditional associations

Chakra associations are an optional interpretive convention. They are not medical measurements, and a frequency match does not establish a therapeutic effect.

Report a measurement problem

Tell us the device, browser, reference setting, playing mode and what went wrong. Include a recording only if you want to share it, and please leave out unrelated voices and personal information.