Aska Matsumiya - Crystal Bowls
Intrinsic frequencies
Intrinsic frequencies
A unique palette of expansive otherworldly textures, created from the rich, visceral vibrations of high-purity quartz crystal singing bowls, curated by award-winning composer Aska Matsumiya (Home, After Yang, Betty).
Traditionally known for their use in meditation practice and sound therapy, we’ve transported these otherworldly instruments into the cinematic realm by capturing a detailed and diverse range of performance styles in the resonant acoustics of the Hackney Round Chapel, London.
Mix and move between a wide spectrum of textures within our intuitively designed plugin to create intense atmospheric soundscapes — from percussive, shimmering shorts to deep, long-lasting resonances, as well as a range of contemporary warped presets. Designed to breathe new life into any genre of music — from ambient minimalism to ethereal cinematic scores.
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Spitfire Audio App required
Listen to Aska Matsumiya - Crystal Bowls
Features Albion Tundra
Features Heirloom
"Here’s a little piece I made focusing on the percussive possibilities of the Crystal Bowls instrument. I absolutely love it, I’ve never heard or played anything like it." — Stella Mozgawa (Warpaint)
The essence and magic of crystal bowls lies in their unique vibrations — intrinsically linked to nature, their frequencies resonate at a cellular level, producing intense physical reactions. I was excited to see how we could expand the language of these stunning instruments to create unique textures.
Crystal Bowls, Tuning Forks, Warps
6 beaters
Kontakt Player
Using various combinations of traditional mallets and contemporary drumsticks and brushes, we’ve captured both percussive, rattling visceral vibrations and sustained shimmering layered textures that sing, evolve and resonate through the whole body. A range of contemporary warps offers further inspiration, transforming these reverberations into stunning, alien-like textures.
Key features
- A 7-piece set of rare crystal singing bowls made from high-purity quartz
- Tuned to C, D, E, F, G, A, and B at a frequency of 432 Hz
- Recorded in the expansive acoustics of London’s Hackney Round Chapel, with a clear and resonant reverb
- Presented in an elegant, user-friendly interface equipped with intuitive controls
- Four controls to help shape your sound – Attack, Release, Offset and Reverb (using an IR captured in the Round Chapel)
- 5 Crystal Bowl playing styles
The Japanese, Malibu-based composer, artist and classical pianist is known for her genre-defying works spanning film, television, advertising and music production. She has scored Halle Berry's directorial debut, Bruised, and partnered with A24 and Kogonada on After Yang, in collaboration with composer Ryuichi Sakamoto. In 2022, she scored Steve Buscemi’s The Listener. She has collaborated with countless brands in the advertising space, including Porsche, Chanel, Hermes & Prada, and her song There Are Many Of Us was the main title track for Spike Jonze's film, I'm Here.
In television, Matsumiya scored HBO skateboarding series Betty with long-time collaborator Crystal Moselle, as well as her 2015 award-winning documentary The Wolfpack. Matsumiya was one of the composers for A24's Apple TV docu-series, Home, winning the 2023 Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Music Direction and Composition. She also scored K-pop group Blackpink’s 2020 documentary Light Up the Sky.
Matsumiya traces her experimental approach to music to her teenage years, when she dropped out of art school to go touring with punk bands; “I found freedom in punk because I didn't realise how much I felt suppressed by classical music – even though I love it.” Matsumiya is currently working on a piano installation and album, and has scored acclaimed fantasy action series, The Spiderwick Chronicles, coming out in Spring 2024.
What's included
Instruments
Crystal Bowls
Quartz crystal bowls captured with traditional and modern playing styles
Longs
Swells
Rolls
Shorts (Normal)
Shorts (Damped)
Sticks
Blend between these different sticks to create a unique mix
Plastic Mallet
Rubber Mallet
Brushes
Soft Mallet
Hot Rods
Sticks
Tuning Forks
Two identical tuning forks hit together
Shorts (Normal)
Shorts (Tremolo)
Warps
A collection of warps made by running the crystal bowls through guitar pedals and granular synths
Windbells
Memories
Mega Space
Icicles
CD Skip
Snowfall
Controls
Attack - adjust the attack of the sound
Release - adjust the release of the sound
Offset - move the sample start forward or backwards
Reverb - mix in a convolution reverb of the Round Chapel
Testimonials
This is an incredible tool for ambient passages and tension alike. The overtones in the warps are stunning and crystal clear. I can foresee this becoming a staple in my toolkit. I’ve been waiting for something like this for ages.
Blanck Mass Calm with Horses, The Rig, Gazza
An absolutely glorious sonic world that is frighteningly easy to get lost in. The unique way the resonances & sustains of the bowls travel across & within the stereo field... you have done such an incredible job of capturing this particular aspect of these instruments. The Warps and all the fantastic controls produce sounds that go far beyond what I typically associate with singing bowls, into wonderfully strange and discomfiting territory. I am so, so excited to make music with this.
Jon Natchez War on Drugs
FAQs
What is in Aska Matsumiya - Crystal Bowls?
Crystal Bowls contains crystal bowls and tuning forks, created in collaboration with composer and multi-instrumentalist Aska Matsumiya, and recorded in a large resonant hall with different mallets, brushes and sticks. Crystal Bowls was recorded in the unique and beautiful Round Chapel, a Grade II listed chapel in the heart of Hackney, London.
Is Aska Matsumiya - Crystal Bowls hosted in Kontakt/Kontakt Player or the Spitfire Audio plugin?
Crystal Bowls is hosted in and will run in both Kontakt Full and Kontakt Player, please see this feature comparison between the two.
Read more FAQs for this productTech specs
File size
Download size ~2.1GB
Kontakt player
Kontakt Player 6.7.0 or higher
As Crystal Bowls is a Kontakt plugin hosted library, for system and OS requirements please refer to the Native Instruments website.