Talk:Cowbell (instrument)

Almglocken are NOT cowbells.
Almglocken are not cowbells in the sense that they are portrayed here.

The almglocken are tuned German Bells. Traditional cowbells are tuned, yes, but only to two different pitches.

Almglocken should NOT redirect here.
 * Since almglocken are indeed cowbells (though I doubt they are tuned for bovine use), there is no reason why they shouldn't be explained together with all the differences. I'm no percussionist, but I'll add a section. klaus --84.160.197.169 12:33, 22 November 2006 (UTC)

"Almglocken typically refer to the common cow that are used to mate as a novelty act or tourist attraction in the northern Alps." Surely this is a joke? 199.247.51.61 (talk) 04:33, 17 April 2008 (UTC) Andrew

SNL
Ahah, they mentioned the snl skit. Great stuff :D

"The Roland TR-808 drum machine was noted for its distinctive cowbell sound, which sounded almost nothing like an actual cowbell; the sound was highly electronic with a sharp, short delay." I haven't heard this sound, nor am I familiar with electronic drum sounds or drum machines, but my drummer instincts tell me it should be "sharp short decay instead of delay. P 14:58, 18 August 2005 (UTC)
 * My wikipedia instincts tell me it shouldn't be mentioned at all

Less cowbell
Do we really need to add any more details about the Saturday Night Live "More Cowbell" skit to this article? The expansion of the skit's description has less and less to do with the cowbell itself. I think the details should be moved to the "(Don't Fear) The Reaper" article, or it should be spun off into its own article (questions about notability aside). Simply mention the sketch and include a relevant link. -- Gyrofrog (talk) 21:43, 30 September 2005 (UTC)

Image:Cowbell45.PNG
I know this image is crappy, but at least it's an image. Should this be added to the article? Can someone find a better picture? If a drumstick was added, would it be more acceptable? Thanks. -- LV (Dark Mark)  16:41, 17 December 2005 (UTC)



Cowbell Questions?
Hey everyone, I'm user:Waldo J. Cartridge and myself and the band user:Bombs Away are planning to start a group that truely appreciates how important the cowbell is in modern rock music. We have a few questions for cowbell geeks. How much does a professional cowbell cost? We would all be very anxious to know. Thank you everyone.

-Woody
 * This really isn't the place to be asking these sort of questions. Did you try google? --Coplan 02:42, 13 June 2006 (UTC)

As a musical instrument section
It seems that this section is just growing and growing with examples of songs that includes the use of a cowbell. This could grow to be indefinately large. From an encyclopedia point of view, there's no reason to even mention examples of songs using the cow bell. It doesn't add anything to the article. Instead, it would be better to mention that it has been used in a wide array of genres. --Coplan 02:40, 13 June 2006 (UTC)


 * I don't know. The article on sopranino saxophone mentions its use or intended use in Boléro, but I think the section should be limited to one or two of the most notable songs to use it. In fact Gimme Some Lovin' and possibly She Blinded Me with Science is all that needs mentioned as the first at least is confirmed by the musician. The rest, if confirmed, can be dealt with by More Cowbell or perhaps better still left to other websites.--T. Anthony 03:01, 18 September 2006 (UTC)


 * I see that the articles on The Triangle and Castanets mention several works that use them. So possibly more songs using cowbells can be put back in on confirmation.--T. Anthony 04:08, 18 September 2006 (UTC)

List of songs featuring cowbell
I've seen this added to the page recently and I believe it used to be an article. I don't feel this is an important feature to the "Cowbell" article, especially with the length the list could reach, but perhaps it merits an article. Thoughts? Elsprucemoose 18:59, 22 December 2006 (UTC)
 * I don't know that many songs that use cowbells. Besides the aforementioned songs, there's also The Perfect Kiss by New Order. That's it as far as I know. If the list gets ridiculously long, I say scrap it. If not, keep it as is. That said, I don't think it needs a separate article. But that's just me.
 * Yes there are many, I recently stumbled upon this site http://www.geekspeakweekly.com/cowbell/data_search.pl perhaps we can just link to that. It is not comprehensive either though, as I know of a few new releases like Audioslave's Revelations that feature cowbell.Elsprucemoose 20:28, 29 December 2006 (UTC)
 * Yep, you're right. There are many. And looking at the list, it looks very long as well. Your idea of a link is a very good one. Maybe we could insert the following line into the main text:


 * There are many modern pop songs that use cowbells.


 * Then insert this at the bottom of the page somewhere.


 * ==References==


 * Nice work.

I respectfully disagree with the fact that the so-named "List of songs featuring cowbell" only encompasses rock and pop tunes. The cowbell is an essential instrument in a Salsa band. Of course, adding Salsa tunes to the list would make it infinite, so I think the list should be renamed "List of rock and pop songs featuring cowbell". --Alvabass 05:04, 3 January 2007 (UTC)


 * Excellent point. Thanks. Elsprucemoose 21:37, 5 January 2007 (UTC)


 * It would be nice if you could provide a reference that links cowbells to Salsa music. The name of a well-known Salsa tune that features cowbells would also be helpful.

I've added a list of bands that use the cowbell (obviously its far from extensive) before I read this - if anyone feels this should be moved to another page and linked to here please feel free to do so. Kelpin 17:06, 29 June 2007 (UTC)


 * hello, needed to say that the song Daft Punk Is Playing At My House by LCD Soundsystem does not have any cowbells. The guy uses agogo bells, which are a different instrument. I don't know if there are any other ones included that don't use a cowbell but a similar instrument, but someone should be careful. also, I dont actually do the whole wikipedia thing so I don't know if I'm doing this right. SAMBA!!

The cowbell in a Salsa band
The lineup of a Salsa band features at least three percussionists: One who plays timbales, one conga player and another one who plays bongos. Most of the times, the backing singers play maracas and güiro to complete the section. The relevant thing here is the bongo player because he MUST play cowbell also since the structure of a typical Salsa tune demands it: The first half of the song, in which the intro and the verses go, has most of the times the bongo player seated hitting his instrument's skins (there are some exceptions for intros). Then the second part of the song enters and here the lead singer improvises short lines while a two or three part choir sings a fixed line in a question-answer form. The bongo player drops the instrument, stands up and picks up the cowbell playing a very characteristic pattern in any Salsa tune. This pattern works in conjunction with the timbal player, who stops playing his timbales' metal shell and plays one of the (sort of) agog%C3%B4 bells included in his/her set with one drumstick and the clave pattern on a jam block with the other. It goes like this:



As you can see, the hand cowbell plays two different pitches. The lower one is achieved by hitting the edge of the cowbell and the higher one by hitting the middle part of the instrument. Of course, the other percussionists (conga, maracas and güiro players) have their parts as well. According to the structure, the bongo drums and the hand cowbell NEVER sound at the same time in a Salsa tune. I've uploaded two audio examples. The first one shows the typical "first section" of a Salsa song. Notice that there's no cowbell and the bongo drums are prominent:. The second example shows the "second section". No bongos there but hand cowbell instead. The music tends to become more energetic:. Both examples are taken from different songs.

I've also taken advantage of this contribution to put on YouTube an old video taken from a Betamax recording and converted to mpg. I'm not a percussionist (I'm a bass player) but the performance in the video is what made me love the cowbell back in 1987. You'll see and hear the (almost) perfect demonstration of all what I've said above (the timbalero doesn't have a jam block but an actual wood block and he doesn't use it as explained. He should, IMO, but anyway...). Here's the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KG8ZrWyfv8Y (Don't know if this can be done on Wikipedia - please let me know).

--Alvabass 23:36, 6 January 2007 (UTC)

P.S.: Sorry for so many edits. I'm learning a lot about Wikipedia!

Fair use rationale for Image:Cowbell2.jpg
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Greek herdsmen?
The information concerning the use of cowbells as musical instruments by Greek herdsmen is not cited and can hardly be considered "common knowledge". I propose that the paragraph be deleted, unless someone can provide us with more cowbell information.Zambetis 12:40, 23 July 2007 (UTC)

Citing cowbell use in songs
I don't believe there is any need for sources to prove the use of cowbell by the bands in the list, unless its use is contentious. Moreover, why on earth have some bands been tagged with "citation needed" and not others? I am particularly thinking of Fleetwood Mac, who have used it in several songs, and also the Beatles and Led Zeppelin. All three of these bands are on the list included in the references, so why the tag? If no-one objects I will remove the tag from these three bands. Bretonbanquet 19:13, 27 September 2007 (UTC)


 * I don't see the need to list which bands have used a cowbell -- which bands haven't used a cowbell at some point? It's like listing which bands use a splash cymbal. I think it's more appropriate just to have a few notable songs which feature a cowbell, I've added an intro sentence to the list reflecting that. Besides there is an external link which has such a list. Additionally, the heading "Bands who use the cowbell in their recordings" is confusing -- does that mean they always use one, currently use one, once used one on a single song a long time ago? So I'm changing the heading to reflect that, and if there are no objections, removing the list at some point in the future. -Bikinibomb 23:44, 4 November 2007 (UTC)


 * But then again, what about those people who just post bands who probably haven't used cowbell? I doubt DragonForce has used it, but I'm not going to remove it because I can't actually go and verify that (I only have their newest album). Still, I agree with Bikinibomb that it is kind of pointless to have a huge list of bands that use cowbell. I mean, seriously, this is getting ridiculous. I added a few bands a while ago, but then I thought about how many bands the list omitted (it even has "and many more" as an entry item), and realize now that the list is pretty stupid. It should probably be removed in favor of a paragraph mentioning some of the more famous uses of cowbell. Immortal Wowbagger (talk) 09:54, 13 January 2008 (UTC)

Classical compositions
Should classical works using a cowbell be listed? Mahler's 6th + 7th Symphonies, Strauss' Alpine Symphony, Arnold's 7th, etc to name a few? Beckus (talk) 13:14, 17 March 2008 (UTC)

band list
I've been bold and removed the list of bands that have used cowbells. It's mostly unverifiable, and could grow to absurd lengths. You may as well have a list of bands that have used china cymbals or five string basses. The notable songs should stay, but the bands are completely unneeded. -- Evan ¤  Seeds  03:24, 20 March 2008 (UTC)

Slightly amusing paragraph that I just removed
Whoever put this in the article even went to the effort of creating fake references. I really wanted this to be true:

''The world's largest cowbell is owned by its designer and builder, master percussionist Austin Giles. After being evicted from his apartment in April, 2008 for repeated cowbell-related noise violations, Giles has been living on the streets in Portland, OR, towing his cowbell in a purpose-built wagon and playing it for money on the street and at house shows. Giles is saving money for his next project, which he describes on his blog: "It's the largest cowbell anyone will ever dare to build. It will be just over 14 feet tall, and proportionate in all other respects to my current bell. Due to my recent housing crisis I've also decided to design the interior so that I will be able to inhabit it. It wasn't hard to make the internal structure work with the resonance, except that a window will unfortunately be impossible.'' "

Alex9788 (talk) 23:12, 20 December 2009 (UTC)

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