Talk:Cowbell (instrument)

message: 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)
thread_title:  Almglocken are NOT cowbells. 

message: 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)
thread_title:  Less cowbell 

message: 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)
thread_title:  [[:Image:Cowbell45.PNG]] 

message: 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)
thread_title: Cowbell Questions?

message: 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)
replies: text: 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)
replies: text: 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)
thread_title:  As a musical instrument section 

message: 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:
Image:Salsa_cowbell_pattern.jpg‎ 
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)
thread_title:  The cowbell in a Salsa band 

message: :Image:Cowbell2.jpg is being used on this article. I notice the image page specifies that the image is being used under fair use but there is no explanation or rationale as to why its use in this Wikipedia article constitutes fair use. In addition to the boilerplate fair use template, you must also write out on the image description page a specific explanation or rationale for why using this image in each article is consistent with fair use.
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thread_title: Fair use rationale for Image:Cowbell2.jpg

message: 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)
thread_title:  Greek herdsmen? 

message: 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)
replies: text: 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)
replies: text: 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)
thread_title:  Citing cowbell use in songs 

message: 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)
thread_title:  Classical compositions 

message: 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)
thread_title:  band list 

message: 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)
thread_title:  Slightly amusing paragraph that I just removed 

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thread_title:  External links modified