Cowbell Dampening

  • Thread starter Thread starter RecordingMaster
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RecordingMaster

RecordingMaster

A Sarcastic Statement
I just recently bought a new large cowbell by LP. It is designed to reduce the resonance a bit http://www.lpmusic.com/Product_Showcase/Cowbells/lp_rock_classic_ridge.html.
But it still has a decay of of about 1.5 seconds. I want to dampen it to just get a nice loud, full "dok" type of sound instead of "dang" sound. I want a professional way to do this. Does anyone know of any cheap, clean way to dampen a cowbel that doesn't involve covering your cowbell with tape and/or kleenex? I was thinking of stuffing a handful of cotton balls in there, but I think that they would collect too much dust and stick shavings, and eventually the cowbell would shoot out dust when I hit it.
How do some of you (pros / semi-pros) do this without visible tape, or making the cowbell sound TOO dead?
 
If I really wanted to "dampen" it, I would just dunk it in some water. :D

Seriously, why not some tape on the inside? I wonder if that would work?
Sorry...no real cowbell experience here. What about some of that heavy ass lead tape or something?
 
Hold in hand, open end pointed toward your body. Use the palm of your hand to damp the ringing. Record on separate track.
 
Yeah I know these methods. But I'm a drummer and I have the cowbell incorporated into some of my grooves, so I have it mounted. I hate ruining things with tape, because you can never get rid of the sticky crap.
 
try moongel on the inside of the bell. move it around until it's in the right spot for the sound you like.

otherwise, make a stack out of piece of duct tape (think 1in square pieces) and place them on the inside of the bell. the stack will provide a little mass.

that said, what you're hearing as "too much resonance" will largely not be heard by "the audience".


cheers,
wade
 
RecordingMaster said:
Yeah I know these methods. But I'm a drummer and I have the cowbell incorporated into some of my grooves, so I have it mounted. I hate ruining things with tape, because you can never get rid of the sticky crap.
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You can with the right solvent. I use M-1 remover, which has some horrible cancer-causing chemical, but it works really good :D

Or just use gaffer's tape.

Don't forget to explore the space!
 
Supercreep said:
Use a Jam Block instead of a metal cowbell.
Click to expand...

That's funny because I do have a jam block as well, it's the LP blue high pitched one. But I use that to replace a rim knock (laying the stick across the head and tapping the rim with the butt end touching the skin). It's a lot louder for playing live because you get that full swing.
Cowbell is completely different sound I'm going for though, I like a couple of different textures in the kit.
 
mrface2112 said:
try moongel on the inside of the bell. move it around until it's in the right spot for the sound you like.

otherwise, make a stack out of piece of duct tape (think 1in square pieces) and place them on the inside of the bell. the stack will provide a little mass.

that said, what you're hearing as "too much resonance" will largely not be heard by "the audience".


cheers,
wade
Click to expand...

You know that's a good idea. I use Moongel by RTOM on my toms already. Before I got the Moongel, I was using large sticky hands (you know those jelly-like hands with a little handle that stick to everything and they come from a gum ball machine). Maybe I'll use a left over sticky hand and put it inside the cowbell.
Good idea, thanks.
 
try taping a bit of gause (medical stuff you know they tape it on you). Tape that to the inside or other places of the cowbell in a thick patch that will dampen the sound and absorb instead of taking away the tone.
 
Moongel will cure ALL dampening needs. A clave or "jam" block, made from synthetic materials would probably be a better bet. Not so many resonance problems.
 
RecordingMaster said:
Before I got the Moongel, I was using large sticky hands
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Heh, that's a very cool idea you have there, were they very sucessful in dampening the drums? How long did it take for them to dry out and become useless? Kudos to you, I never would have thought of such a thing!
 
White_Rabbit said:
Heh, that's a very cool idea you have there, were they very sucessful in dampening the drums? How long did it take for them to dry out and become useless? Kudos to you, I never would have thought of such a thing!
Click to expand...

Well now that I have the moongel, I realize that they did pretty much the exact same thing. They work just as good were like a buck each, moongel pack of 4 is like $9 CDN. They still haven dried out, because I keep them individually seperated with plastic wrappers every time I was done with them. I think if they dry out you can just wet them again and let them airdry, only time will tell.

By the way, the sticky hands worked the best in my cowbell. I stacked two on top of eachother and placed them inside the cowbell right about in the centre. It doesn't take away the tone, but the resonance has tightened up a bit from 1.5 seconds of decay to like 0.5 secs.
Thanks for all the other ideas everyone.
Happy 2006!
 
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