Cowbell Etiquette

Age: Providence was the first time that I got to see you in action up close. As always, solid performances (although I wish there were more opportunities for MORE COWBELL -- why not increase it?) But what I really want to know is, why is there no joy in your face when you perform? To me, it looked like you were being forced to do it. Sure, it's an important and serious task, but how about a smile and a little joy in your eyes (not unusual for leaders of cheers)?

. . .please don't feed the troll and this thread will just go away

I don't particularly feel like I need to defend how I do what I do, but if I didn't, someone would probably infer arrogance or elitism, or God-knows-what.

Why not more? Go to a UVM game where they do their cowbell cheer a gazillion times and tell me it doesn't get hackneyed. Something about too much of a good thing...

As for "joy" while performing, I can either be spot-on rhythmically and 20 people will hear me, or I can hit that damn thing as hard as I can. I always go for volume, especially in a big building, but that requires enough concentration to stay close-to-form that if I accidentally dropped trou in the middle of the cheer, I wouldn't notice til I was done. Jamie always (apparently) showed more "joy", but in fairness, he had a small cowbell and didn't play it very loudly. Don't think he had to concentrate nearly as much.

If you're referring to after the cheer, I'm usually a bit preoccupied with a) returning my vocal chords to their rightful place and b) not blacking out. Ultimately, it's about the cheer and supporting the team, not me. Rest assured, I do enjoy doing it, but I also put as much effort into it as I can, and my sincerest apologies if I can't bother to make my eyes sparkle. God knows I'm seeing enough stars on the inside. Really don't know what the hell is up with all the crap I take with this gig.


As somewhat of an aside, my cowbell beater is, well, beat. Would there be any interest in auctioning it and maybe a print of one of my photos with all proceeds going to the hockey team or Pep Band or charity or something?

I was not dissing Age (or at least did not mean to) and I was unaware that this is a sore subject that has been brought up in the past. I believe I had two legit questions.

To me, our cowbell cheer is one of the best cheers and everyone can do it (and thus it sounds impressive). That doesn't mean we should do it at every stoppage. But I think it's fun to do and gets the crowd into the game when they might not be. So I wouldn't mind hearing it once in each period, or at least when needed to fire up the crowd (e.g. right before the end of a TV break). Ultimately, though, it's Age's decision.

As for the "joy", I meant while performing. And since I've never done it, I couldn't tell you whether it would be hard to combine "joy" with rhythm and noise, so I have to take your word for it. It was just a suggestion, given how often you were on TV this weekend (but not while playing) and how the ESPN camera will likely try to find you next week in Buffalo. Also, my 3-year old asked me "why is that man sad?"

I think if you advertised Cowbell Auditions to be held between periods of the Red-White game, you might start a really fun tradition. The crowd could register their approval (or lack thereof) and the final decision could be left to a blue ribbon committee (Age with a blue ribbon pinned to his lapel). Maybe Beeeej could MC it with a mic.

Warning, old person mode on. I'm certainly guilty of back in MY dayisms about Cornell fans. But. Having heard perhaps a dozen major cowbell contenders and pretenders over the last 22 seasons, Age has been consistently the best. He's VERY loud, he has an impeccable sense of when to do it, he returned the cowbell to its correct (and much more difficult) cadence for an entire generation of Faithful, and he's right on beat. Old person mode... well... I guess the bitch of it is I can't turn it off. Ever.

Considering he also hosts eLF *and* takes great photos *and* makes every game, I'm not going to question how he does his thing. Plus, if you know anything at all about Age, you do so at your peril.

Oh, and here's a vote for JUST ONCE PER PERIOD, MAX. More lessens the impact.

Greg wrote:

Oh, and here's a vote for JUST ONCE PER PERIOD, MAX. More lessens the impact.

Save those rare 3rd period 2 minutes left timeouts, yes, once in the 2nd and once in the 3rd period is the way to go.

Yes, except for those.

When Age has been doing it is basically when it ought to be done. The best thing is that he doesn't do it too often; the next best is when he does it is appropriate.

There's nothing worse than "premature cowbell." Ewww....

A little off the subject, but Age breaking out the Cowbell at Jillian's in Albany at the appropriate times during the re-broadcast of the Harvard game was an excellent touch. I thought it couldn't get any better than that night, and then I went to Providence. I can only hope for the same results in Buffalo.

Let's Go Red!!!

You do an excellent job on the cowbell. I heard it loud and clear on the TV broadcasts this weekend. Your speed and rhythm are pretty impressive as well. I think it's good not to overdo it also. At a Mighty Ducks-Kings game a couple months ago, a fan in front of me got a bit ticked off because I beat out our cowbell rhythm a few times in the same period. (I always wanted to try my hand at it ) But then again the Pond of Anaheim is like a mausoleum compared to Lynah Rink!

In defense of Age, "joy" does not necessarily equal smiles and giggles. There's something to be said for a certain look of intensity and focus that carries with it far more joy and satisfaction than a more traditional cherubic grin does.

I've always wondered why a non-metal cowbell is used these days. Happenstance, or is there an accoustic reason? With an Ag school of our own, I always envisioned a fan yanking one off a cow's neck on the way to a game...

In my (humble) opinion, there is absolutely nothing that should be changed about the cowbell. I see it as more of a ritual than a cheer really, and playing it much more than it is already would just take away from it. Besides, the sweetest cowbells that I have experienced have been, for example, in the concourse of both Pepsi and Dunkin Donuts as Lynah Faithful gathered to cheer and hug together celebrating sweet victory - not cheering our team on directly in the rink. I don't know about all of you, but the thrill I get when I hear the cowbell begin each time would simply go away if I heard it every 5 minutes.

(And I appologize for being a part of keeping this thread going, but I just couldn't let this one slip by )

Lowell Frank '99, '03 wrote:
In defense of Age, "joy" does not necessarily equal smiles and giggles. There's something to be said for a certain look of intensity and focus that carries with it far more joy and satisfaction than a more traditional cherubic grin does.

I think in Age's case the sign of joy is the particular shade of purple that his face turns during the "LET'S GO RED!" (a worthy addition to the cheer, BTW).

[q]Would there be any interest in auctioning it and maybe a print of one of my photos with all proceeds going to the hockey team or Pep Band or charity or something?[/q]

We are so poor right now that I had to volunteer my house to house the band for Buffalo. However, I don't think we deserve money that could go to charity. I am sure that if you put it on eBay and let the forum know it would go for a decent penny.

It most certainly is metal. It has a plastic strip on it to keep the cowbell beater from being chewed up every time it's hit, but in my experience, hitting the bare metal side produces an almost identical sound.

Oh. Well then, just ignore me.

Keep up the good work

CowbellGuy wrote:
I always go for volume, especially in a big building, but that requires enough concentration to stay close-to-form that if I accidentally dropped trou in the middle of the cheer, I wouldn't notice til I was done.

What if you accidentally dropped the beater?

Glenn Gould didn’t smile while performing.
Fyodor Chaliapin didn’t smile while performing.
Joe Strummer didn’t smile while performing.

Some art forms are about power, not joy.

The cowbell is so much more than a cheer. It’s… it’s… Physics. Like “Let’s Go Red,” the cowbell should be the physical manifestation of a game’s momentum. I think Adriano has extraordinary sensitivity with his timing, perhaps more than any of his predecessors. Because of this, I don’t care how he looks when he performs it ...but a purple/dour face would be appropriate.



>>>>EDIT: How much does a new beater cost, anyway? I'll contribute.



Post Edited (03-31-03 19:22)

Not at all expensive. Just kind of a pain to find, but thanks

All I have to say, Age, is you can't retire that beater until the end of the season. Hopefully it will have 2 more happy games to play at.

Jordan

Do you use the LP synthetic one or something else? I have an account at Drummer's World in NYC and get you one overnighted, but I think that if you have two more games in the one you're using, that might be best.

Here's the fact sheet on the synthetic. You'll probably never need another, I don't care how purple you turn!

[www.lpmusic.com]

BTW, this discussion has inspired me to dig out a description of the cowbell cheer I wrote for a Polish friend in Switzerland after the playoff series vs Hahvahd a few years ago (edits to correct my grammar in brackets):
[Q]
Samstagabend war ich in einer Gruppe mit [dem] Kerl, [der] die Kuhglocke am Match spielt, und wir [zwangen] ihn, sie in einer Bar und vor dem Hot Truck zu spielen, was wirklich Spass machte. (Nach dem Rhythmus schreien alle "FIGHT!", und dann schreit der Kuhglockenspieler "LET'S GO RED!" während sein Gesicht violet wird.)
[/Q]
The sentence in parentheses in particular sums up the cheer.

BTW, I predict Babelfish will translate the cheer as "LET'S GO TALK".

Edit: corrected the preterite of zwingen.



Post Edited (04-01-03 09:18)

Thanks to the magic of the internet, that translates as:

Saturday evening was I in a group with [ ] chap, [ ] the cow bell at the match plays, and we zwungen him to play her in bar and before the Hot Truck which really made fun. (after the rhythm all "FIGHT cries!", and then walk the cow bell player "LET'S GO TALK!" during its face is violet.)

You were correct about the lets go talk part

Dan '01 wrote:
we zwungen him to play her in bar

That would have been even funnier if I had spelled "zwangen" correctly. Try it again now, and strip out the square brackets.

I guess joy is in the eye of the beholder then. BTW, I have seen good cowbell players actually express some form of enjoyment that the rest of the crowd could see (BU in the early 90s). But as I said before, it's entirely up to Age, at least until he decided to pass it down to a current student.

I've used a few of the LP wood ones to this point. The current one is so worn I've only got one tiny spot left that makes good sound. Finishing out the season with it would be nice, but getting the best sound possible in an enormous arena like HSBC might be preferable. I've had pretty good luck getting them from MarsMusic.com and there's plenty of time before the next games. I'll probably get one and bring both

Yes, the superstitious among us stringly encourage you to make every possible attempt to use the old one. Because we all know that the outcome of the Frozen Four hangs precariously on a fragile cowbell beater.

You know how some percussionists play vibes with four mallets, well there's your tactic should the other one break completely. Use both, but by all means the old one MUST be in the mix somehow.

Let me know if you have trouble getting it.



Post Edited (04-01-03 14:25)

Heh. Never thought about that. I'm not worried about it breaking, but the wood is very splintered and separating, making it rather soft.

Another trick would be to dip it in polyurethane resin. Give it two or three coats but roll the bottom half in sand after the last dip so it stays in you hands.