Cowbell Extractor

How to extract the cowbell from a song

1. Upload the song. MP3, WAV, M4A or FLAC, up to 10 minutes. You sign in with Google the first time.
2. Press Extract the cowbell. It costs 1 credit for every minute of music, and the button shows the price before anything runs. New accounts start with 5 credits, enough for one song up to 5 minutes. Most songs take 1 to 3 minutes.
3. Listen and download. Two reels come back: Cowbell and Without the cowbell. Click one to hear only that file and download it as an MP3 at 320 kbps. If processing fails, your credits are returned.

The cowbell in a song

A cowbell is a metal bell with no clapper, struck with a stick. It gives a hollow, short "clonk" with a bit of ring, in a higher or lower pitch depending on the size. You hear it in rock, disco, funk, salsa and dance music, usually as a steady pulse that keeps the beat while the drums and bass do more. Producers also use it as a bright accent on the offbeats.

Who wants the cowbell alone

Percussionists and drummers learn the pattern. Isolate the cowbell to hear whether it plays on every beat or only on the off-beats, then switch to the Without file and play it live against the band.

Producers sample a clean cowbell from a record, loop it, and tune it under a new beat.

Mixers reduce it with the Without file when the bell is too sharp or too prominent in a track they are rebalancing.

What to expect

A cowbell is short and metallic, and its sound lives in the same range as the snare and hi-hat. When the bell is loud and clear in the mix, as in disco or salsa, the result is usually good. When it sits quietly behind loud guitars and drums, the Cowbell file may be faint or have some of the drum kit in it. Other metallic percussion, such as a bell or a block, can land in either file, so listen to both. A light trace of the cowbell can stay in the Without file.

If you want all the hand percussion, use the Percussion Extractor. For the whole drum kit, use the Drum Remover. For Latin hand drums, try the Congas Extractor.