How to Write Music - Cowbell Special :)

How would you go about writing music using just a cowbell?! That's the task composer Guy Michelmore set himself using Steinberg's Cubase 11 sampler tracks, LiquidSonics Cinematic Rooms reverb and iZotope's Iris 2 software. See how he gets on.
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- - - - How To Write Music - - - -
How To Write Music explores the fundamental skills that underpin every great piece of music whether it’s a song or a film score, string quartet or video game sounds track.
Check out the free guide here to get you started: thinkspaceeducation.com/htwm-...

[@Mr_Crumbly]

Next, the "I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue" challenge: rescore Gladiator using only a kazoo and a swanee whistle. Amazing work, Guy!

[@chonkypixel1006]

"Bowed Cowbell" needs to be a Kontakt sample library.

[@ThinkSpaceEducation]

Id buy it! But you could buy a cowbell and a bow

[@chonkypixel1006]

@@ThinkSpaceEducation No way I'd be able to get the subtle nuances of your performance Guy. (And I didn't say how much I'd pay for it either.)

[@nathanmcauley121]

Yes like something you'd see in Ethereal Earth

[@Meat-Puppet]

@@ThinkSpaceEducation It would be the perfect pianobook library xD

[@ThinkSpaceEducation]

@@Meat-Puppet True!

[@brianwellscomposer]

"What key am I in? I have no idea! Absolutely none." Awesome! You had so much fun with this that the specific key/church mode no longer was as important. Thanks for sharing this.

[@adammortonmusic]

"Why did I think this was a good idea?" Because it is, Guy. It is. :)

[@ThinkSpaceEducation]

Thank you. I was surprised it turned out that well TBH!

[@AtomicAudioOfficial]

[@ThinkSpaceEducation]

Ha! Thank you

[@AtomicAudioOfficial]

@@ThinkSpaceEducation You absolutely did not disappoint! Incredible work :) Thanks again!

[@eross21]

best video yet. you should do more single instrument sample challenges like this one. it’s very fun to watch. great work!

[@emiliolorenzini8050]

Hi Guy; greetings from Chile, I discover your channel a couple of months ago and it was a treasure finding!!! During the pandemic lock down last year I found myself with time to spare and being music my mistress since a kid, I started setting up my home studio. And I though at my age would be difficult to catch up with current recording techniques. Thanks to you I've found a whole new world to entertain myself, so thank you for your motivational attitude and creativity. Particularly your trip to Italy, when demonstrated "mobile composing" is inspirational. For all that thanks, you've got yourself a new fan 😇

[@danielleohallisey4218]

I hope iZotope send you a little love now and then. I bought Iris entirely because of you, and love it!

[@loucifer8009]

"Hey guys, I got a fever and the only cure is more COWBELL!!!!!"

[@bartgelin]

I'm a bass guitar player, delving into the world of orchestral samples and.....well, when I have nothing to watch on Netflix I just come here to watch Guy do his thing.....always more than amusing and utterly, totally engaging. I sometimes think I come away having learned something. Thank you Guy.

[@stevekirkby6570]

Yea - that was very cool ... and now you just need the haunting mouth-organ coming in to echo that bowed cowbell sample, a super deep ominous drone made from a bowed crash cymbal transposed down 2 octaves, and Dave Gilmour to solo over the top. Brilliant ... loved it. Now, more cowbell!

[@grahamwitcher105]

Hi Guy. To think you started all of this with just a cowbell opens up a whole World of inspiration to us composers. And a great lesson too in using the Cubase Sampler! Excellent stuff. Thank you

[@SAHBfan]

Amazing what he did with this cowbell - and yet, at no point does he actually play a rhythm on it with a stick.... 😯 Next week, I predict he takes a Stradivarius and rubs a block of margarine on it.

[@ThinkSpaceEducation]

Damn there goes the plot spoiler

[@IainMNorman]

@@ThinkSpaceEducation plot twist, it's actually marmite, not margarine. Some people won't like it. Mostly violinists I reckon!

[@Boosty_Boost]

HAhahah! x,D I need to see that!

[@Miamicop100]

I didnt know how to make a recorded sound go on to your keyboard...I had searched for it about 4 years...gee...this was helpful :-) Thank you

[@DJCroGs]

Great! Love it!

[@SpeccyMan]

I've always loved the sound of the cowbell (and windchimes) and this takes it to a whole new level.

[@MartinJG100]

More good stuff, Guy. Thank goodness someone has finally found an alternative use for the cowbell. Not quite as catchy but certainly more imaginative with a delicate hint of the blues. For all those sample cult Reaper users out there, don't fear. The world is our oyster. PS - 30:55 I like this bit. :)

[@AMB666]

That's awesome!

[@ronn3590]

This is really cool Guy! Thanks for doing this.

[@pmadeley9569]

I tried this and got extra sounds by muting the cowbell as well. Inspirational stuff. I need to get my student bow going as well on guitar Sigur Ros style. Thanks for the videos, they are great.

[@Pravdaband]

Seriously amazing. You know your software. And brilliant in compositional ideas 😃

[@stevelestermusic]

Brilliant!

[@pjdahmen]

very creative and I like it

[@hinrichbraasch4067]

You must be a musical genius to make such a creative masterpiece out of cowbells. I mean COWBELLS! Crazy. You could probably write a symphony with just the sound of a door slamming and the neighbour's dog barking. Fantastic job.

[@nightnoodler812]

Love this, thanks, in such a bad time, thank you soo much

[@AMBIOSIS]

Brilliant ! 😍😎👓

[@PADR]

Now where’s my nearest cowbell vendor? Oh - I need a bow too and a percussion thingy! Great stuff Guy.

[@martag.4594]

Nobody: Guy: Cowbell special :D

[@counterpoint1014]

Hey, Guy! I'm looking forward and excited to watch your review on the long awaited library, Cinematic Studio Woodwinds.

[@Taurex]

Hmm I'm not so sure about this one Guy, I think it needs more cowbell!

[@ThinkSpaceEducation]

AHHHHHHH

[@elektronnoise729]

hey why does no one mention a cow ? 😳 😁

[@InfiniteConstellations]

@@elektronnoise729 That's the next level challenge :D Make a piece of music with cow sounds

[@somebaldviking]

@@InfiniteConstellations Haven’t even watched the video yet but now I can’t wait to see what it’s all about. You could say I’m “udderly” curious.

[@dpisuwitme]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/eKG4gXtui9CoabM

[@FreakieFan]

*Buys cowbell* *Hits it for the first time... ...bursts into tears straight away* Now that’s a way to start a video 😂

[@project1265ffo]

Fantastic

[@JerryvanRosado]

Lmao, love this guys character voices lol

[@johnstanden3741]

Great moosic Guy!

[@DrCook45]

I hated the cowbell when our drummer used it, but I think you may have turned me onto it @Guy Michelmore Cheers man that was ace.

[@TheSteveBoyd]

LOL! I needed this distraction, at this exact moment. I've been trying to figure out NI Komplete & how to make the damned thing work in Cakewalk by Bandlab. This, it turns out, is akin to mixing concrete with a cardboard straw, left-handed, with chicken grease on my fingers. But Guy had the one & only prescription to keep me from chucking my computer through the living room window today - MORE COWBELL!

[@creativebobbo]

Wow. If anybody could have pulled this off it's you. Well done.

[@dertobusch5720]

Hello Guy. Long term subscriber but first time commenter from Germany here. This tune definitely reminds me of John Carpenter ´s "Halloween" and "The Fog" with a healthy protion of Gustavo Santaolalla ´s work for both parts of "The Last of Us." It ´s amazing what limiting yourself to just one instrument can yield, and you didn ´t even take it from a library. When you delcared this piece done I was totally with you. You could have added more instruments, but it wouldn ´t have been easy to find something to really serve the music. Keep up the great work.

[@dafingaz]

Nice!

[@nathanmcauley121]

When this popped up in my notifications I thought it was another flute challenge! Don't know what I'd do with a cowbell sample. Another great video thanks Guy

[@ThinkSpaceEducation]

Glad you like it

[@ptah23]

cowbell prices are going up after this :)

[@rbingraham]

I was pleased with myself today since the first thing I thought of was to bow the cowbell. :-) I kept saying bow it Guy... and then.. Fun video.

[@ThinkSpaceEducation]

:)

[@Raffael-Tausend]

I love Cowbells ! :D

[@pierceii3209]

Never fails to make my day

[@MrTomEast]

Just listened to Mahler 6… There are cowbells in there too. You're in good company ;-)

[@ThinkSpaceEducation]

Yes mahler was our founder member of the Secret Society of Cowbell Composers

[@MrTomEast]

@@ThinkSpaceEducation I knew it!

[@SpeccyMan]

@@ThinkSpaceEducation Mahler was ahead of his time in so many ways. The finale to his 1st symphony still sends the tingles down my spine.

[@blind2heart]

I can imagine you making sounds and the soundtrack for video games!!

[@designerelefant]

So nice to see, what you can do with on bord Cubase Plug-Ins. Create so cool sounds without samplelibraries 👏

[@ThinkSpaceEducation]

Finneas produces most of Billie Eilishes stuff using stock Logic plugins. Its all there if you look

[@jinpengyangcomposer2538]

Thank you< it is a good vedio

[@LindaMissad]

OMG, Guy, you constantly blow me away with your creative ideas. Who knew cowbell could be so interesting and not annoying (LOL). Also, thanks for the tips on Iris 2. I have it, but it seems a bit mysterious to me.

[@ThinkSpaceEducation]

Iris is a wonderful tool. Just persevere and it will repay your effort

[@watchaddicts1213]

The REVERSE SAMPLE was a really nice idea--particularly the End Of that sample--nice obit of reverberated crackle.

[@Sesaon3]

It's worth signing up to Plugin Boutique's newsletter as I picked up Iris 2 for £8.95 a year back and I see it appear often at that price ;-)

[@SpeccyMan]

I got it as a freebie from them with their "buy anything and get a free plugin" offer that they do every month.

[@Sesaon3]

@@SpeccyMan even better :-)

[@andyyoung6660]

There is Neil Peart's use of the cowbell, and then there is Guy's! Great stuff as always

[@djashley2002]

And Guy rediscovers the sort of work Delia Derbyshire was doing in the sixties and seventies, minus all the messing around with razor blades and sticky tape!

[@ThinkSpaceEducation]

So true. Cubase does make like easier

[@russkalen2337]

Guy, you are the bell of the bald! And that last bit of reverse-unthinking was disturbingly realistic. I laughed hard once I got past the panic of this being another "challenge" for us to write a piece just with cow bell.

[@annastephenson-knight6048]

Happy new year Guy to you and your cow bell. You are looking very well.

[@ThinkSpaceEducation]

And HNY to you too. My cowbell and I are doing fine - mildy stir crazy but fine :) Hope you and your lot are hanging in there

[@annastephenson-knight6048]

@@ThinkSpaceEducation Indeed we are, but like everyone, our worlds have shrunk and there is little excitement out there.

[@busterbrady9885]

This dude is really pleasing to watch, Looks and sounds like Kevin McCloud From Grand Designs !!

[@guestlistrecords1466]

You are the bee's knees. The cat's meow. The most creative thing since sliced bread!!!!!

[@ThinkSpaceEducation]

Thank you

[@midiwhale]

You forgot the cowbell! (as a real percussion element) - LOL IMHO the sub bass, before the trance gate was super impactful, so I'd have put that in to the arrangement too. The trancegate made it yet another flavour. Also if you hand muted a cowbell sample, I think you might have gotten a more piano or pitz(with adsr) instrument as well. Just thinking out loud. Now just waiting for Spitfire's "Zombie Cowbell Apocalypse Quintet - part 2"

[@Boosty_Boost]

I woke up this morning and saw i could use youtube music as my alarm clock! And i set "Who's crying now (live)" by Journey as my alarm, which ive never heard before, listened to Steely Dan - Do it again and saw the guitar solo at the beginning of "i just died in your arms" from cutting crew live at rockpalast 2007, then i listened to a little bit of Boston without regretting it :,D and also some remastered zz top recordings. Heck yeah a morning and i didnt really feel like getting up, but now im rocking at my drumset! - Then i see you have a cowbell special! ;D haha yeaahh!! \m/ -_- \m/

[@robdunford6023]

Amazing what you can do, when you know how. 😎

[@byronrogers4489]

A very wise man once said ... WE NEED MORE COWBELL!!

[@NotInTheBox]

I’d absolutely love it if you could do a short video on choosing a tempo for a new piece!

[@cruachfilms]

You know what this needs? Ah nevermind ;) amazing stuff as always Guy :)

[@reinerquittau1867]

you are crazy. I like it.

[@aaryantajanpure7461]

Next video: writing music with Larry's sounds!!! would love to see that one!!

[@ThinkSpaceEducation]

Yes buyt he'd want royalties. His agent is hard work

[@thomashohlcomposermusician7488]

Finally!!!

[@marcusdekker]

Izotope's Iris 2 now for sale with their bundle sale (at last, i waited a year)

[@freshnelly]

I've used wine glasses, a brass handbell, coffee cup, and data from an ocean wave monitor, aren't samples fantastic?! Nice tutorial Guy, fun as always, cheers & stay safe!

[@rubenmolino1480]

personal methods that each one uses to compose ... it would be an interesting debate in this medium and very didactic ... thanks

[@nightnoodler812]

I think of breath, flutes, woodwinds, brass. For me.. bells always have a beautiful natural echo or reverb breath on their decay

[@tomyg2766]

Brilliant Guy, just wish I had the same command of my DAW as you. I find I spend more time battling software than producing music these days.

[@Dakilangmanok]

I love these kinds of videos. If I were a pro composer I would spend way too much time messing around with things like is musical cowbell possible? And not actually producing any music.

[@michaelantrum3088]

Next week, Guy performs Grieg’s Piano Concerto on the spoons......

[@nigelworwood8530]

Very moooving

[@awpMusic1]

Mooving music from a cowbell :)

[@attila.szelei]

You are a genius! End of!

[@BF-up5xw]

I love doing this sort of thing. I don’t do it this well!

[@alaindubois1505]

On the frozen planet, Cowbelia, no-one can hear you cream. {Oh, it's still Christmassy too}

[@gonoszcerkof]

I wondered how long it would take for the sunglasses to make an appearance. Not disappointed.

[@Sesaon3]

Michelmore Gold - Friday's wouldn't be the same without you :-)

[@theatheistpaladin]

If you want a stronger bow from the bell, try a double base bow with the stronger rosin.

[@ronnyskaar3737]

Your best video! Give it to Sadler's Wells.

[@artmyb]

That sounds very creative! I, and most of us your followers I presume, are looking very forward to seeing more videos of creation of instruments out of scratch. Thank you for existing.

[@ThinkSpaceEducation]

Glad to exist!

[@lesliemakin]

The muted cowbell is a good sound... Put a bit of tape on the bell and hit it with a hard beater.. gives a nice sound.

[@ThinkSpaceEducation]

Ah good idea

[@dougaldhendrick3497]

Overall sound is very much like the current vogue in "arctic" like sound libraries, without the massive price point!

[@charlesgaskell5899]

You've reminded me that I need to investigate "retrospective record"...

[@chonkypixel1006]

A wild cowbell has appeared!

[@chonkypixel1006]

Guy uses a mug of tea. It's super effective!

[@devanshchander6405]

I got so sad! Guy because i could not gave you the access to the track that i made for that flute challenge but no problem lets hope there are more contest coming!!!1

[@justinemv5]

I Enjoy youR peRsonaLiTy! Ty 🥰😆🥰🎶#SupeRCooL🎶

[@Philbobify]

Hi Guy what microphone are you using and what would you suggest for recording you own samples? Budget-friendly if poss 😁

[@kevroberts8147]

Yes Guy, the cowbell finally rears its ugly head. Nice little creepy piece of music, reminds me of looking at one of those scary old fashioned evil looking dolls.👍

[@ThinkSpaceEducation]

Thats the vibe

[@JacqueHarper]

Wait, you're able to monetize this???! These are times 'passing strange indeed ;-) I take it back. That's actually turning out rather nicely. I can't wait until I can afford a cowbell!

[@Boosty_Boost]

17:13 xD No please ! be silly guy.. guy .. guy .. x,D 24:02 was that slightly the mission impossible theme ? xD Also i loved the ending where you reversed your words x.D haha got me thinking of ace ventura trying to get in to the mental clinic. cant remember if it was the first or thje second movie x,D

[@charlesgaskell5899]

Inspirational! And I even already have just about all the software that you used! I might even have a Stagg cowbell and various implements to hit it with... What are other options for getting an infinite reverb, other than Cinematic Rooms?

[@ThinkSpaceEducation]

Most algorhithmic reverbs will do that and you can use Paulstretch

[@stuartschaffner9744]

Great sounds here, Guy, but what did you do with the clapper? I grew up in farm country. A cowbell without a clapper is like a singer without a larynx.

[@bbenz9750]

Recording some muted hits would allow you to create some percussions ;) More cowbell, Guy!

[@e.azcoitia5198]

You caught my attention at cowbell

[@paulmdevenney]

MOAR Cowbell. Is this your equivalent of "but does it chug?"

[@JimHudd]

"... with all these incredible tools ..." - which I have, yet I can't produce anything as evocative as a guy with a cowbell!

[@shashank_for_you]

Hello Sir For Film which DAW is use I'm using FL Studio and I'm a Beginner can you guide me