Needs. More. Cowbell.
September 10, 2008 9:53 AM   Subscribe

Needs. More. Cowbell. Morecowbell takes any MP3 file and adds synchronized cowbell along with random Christopher Walken clips. For example, David Bowie or Coldplay.
posted by GuyZero (95 comments total) 27 users marked this as a favorite
 
[Via Projects], unless GuyZero is magical and found it on his own somehow.
posted by Caduceus at 9:57 AM on September 10, 2008


I thought this was going to suck, but after listening to the Coldplay one I think I have to put this in the "weird but cool" category.
posted by mystyk at 9:59 AM on September 10, 2008


Now we just need a Web 2.0 app that transfers things back in time to when they were still funny we're all set.
posted by DU at 10:00 AM on September 10, 2008 [5 favorites]


This works surprisingly well with They Might Be Giants.
posted by jedicus at 10:00 AM on September 10, 2008 [1 favorite]


Changes - David Bowie
created 15 minutes ago
with 0% cowbell and 0% Walken


0% cowbell still has A LOT of cowbell.
posted by shmegegge at 10:02 AM on September 10, 2008


Heh, I actually saw it on BoingBoing. But it was too awesome to not post. Very cool that it was already on projects. And this Aimee Mann tune also works surprisingly well. That it some excellent automated cowbell.
posted by GuyZero at 10:03 AM on September 10, 2008


am i the only one who wants to hear John Cage's Silence with cowbell?
posted by shmegegge at 10:06 AM on September 10, 2008 [9 favorites]


::stamp of approval::
posted by cowbellemoo at 10:06 AM on September 10, 2008 [1 favorite]


hi-- thanks for the post. 0% cowbell still has lots of cowbell. We didn't want to turn this into an mp3 file hosting service, after all :) PS, the source code for this is available (click on Remix)
posted by brianwhitman at 10:07 AM on September 10, 2008


I put in "We're an American Band" and the internet exploded.

I figured I timed it well. Yous all thought it was the particle collider.
posted by Bathtub Bobsled at 10:10 AM on September 10, 2008 [1 favorite]


Did the LHC destroy the universe and replace it with a universe exactly the same but with this website?
posted by wolfewarrior at 10:13 AM on September 10, 2008 [11 favorites]


No, there is a tree somewhere in the Amazon basin with one extra leaf.
posted by adamdschneider at 10:19 AM on September 10, 2008 [1 favorite]


So Much Cowbell I Lose My Mind
posted by nomisxid at 10:20 AM on September 10, 2008 [2 favorites]


I say leave the cowbells to the cows. You ruined my fave Bowie song.
posted by binturong at 10:21 AM on September 10, 2008


PS: I feel weird only using this account to respond to and make projects just for nest stuff - you should know I'm a pretty active reader/lurker/sometime contributor under a sobriquet rouge :)
posted by brianwhitman at 10:24 AM on September 10, 2008


Still Alive
posted by KirkJobSluder at 10:24 AM on September 10, 2008


I've checked the Mefi Wiki to no avail. Will someone kindly explain "needs more cowbell"?
posted by Flipping_Hades_Terwilliger at 10:24 AM on September 10, 2008


Stan Rogers
posted by ~ at 10:30 AM on September 10, 2008 [3 favorites]


Finally, I've found what my band was missing!

Also, a singer.
posted by LordSludge at 10:32 AM on September 10, 2008


From The EchoNest blog, the guys who put this together:

MoreCowbell.dj was the work of Tristan, Rob O, Todd and Adam, who (I swear this is true) ported it from MATLAB into a web app.

It was ported from MATLAB. I didn't think it was possible, but this tool just got even awesomer. Please port it to VHDL next so I can have it built-in to my MP3 player.
posted by GuyZero at 10:33 AM on September 10, 2008


Will someone kindly explain "needs more cowbell"?

Original SNL skit.
posted by netbros at 10:34 AM on September 10, 2008


I've checked the Mefi Wiki to no avail. Will someone kindly explain "needs more cowbell"?

More cowbell
posted by gubo at 10:35 AM on September 10, 2008


This thing desperately needs a search and top-rated, or else people will probably keep uploading the same mp3s, "Don't Fear the Reaper" among others. But it's cool and fun, nonetheless.
posted by hincandenza at 10:36 AM on September 10, 2008


Try it with Mozart's Piano Sonata #16 in B-Flat Major.
posted by Zambrano at 10:38 AM on September 10, 2008


Oh, internet. What can't you do?
posted by Solon and Thanks at 10:38 AM on September 10, 2008


> Stan Rogers

I will never sleep again.
posted by ardgedee at 10:38 AM on September 10, 2008


As much as I find the addition of cowbell and Walken to be generally good, this has admirably demonstrated that Still Alive is perfect and can not be made any better, no matter what you combine it with.

Except maybe chocolate. That could be nice.

posted by quin at 10:43 AM on September 10, 2008


synchronized?
posted by micayetoca at 10:47 AM on September 10, 2008


Whip it, whip it good.
posted by zippy at 10:51 AM on September 10, 2008 [2 favorites]


synchronized?

It keeps the beat better than I would.
posted by GuyZero at 10:54 AM on September 10, 2008


This is so, so awesome! You can really *hear* the Tin Man: http://www.morecowbell.dj/listen?id=jcE0M
posted by bonecrusher at 10:55 AM on September 10, 2008


That Whip It version was excellent, but the "Gotta have more cowbel" dialogue ruined it.
posted by MegoSteve at 11:11 AM on September 10, 2008


This website has the power to turn old Metallica into new Metallica, kind of.
posted by nowonmai at 11:16 AM on September 10, 2008


With this tool, I can confidently proclaim a new emergence of Enuff Z'Nuff on the music scene.
posted by Senator at 11:17 AM on September 10, 2008


"Uh oh! -- We've been real busy and cowbells are taking 5 minutes to render."

I hope this doesn't turn into Yirmumah.com draw anything for $2... I ordered mine back in July after the MeFi post about it, and am STILL waiting on it.
posted by crapmatic at 11:17 AM on September 10, 2008


This website has the power to turn old Metallica into new Metallica, kind of.
If anyone happens to have Dyers Eve handy, I'd be ever so obliged.
posted by Wolfdog at 11:23 AM on September 10, 2008


SOS Band - Take Your Time - pretty darn good
Sundays - Here's Where The Story Ends - not so good unless you like syncopation
Joe Jackson - Is She Really Going Out With Him - awesome

The default cowbell is kind of over-the-top so I brought the cowbell slider way down. On another note, I can't see how this site is going to stay up much longer once the RIAA dogs pick up the trail.

OKAY, back to work.
posted by crapmatic at 11:31 AM on September 10, 2008


It's not just the RIAA, it's also the three licensing agencies for songwriters, Walken's "right to publicity", etc. :(
posted by jca at 11:35 AM on September 10, 2008


Thanks netbros and gubo. I can now proceed to overuse this phrase in daily conversations with my husband to his great annoyance and my great delight. :)
posted by Flipping_Hades_Terwilliger at 11:53 AM on September 10, 2008


In the normal universe, this would be a textbook example of the parody/satire exemption. In the RIAA's crazy world, this might not be so safe.
posted by roll truck roll at 11:55 AM on September 10, 2008 [2 favorites]


Also, how long does this take? I've been waiting for like ten minutes. Should I abort and try again?
posted by roll truck roll at 11:58 AM on September 10, 2008


roll truck roll: we just had a solr hiccup. Please keep waiting, it's a queue system. I say check back in 5, and from then on things should be smooth.
posted by brianwhitman at 12:00 PM on September 10, 2008


Thanks, Brian. I'll just bookmark the file and look later. By the looks of your "recent" page, you're getting hit pretty hard.

By the way, please don't take my previous comment as any sort of ill wish.
posted by roll truck roll at 12:04 PM on September 10, 2008


I'm on a conference call. Somebody run More Cowbell through More Cowbell.

(c'mon. It's Metafilter...)
posted by eriko at 12:06 PM on September 10, 2008


Did the LHC destroy the universe and replace it with a universe exactly the same but with this website?

Indeed. Like in The Silent Earth, except instead of no people everything has more cowbell.
posted by Meatbomb at 12:09 PM on September 10, 2008 [1 favorite]


God, thsoe cowbelled songs are far, far funnier than the original SNL skit.

Thank you, Inertnets, for bringing a smile to my face.
posted by Flipping_Hades_Terwilliger at 12:13 PM on September 10, 2008 [1 favorite]


Blah Blah Blah
posted by Meatbomb at 12:18 PM on September 10, 2008


Hey Wolfdog: You're welcome.
posted by aldurtregi at 12:31 PM on September 10, 2008


Sunday Bloody Sunday comes out near perfect.
posted by GuyZero at 12:34 PM on September 10, 2008 [5 favorites]


Nerd FYI: 70 EC2 machines right now doing analyze2 & cowbell rendering. Amazon just called me to "give" me access to 50 more.
posted by brianwhitman at 12:39 PM on September 10, 2008 [2 favorites]


Huh. Maybe it's the sample rate: Punch 'em in the Dick gets a growly slow-motion Walken.

On preview: Imagine a cluster of cowbells.
posted by Pronoiac at 12:43 PM on September 10, 2008


You can't really have 0% cowbell, you can only approach it asymptotically.
posted by speedo at 12:45 PM on September 10, 2008 [1 favorite]


Obliged indeed!
posted by Wolfdog at 1:27 PM on September 10, 2008


Cowbell, mother mother!!!! It works better than I had any reason to believe it would . . . .
posted by birdhaus at 1:37 PM on September 10, 2008



Hmm. . . . doesn't handle 20/8 very well -- except that it seems to know where the transitions are and drops either a Walken or bell-roll on it. Then it has got what appears to be a dynamite sound.

Except that the cowbells sound like my old Casio RZ1.

Also, Bruce, please put your pants on and fix this page so we can read what morecowbell.dj is About.

Especially the part About users being responsible for obtaining permission from copyright owners before uploading content and the site not being responsible for theft of items left in parked cars.
posted by Herodios at 1:51 PM on September 10, 2008


Hard Day's Night -- it says 67% cowbell added, but just sounds like the digital remix for CD went overboard bringing up the original cowbell part.
posted by Herodios at 2:02 PM on September 10, 2008


Take On Me by Ah-Ha. Better than it has any business being.
posted by ianaces at 2:09 PM on September 10, 2008 [6 favorites]


please. . . fix this page

Thenkyew. *click*
posted by Herodios at 2:09 PM on September 10, 2008


Herodios: we hilariously tagged that Mahavishnu as being in 3, I mean, close enough amirite:

http://developer.echonest.com/api/get_time_signature?api_key=5ZAOMB3BUR8QUN4PE&id=TR2RZZE11C4D9AFA81

And here're the section breaks:

http://developer.echonest.com/api/get_sections?api_key=5ZAOMB3BUR8QUN4PE&id=TR2RZZE11C4D9AFA81

(You'll need firefox or something to see the XML)

And can you tell me what is wrong with the about page?
posted by brianwhitman at 2:11 PM on September 10, 2008


Brian,

Herodios: we hilariously tagged that Mahavishnu as being in 3, I mean, close enough amirite:


Interesting to see the code. ".902" confidence, eh?

The sheet music says it's in 10/8 througout, but it's prob. easier to count in 20 and hear the beats grouped 6-6-6-2. It's easier to hear in the second, pseudo-blues-boogie section.

can you tell me what is wrong with the about page?

Previously looked like the whole page was rendered in the title font, but it apparently got fixed since; hence, "thenkyew".
posted by Herodios at 2:25 PM on September 10, 2008


Er. Dave Brubeck definitely does not need cowbell.

The few othere songs I sampled didn't seem like they needed cowbell either and in fact the timing seemed off.

Suggestion: try this with Santana, a band that consists of probably 75% percussion instruments. I'm sure Santana doesn't need more cowbell but at least it wouldn't be so obviously out of sync and overly loud (Can we get a producer in to work on these please? Somebody that actually understands how to work a fader?).
posted by suelange at 2:34 PM on September 10, 2008


Under Pressure. Slightly off, yeah, but it really points out how the original really needed more cowbell.
posted by GuyZero at 2:36 PM on September 10, 2008 [1 favorite]


Here's mine.

Source file here.

I don't think I need that much cowbell.
posted by loquacious at 2:46 PM on September 10, 2008


Here it is with my band - I LIKE IT!
posted by weezy at 2:48 PM on September 10, 2008


"More cowbell" is this generation's "I'm a lumberjack...".
posted by you just lost the game at 3:15 PM on September 10, 2008


Code Monkey with a lot of cowbell, which is kind of distracting, but it's got a ring to it
Uptight (Everything's Alright) "This last one, is even better than the first!"
Rock and Roll Ain't Noise Pollution with probably too much Walkin.

Comcast is gonna take away my series of tubes if I do this all night....

posted by l33tpolicywonk at 3:23 PM on September 10, 2008


That Joe Jackson one is great, Crapmatic.
posted by eperker at 3:24 PM on September 10, 2008


How long have DFA and The Rapture had access to this?
Cowbell Whip It is my favorite thing of the day.
posted by minifigs at 3:26 PM on September 10, 2008


More Cowbell, more cowbell-ed
With slowdown Walken action, too
posted by niles at 4:04 PM on September 10, 2008


uh, I grabbed the wrong file. That one's already remixed, so it's... bi-mixed?
posted by niles at 4:07 PM on September 10, 2008


My modest little shrine to More Cowbell.
It's kinda fun to run two or more of this page - out of sync.

posted by zenzizi at 4:30 PM on September 10, 2008


How about more cowbell and a guitar solo?

voilĂ 

posted by gubo at 4:58 PM on September 10, 2008


OMFG!

This is why I come to MeFi, to laugh my ass off.

I have to say that after an independent and rather biased survey, the best are :

Take on Me
Sunday Bloody Sunday
Hard's Days Night
Still Alive
Under Pressure
Space Lord
Take Your Time
Whip It
Blackened
Just Lose My Mind

What should we call the award? The "Bellies"?
posted by liza at 5:03 PM on September 10, 2008


Every Sperm is Sacred.
posted by riane at 5:19 PM on September 10, 2008


88% cowbell? Are you mad, sir? Even "Needs More Cowbell" was only run through MoreCowbell at 50% cowbell. Do you have any idea how many cowbell 88% cowbell actually is in real cowbells? The kind of cowbelling power required to maintain that much cowbell? Imagine just trying to measure that much cowbell in cows per cowbell. Try to imagine one genuine, domesticated moo-cow wearing a bell for every cowbell produced with 88% cowbell (Holsteins, not Guernseys).

And don't get me started on your Walkens.
posted by steef at 5:20 PM on September 10, 2008


70 EC2 machines right now doing analyze2 & cowbell rendering.

This is why the Cloud exists.
posted by OverlappingElvis at 5:28 PM on September 10, 2008


This is too much fun. Some Genesis at 100% cowbell, anyone?
posted by riane at 5:32 PM on September 10, 2008


I wouldn't have thought Cab Calloway needed that much cowbell, but it works pretty well.
posted by yhbc at 5:51 PM on September 10, 2008


I Am the Cowbell (Goo Goo Ga Joob)
posted by yhbc at 5:56 PM on September 10, 2008 [1 favorite]


You know what it completely couldn't handle? Maggot Brain. Well, War Pigs also came out pretty terrible, but it seemed to decide that Maggot Brain didn't exist at all.
posted by penduluum at 7:20 PM on September 10, 2008


Okay, I'm obsessing now, but here's a better version of "I am the Walrus" with less cowbell and more Walken.
posted by yhbc at 7:29 PM on September 10, 2008


Odd trivial personal note: I am amused as I had seen a "More Cowbell" bumper sticker recently and just yesterday remembered to google it. I am so filled with cowbell!

Follow on project: automatically mat in Will Ferrell into random music videos!
posted by sammyo at 7:46 PM on September 10, 2008


Pillowy Mounds of Mashed Cowbell
posted by erniepan at 8:22 PM on September 10, 2008


(pillowy mounds without cowbell)
posted by erniepan at 8:24 PM on September 10, 2008


I think we can add Paper Planes by MIA to the list of songs that didn't know they needed more cowbell.
posted by cerulgalactus at 10:10 PM on September 10, 2008


Hawkwind can take it, Duggie Ward, not so much.
posted by tellurian at 11:22 PM on September 10, 2008


Weezer - Pork and Beans and Cowbell.
posted by iamabot at 12:55 AM on September 11, 2008


While My Cowbell Gently Weeps.
posted by iamabot at 1:15 AM on September 11, 2008




INXS with more cowbell. Oh, wow.

And Funky Town is infinitely more funky with more cowbell.
posted by The Shiny Thing at 5:37 AM on September 11, 2008 [1 favorite]


It fits in really and truly well with this Garmarna tune.
posted by Wolfdog at 6:21 AM on September 11, 2008


Fake Plastic Trees. (46% cowbell and 78% Walken)

I love this.

I am such a child.
posted by paddysat at 9:29 AM on September 11, 2008




No Cars Go
posted by mike3k at 5:19 PM on September 11, 2008


Heh. This was just mentioned on Entertainment Weekly's Must List. Way to go, brianwhitman.
posted by Slarty Bartfast at 9:19 AM on September 27, 2008


« Older The Matanuska Colony: The New Deal in Alaska   |   UFO or Solar Car? Newer »


This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments