The cowbell allows the shepherd to control his livestock
A cowbell is a bell that is tied to the neck of an animal to make it easier to locate. Cowbells are usually made of copper or iron sheet and are used on livestock .
Utility of the cowbell
Thanks to the cowbell, it is possible to locate the cow that is wearing it. Take the case of sheep : the shepherd can pay attention to the sound to find the specimens that, on a field trip, separate themselves from the rest.
Within the shepherds' jargon, there are many specific terms to designate their actions and tools, some regional and others technical; one of them is wire , which refers to all the cowbells in the same herd . There is also talk of bells to give names to the smallest ones, which are usually given to sheep that have had two lambs, so that they approach it when they need to drink milk, preventing one of them from getting ahead and having priority in front of them. to the other.
The sound of the bell also helps to ward off predators . On the other hand, in ancient times cowbells were considered to provide protection against supernatural forces.
Currently, other more advanced resources than cowbells are beginning to be introduced for the location and control of cattle. One of these innovations is collars with motion and GPS sensors.
The musical instrument
A cowbell, on the other hand, is a percussion instrument that is made of steel or copper. It is an idiophone since its body is the resonator box: therefore, when it vibrates it produces the sound, without resorting to membranes or strings. Broadly speaking, the cowbell can emit four sounds that are grouped into two: high (open or closed) and low (open or closed).
To generate the sound, the cowbell is hit with wooden drumsticks . The cowbells have different sizes, linked to the sound that is intended to be obtained. Whoever plays the cowbell, on the other hand, can produce various sounds depending on the pressure he or she exerts with his fingers on the instrument and according to the area where he hits it with the drumstick.
There are cowbells that are held with one hand. Others are attached to a support. It is common for the cowbell to be used by musicians of salsa , merengue , cumbia or mambo , among other characteristic rhythms of Latin America .
El Cencerro Festival
In the Spanish province of Segovia, there is a non-profit festival called El Cencerro, which takes place in a town called Losana de Pirón. Its creation took place so that advertisements from the rural environment could be presented, that is, they focused on craft or agricultural products, and to promote the reality of their towns and fields.
This festival also has the objective of making the rural environment sustainable, thanks to the inevitable impact that the town in which it takes place and the surrounding areas receive through media coverage. In this way, small entrepreneurs who offer accommodation and restaurant services , among others, benefit from the flow of people who attend every year.
A cow with a cowbell
The first date on which El Cencerro was held was June 30, 2012, and since then it has offered the following two categories to its participants:
* agency : where pieces that have already been published in previous editions are accepted;
* paella : where the pieces that are valued must have been made following a series of rules that are made public before the celebration and that are related to life in the countryside or to certain artisanal, livestock or agricultural products.