THE STUDY, RESEARCH AND INVENTION OF

THE COWBELLOPHONE 

WITH HARMONIC SOUNDS

Professor (associate) Samret Commong

NEU Cultural Art and Wisdom Center199/9 Mitrapap Road Khon Kaen, Thailand 40000

Tel. 0 4322 2959 – 61 Fax. 0 4322 6822 – 4

E mail: composer-samret@hotmail.co.th

Abstract

         The study, research and invention of the cowbellophonewas to invent a new kind of Thai-Lao ethnic musical instrument to fulfill the harmonic and metallic sounds into the traditional Thai-Lao folk or ethnic band.

The researcher designed and used the metal cowbells as the main part of the instrument by organizing them into the xylophone shape with 2 rafts: upper and lower. The upper raft was for playing the melodic lines while the lower raft playing the harmonic lines at the same beat; since, each pair of the 

          cowbells that sounded harmonically to each other was fixed facing together and each beat of the beater could struck the pair. The tonality of the cowbellophone was of the diatonic scale in major mode including 8 pitches: C D E F G A B C from which could be used to play the melodic and harmonic line in the minor mode with 8 pitches: A B C D E F G A and the pentatonic scale  with 5 pitches: C D E G A easily. The harmonic sounds of the cowbellophone were produced by beating each conjunct pair of the cowbells that sounded the natural fourth and the natural fifth to each other.

Key words: Metal cowbell, cowbellophone, melodic line, harmonic line, diatonic scale, pentatonic scale, major mode, minor  mode