Pearl Horacio Hernandez Signature Cowbells

As Unique As "El Negro" Himself

by Norman Arnold

Horacio "El Negro" Hernandez is known for his stellar ability to play  left-foot clave patterns using a cowbell mounted on a foot-pedal bracket.  Horacio also incorporates bells into his complex and fluid Latin sticking  patterns. So there's a certain logic to his development of a signature line of  cowbells in conjunction with Pearl's percussion division.

The Horacio Hernandez (HH) series features five different copper-finished  bells. Each has one curved surface and one flat surface. The curved surface is  easy to strike when the bell is mounted perpendicular to the player, while the  flat side is the better target when the bell is facing the player. Each bell  comes with a rubber muting band that can be attached to the bell to mute the  overtones.

One particularly cool feature on all of the bells is an innovative mounting  bracket that can rotate 90°. This allows stacking of multiple bells on one post  without the tightening bolts being on top of one another. It's a great idea and  an excellent design.

The Bells Are Ringing...

In terms of sonic performance, all of the bells have a great fundamental tone  and very prominent overtones, whether played mounted on a stand or held in the  hand. For hand playing in particular, the flat and curved sides make it possible  to get a much wider range of natural tones than are possible with a more  traditional bell design. The small BELLa bell is the highest pitched of the  bunch. It has a piercing tone that would cut through just about anything. The  ClaBELL and ChaBELLa are both mid-pitched bells. They're great for foot-pedal  mounting, and would give you that constant quarter-note part when playing a cha  cha. Both bells are also very resonant, with the ChaBELLa sounding like a  classic cha cha bell.

The IsaBELL is a mambo bell with a great low sound. There's a noticeable  difference to the sound when you hold the curved or flat side in your hand.  Playing with the flat side resting in your hand lets the curved surface ring  out, generating a series of cool overtones. Holding the curved side in your hand  reduces the overtones, creating a more muted sound. The same holds true for the  lowest-pitch MaryBELL.

A Bell Choir

Pearl's Horacio Hernandez cowbells are instant classics. The line offers  enough sonic variety to justify having more than one bell, and mixing and  matching them would be a breeze. Mounting the ClaBELL on a pedal under your  congas would be a fantastic place to start. The IsaBELL and ChaBELLa would make  a great timbale setup. In fact, considering that none of the HH cowbells are  particularly expensive, it would be cool to get all five. Add in Pearl's stable  and well-constructed foot pedal bracket and their percussion rack with four  mounting brackets and poles, and you'd be set for any combination of bells—and  virtually any musical situation.