Play like you practice. Practice like you play
Cow Head Drummers is not a factory: it is a workshop of ideas inspired by a drummer and created for drummers.
Each pad, accessory, or tool is born as an extension of the musician, not as just another product in the line.
Copper, wood, obsidian, or phylon are not random materials: they are symbols of strength, precision, and heritage.
While others sell pads, drumsticks, or accessories, we create pieces that honor the craft.
Instruments that feel like yours from the first hit.
Every texture, every name, every weight has a reason.
Because we believe that practicing is also an act of expression… and that even a pad can have a soul.
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OUR STORY
I am Mauro Cabeza de Vaca
Drummer since childhood.
Hundreds of trials, errors, improvements, and repetitions.
Cow Head Drummers wasn't born from a business plan: it was born from the real need of a drummer who was looking to practice better, with equipment that felt authentic, useful and with personality.
It all started with trying to acquire a silent kit with a realistic feel, something I could use in apartments, hotels, or studios without disturbing anyone.
What existed sounded plastic and dead, or was noisy, expensive, or simply did not represent me.
So I started trying to make my own pads: testing woods, mixing resins, adjusting hardness, sanding, correcting, destroying prototypes, and starting all over again. From that personal experiment, the first Cow Head was born… and from there, there was no turning back.
I discovered that most pads and accessories were made as if practice were a secondary matter: generic surfaces, cheap materials, zero inspiration.
The problem was clear:
• The drummer wants silence, but doesn't want to lose feeling.
• He wants to practice a lot, but with tools he enjoys using.
Cow Head Drummers exists to solve that: pads and accessories that combine silence, real rebound and characterful design, so that practicing doesn't feel like punishment.
but as part of the show.
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THE PHRASE THAT IGNITED EVERYTHING
There was a phrase that rearranged my head.
Thomas Lang once told me:
“Play like you practice, practice like you play.”
I didn't fully understand it until I experienced it.
On stage, there is no such thing as "I'll do it tomorrow".
There is only what you have already mastered in practice, what you have trained with your body, mind, and muscle memory.
Every Cow Head Drummers piece is designed to remind you that practicing is also playing. Every beat counts.
Practice with the energy of someone on stage, to play with the freedom of someone who has already mastered their craft.
Because training is not about repetition: it's about preparing the soul for when the lights come on.
That is our philosophy: to study with purpose, in order to play with truth.
That philosophy became my way of playing… and later, my way of designing.
I don't come from giant factories.
I come from the drummer who pours his heart and soul into practicing: the one who gets frustrated, excited, obsessed, and looks for real, honest, and well-made tools.
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OBSESSION WITH DETAIL
I'm obsessive about details: from the choice of wood to the thickness of the Mylar,
The type of rubber, the laser engraving and the texture of the rebound, although things don't always turn out as I would like, I put all my effort into making them the best they can be.
Designs like the Drum Set Simulator, Dynamic Coordination, or concepts inspired by world cultures are not decoration: they are a way of reminding you that you are playing something made with intention.
Each pad passes through my hands.
I make prototypes, I test them, I destroy them if necessary, and I start again.
The idea is simple: if I wouldn't use it in my own studio, it wouldn't come out with the Cow Head logo.
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EVOLUTION, MISSION AND VISION
The first thing was the pads.
Then came the drumsticks, the tuning key, the low-volume cymbals, the harmonic dampers, the cymbal stabilizers, and even lifestyle clothing to take the brand outside of the kit.
Cow Head Drummers started as “a pad brand” but our goal is to have a complete arsenal of tools for the drummer's day-to-day life.
Our mission is not to manufacture drums or compete with the big brands of cymbals or pedals.
Our vision is to be the drummer's number one ally in accessories: everything that surrounds the instrument, everything that makes it easier to play, practice, set up, tune, care for, transport and enjoy the drums.
Cow Head Drummers —
Play like you practice.
Practice like you play.
