A control device includes circuitry to generate a drive waveform applied to an electromechanical transducer element that changes pressure in a liquid chamber communicating with a nozzle to discharge liquid. The drive waveform includes, in a pulse unit of one discharge cycle, a first discharge pulse waveform including a damping element to damp a vibration of the liquid, and a second discharge pulse waveform subsequent to the first discharge pulse waveform. The circuitry selects at least one of the first and second discharge pulse waveforms in the pulse unit, in accordance with a volume of the liquid to be discharged, to cause the nozzle to discharge different volumes of the liquid. A pulse interval between the first and second discharge pulse waveforms is from Phlm×(N±⅛) to Phlm×(N±¼), where Phlm represents a Helmholtz period of the liquid chamber and N represents an integer of 1 or greater.