Cajon is an instrument for the masses. Cajon Guide 101 The wooden box attracts not only the drummers and percussionists but the commoners as well. Even the audience who watches this instrument being played usually gets stunned by the fact that how just taping in a box can create such wonderful sound and eliminate the need for a huge drum kit. As a listener, I always get amused by how incredible this little box drum can sound and do wonders for music! Though I have been doing thorough studies and research about cajon and other instruments for such a long time now, it leaves me stunned every time I experience a cajon as an audience. I’m sure a crowd like me gasps thinking how just a box can produce sounds like a drum kit. We all feel the same when it comes to thinking about the mechanisms inside this box instrument.

What attracted the people the most about cajon

It’s the practicality of this instrument that made it a favorite one for all. It’s portable, does not take up much space, is comparatively easy to learn, and is less expensive. So it simplifies the gateway to being a percussionist. One can simply sit on it, and strike the face to play. After learning the basic bass and snare, one can start initiating to play simple rhythms. It takes nothing much to enjoy the learning process and start playing, but a personalized cajon set with additional snares can make the playing experience more fun.

What’s inside a cajon

As I mentioned snare so many times previously, let’s talk about what it is. The snare is the mystery inside the box drum that most of the audience doesn’t even have any idea about. What we only see is the front face, which is called “tapa”, the part that is struck to make the sound. This is the prior part of a cajon as it provides the main sound or the bass. But the snare that is stretched across the back of the tapa, gives the sizzle to the sound. The build of a tapa makes a cajon durable and the bass exquisite. Whereas, the snare makes a cajon unique or one of a kind. There are two types of cajon mainly made for commercial use, a string cajon, and a snare cajon. Both these types are made to add a rattling effect to the sound. The cajons that are without any kind of snare are primitive ones and not meant to create a wide range of rich sounds.

How the build of a cajon works

The build of a cajon is as important to influence the mechanism as the tapa and the snare. It affects the mechanism especially because it affects the tapa. So how a tapa is going to produce sound or what kind of sound, depends on the material and the construction. High-quality wood like beech & birch produces excellent quality sound besides being durable. These are relatively expensive because it’s a higher density wood. It’s being used in some high-end drums for its broad dynamic range and for producing cracking high tones with deep bass tones. The use of softer woods or timbers gives a lot of mid-tones, resulting in a fairly dull and indistinctive sound. These days manufacturers use plastic, fiberglass, and acrylic panel for durability but these produce sounds that are warm-toned.

How the tapa of a cajon works

A good tapa is made of more layers of thinner piles to give an overall denser material. The more and thinner the layers are, the sound produced is crisp and high-toned. Depending on how a tapa is attached to the body of a cajon, the sound differs. Some manufacturers use screws all the way to the sides to attach the tapa. some glue the bottom and halfway up to the sides and use screws to the rest part of the sides along with the top. The difference in sound seems to be very subtle. Some manufacturers let the top two screws be used to adjust the tone of the tapa head. Players can loosen these to leave a gap between the body and the tapa to add extra clicks to the sound.

How the snares work in a cajon

The string snare is basically guitar strings stretched across the back of a tapa so when the tapa is struck, it makes a sizzling sound. Some strings have bells attached to them to produce extra rattle when the tapa is struck. Sometimes to distinguish the bass and the snare, the strings are positioned differently. Those are then stretched diagonally at the top corners of the cajon (at the back of the tapa). So when someone strikes the middle of the tapa, it produces bass, and the top corners are for the snare. Some cajon has real drum snares inside the cajon. Drum snares are made up of tightly curled strings. These are attached across the back of the tapa and the mechanism is kinda same as the string snare. But it produces sounds that are more similar to that of a drum kit. In both the snare, the more the strings, the more the cajon produces a sizzling sound.

How the sound hole works

In order for the sound to escape, a hole is cut out at the back of the cajon. This hole allows the compressed air to exit. Because if there is no exit point, the cajon will just produce high tones but no resonant bass tone. the hole is situated at the rare. A rare sound hole also makes the use of a microphone easy and one must not need to avail complex internally mounted microphone. The position of the sound is right opposite the tapa so the exit of air is direct and rapid. Although, the positioning can vary by model and manufacturer.

How the shape works for a cajon

So the all-over shape of a cajon is a standing rectangle, on which one can sit and play it. This is what makes a cajon unique in terms of convenience. Instead of worrying about space to set up a whole drum kit, one can easily rely on this small and sit-on-top instrument.