The Tapa And Its Effect On Cajon
Cajon, the Spanish translation of “box”, is a hollow box-like percussion instrument that came into being in the 18th century by the African slaves in Peru and has been existing for centuries. The original instrument is assumed to date back even further to the box drums of Africa. Thinking about what a Cajon is, look no further than the origin of this instrument, when fruit crates or tea chests were being played by the slaves to replace the traditional drum. Although cajons have been used in their native Peru and Africa, they only gained worldwide popularity when they captured the eyes of western audiences.
The first type of cajons was likely to be food crates which were a very common commodity and easily available to the Afro-Peruvian workers while the traditional drums got banned. This wide use of crates was started due to the qualities of the crates or boxes, viz, being made from thin woods, prone to warping and splitting in wide ranges of humidity and temperature which were likely to produce the rattle or snare sound of a drum. This characteristic of box drum got imitated and improvised in today’s Cajon through the use of snare wires or guitar strings across the back of the “tapa”, while the traditional Peruvian Cajon are still made without the added wire.The usual size of Cajon is somewhat around 12 inches x 12 inches x 18 inches, though it varies in different types of Cajon and manufacturers. It has six sides, five of which are made from hardwood which are the non-playing sides, and the backside has a sound hole cut on it. The striking side of the box drum is called tapa, meaning the top, is made from thinner woods than the rest of the sides. The tapa or the front face of the Cajon gets more attention from the prospective buyers than any other part, not just because it is the part that the audience can see but also it has more role to play than what it just seems to have. The design, color, or appearance of the tapa or what logo or branding it carries are a lot less important when it comes to the role-play of a tapa. Even though the designs, color, etc matter visually, tapa is actually significant for being the only part that is usually used to be played and to create the main sound of the Cajon. So the most important consideration for a tapa is the material that is used to make it as it contributes the most to the sound. It holds the branding just because it is always positioned in a way that is meant to face the audience while playing the Cajon.
The construction of the face influences the overall sound produced by the instrument much more than one can imagine. It is often made with even thinner, harder, and denser material that can provide superior high and slap tones. A tapa that is considered of premium quality should be made of more layers of thinner plies to give an overall denser material. A tapa comprising more and thinner plies are more likely to produce such crispy high tones. The lesser and thicker the plies, the sound will be a more mid-based tone. The typical thickness of a tapa is around 3-4mm. Some tapas of modern Cajon are made of synthetic materials such as plastic, acrylic glass or carbon fiber to bring more variation in sound. Each kind of material has its own sound characteristic but the advantage of using materials like carbon fiber is that one can construct thinner tapa faces that are much stronger and more resonant. Some manufacturers use screws all the way along the sides of the front tapa head, some glue the tapa halfway around and then use screws on the top half or top one-third of the two sides and along the top. This makes difference in sounds that seems to be very unnoticeable. The top two screws on either side can be used to adjust the tone of the tapa head and some players slacken these to leave a very small space between the main body and the tapa to add extra click to the high tones.
Traditionally, the player sits on top of the instrument keeping the rectangular box vertical, while striking the tapa between the knees. The Cajon may sit on the ground or be tilted with a slight angle with the box resting on the edge of the bottom panel. The player strikes on the tapa with the palm and fingers in different positions to achieve various types of rendition. Striking the middle of the tapa gives more of a bass tone. Players hit the face with a flat hand using both the palms and fingers slightly apart, allowing the hands to bounce off the instrument right after the impact. This stroke is made only a few inches from the tapa and creates a warm and fuller tone. The strikes on the upper part and corners of the tapa determine the sound whether to be high or pressed tone. Striking the top corners of the tapa with the palm, allowing the fingers to strike two to four inches of both corners of the tapa face. The fingers should be relaxed and kept slightly apart to achieve the “pop” sound. This is similar to the slap tone that is popular in Latin drumming. Strikes that are made with the flats of the fingers held together on the top corners, leaving the fingers in contact with the surface after striking it, produce a short staccato sound which is similar to the staccato of traditional flamenco music.
So, long story short, tapa is the one part of Cajon that remained the most important bit to influence the quality of a Cajon since the primitive time. Though various modifications and repurposing took place to develop the Cajon by the time, the changes never could be enough to reduce the importance or influence of the tapa. Therefore, it is a must to be aware of the construction, material, and durability of a tapa while choosing a good quality of Cajon.
