Beat box (Cajon) for unplugged session

We had this some sort of a party, my teammate brought his guitar and this wooden box which he referred to as “beat box”, the box one got my attention at the first glance. I find it interesting, I asked him to teach me how play it like a percussion instrument (as to consider it acts like a drum emitting the sound of a Snare Drum and a Bass Drum). Trust me its quite fun playing this instrument so I did some inquiries about bout it. Cajon! Yes you got it right, a Spanish term for “box”. It’s a crafted six-sided wooden box with specific dimensions and a sound hole in its left side.

The Cajon is now widely recognize and often take its part in an Acoustic performance. When you play the Cajon, try to position your body above over the box, while others prefer to straddle the box when playing it and mostly others sit upon it as they play. The front surface of the Cajon is then tapped with an open palm to derive different sound effects from the box. The Cajon can produce different sound variations of Bass Drum and a Snare Drum through your palm and even your fingers. It’s quite fun exploring on this instrument, the variation of sound may vary depending the how you tap its front face (or the “tapa”), the way you hit the board and the exerted force from your hand or fingers to hit the sound-surface (the front face). The Cajon is best accompanied by a Guitar and an Egg Shaker or Maracas and you can fire your way for your “unplugged session”.

Adjust the Snare effect of your Cajon

Some like it “wet” (it means too much snare) and some like it to play down the snare effect. The sound of your Cajon is very adjustable. There's a bass tone in the middle area, and on the edge there's a slap or a crack. With this guide, you will learn how to adjust the corner crack tone. Start with a far corner of the faceplate - furthest from the body of the Cajon. When the plate is less taught, the drum gives a slow dynamic and a rather pronounced crack. That sound might be too much for some people. To adjust the response, take a Phillips Head screwdriver and very gently start to close that gap by tightening the screw. As the gap tightens, the response time quickens and the crackle effect is reduced. If you want it to go away altogether, make the plate good and snug. Do not over-tighten. With the constant contact there will be no crackle effect. Now, work the opposite corner to create a satisfying dynamic when you play your Cajon drum with both hands. If the opposite corner is tight already, put the screwdriver in and give it about a half of a turn counterclockwise. That's should be all it takes to create a variance in tone.

For the Bass Drum effect, I suggest not take your hands on the screws mostly half way down to the bottom of the Cajon. Usually the bass drum effect are quite at its best setting right the way it comes out from its maker, it would too complicated if you try to adjust the bass adjust the bass effect. It’s on the snare effect where preferences really matters to the one who plays it.