DRUMMER CAFE - Community Forum

I am considering getting a cajon and wanted to see how many of you play them. If you do, what type of music do you play using them?

Thanks

Well... I'll raise a hand...  ;D

I play for fun at home and at church... which is also a lot of fun :). It's mostly western type pop/rock music, so for the most time I am trying to imitate drum set ... Bass drum and snare at least.

I just recently got mine (check the review in the "Gear Review" thread) and I've found myself playing mostly Jungle/Drum and Bass/Glitchtronica style grooves on it.  Its dry staccato tone and dirty edge really lends itself well to that.  

Will I do that live?  Probably not.  Studio?  Oh yeah.  

563, Great review and pictures by the way, thanks for all the work. I was wondering about those $60 dollar cajons...

I've got a set of three. One box caja for the floor and a segundo & Quinto - pyramidic from fat conga. Love the sound of them!
Got 'em from Musician's Friend from Bart's link,, really cheap!
about $350 I think for all three?? Can't remember, but it was surely a good deal.
We play mostly Yambu and Guarapachangueo on them.
Very little Guaguanco since the drums seem to work better for that.

Yambu is awesome on the cajons though! Love the quinto!!!
Yeah!

Thanks for the replies.
Fed - I play mostly in church and some smaller, 'unplugged' type gigs. So it sounds like you play similar type music as I would be. Would not really be playing any 'world music'.
563 - I read you review, great info. I was looking at that one before I saw your review. Now am really leaning toward it. I already have 2 djembes, so I guess I am trying to justify spending the money. Just didn't want to spend the money if it's basically the same sound as the djembes. Wife already thinks I have too many toys....
I have seen several guys using them with the smaller gigs in lieu of a full set and it sounded pretty good, so that's my idea for giving it a try.

JW Drums,
I just wanted to say also that I usualy play cajon when there is no drummer.
I guess if you had cajon without strings, you could pllay some bongo style patterns to compliment the drums. The flamenco or string cajon  is less versitile in that respect IMHO  (and Alex Acuna :) ) .  

I said before that I like cajon much better for my situation then djembe,  they are different instruments but in the same context, in small group with no drummer, I prefer cajon.

Part of it I think also that most djembes I played had too "ringy" of a tone. specialy the Remo ones.  Everytime I go to buy one I can't get over how I like the bass but realy dislike their open tone sound. So I and up not buying one ...  ???  ;D  Alas, I am djembeless....  ::)

I did played one natural djembe at GC ones that had a very pleasant open tone and good bass too. It was on the smalll side but sounded great to my ears. Too bad I didn't have $150 at the time. but I digress....  I am going to shut-up now... :-X  :P besides you already have two djembes and not trying to choose between cajon and and one... ok... starting now  :-X

Thanks for the info. That's good to know, becuase the one I was looking at (the $60 Schalloch) has strings.... so maybe not what I need.

I also have a Remo and it does have a lot of ring. I had the pleasure of attending a djembe building workshop and was able to bulid my own, except for the shells, which were imported. It sounds awesome and has little to no ring.

Ok, I forgot to mention that my cajon is flamenco one with strings, and by it self with no drums I like it a lot because the snares give it some sustain and fill the music a little better then a cajon without strings with dryer sound.  Again this is with no drummer when I am primary rythm, with the drummer I just wouldn't know what to play on my cajon (but someone else might :) )  ...

It's all MHO so don't give up on that stringed cajon yet. Specialy for that price.

Just wanted to make sure you don't misunderstand me...  8)

Cool, that's how I would be playing. In an unplugged, acoustic type setting with no drummer. So it sounds like it might me a good tool ('toy') to add after all.

 ;D

The strings can be removed.   Its not an easy on/easy off situation, but it can be done.  

Thats also why I was going to install a headset still snare mechanism so the on/off will be easier as on the Meinl.

Yeah, I hate to remove them completely. Never know when you would want them again.

Let us know if you add the snare throw off how it goes.

I've almost convinced myself to order one before they are all gone.

Yes, I play the cajon.

I use it for my church as part of my setup.

I actually made it myself. It has a 14" sqauer bottom and a 12" square top.

 A great thing to make yourself, It's just a box! Each one will have it's own sound.

I play two types of cajones. Peruvian Cajon, wich does not have the snares and i also play the flamenco cajon. I have been making cajones for more than 5 years now. I sell them also. I have seen some being sold for 60 dollars but they are just a box, that mainly sounds just like a conga drum, wich to me it is not a cajon. I make myself the real flamenco cajon wich has a very beautiful wet sound and a great bass. The peruvian cajon has more of the base and the slaping sound on the corners that after Paco de Lucia used one of them, now peruvians make them open on the side for the cracking sound. They are two different cajones but both have a great sound. The cuban cajon to me it is not a true cajon, it is what is called a Caja, that now they call it cajon to be able to compet with the peruvian and flamenco cajon that is something else. '
I play South American folk and Nouveau Flamenco with my drums. Accompanied by classical guitars. The sound is outstanding. If some of you are interested you may contact me with a PM. Usually i make them 18x13x12 or 18x12x12. A real cajon is made of solid wood not plywood, but now a days plywood seems to be the wood of choice of many cajon makers. Plywood is a bit more cheaper than solid wood, but the acoustics of solid wood is far beyond better than plywood. Although i play both and both are really nice. My two cents

trauco233 welcome to the forum.

Thats some great info. I never new real cajons were not from plywood. Makes sence though, since cajon been around probably longer then plywood.

Hm.. how long was plywood around?

You wouldn't have any sound samples of your instruments.

Welcome to the Cafe.
What type wood do you make your cajons out of?

I believe the caja (box) and cajon (crate) come from the same historical origins, the wooden shipping crates and boxes of the colonial time.

I make peruvian cajones and flamenco cajones out of birch plywood, and i also make them out of mahogany or cedar solid wood. Cedar though is a very acoustic wood, but mohagany is also nice. The ones that i make out of birch they have very nice sounds also and are a bit cheaper than solid wood ones. I will be on tonight again. If you are interested just leave me a message. I will give more info tonight since now i am at work and do not have a lot of time. See you guys again. Nice to find a forum like this one.

Trauco -

I would like to know more. You can PM me if you like.

I'm a player and I've used a Cajon in just about every genre of music you could imagine.

If it sounds good to you and works for the music ... use it!

Generally speaking, I'm personallly using the Cajon for acoustic music, whether it be Rock, Country, Latin, Jazz, etc. I also use it a lot for drum loop concepts, in conjunction with a drumset.

cajons... I think their great... and because they are relatively new (at least to western culture) ... our ear doesn't associate them with certaint music, like it would say conga or djembe... which makes application in different styles easier IMHO... or does it? ???

what do I know anyway I should leave this philosophy to someone smarter and go play the drum...  ::) ;D

There's going to be a big push in the market for Cajons. We'll see more and more companies offering the instrument as well as custom builders. It's the latest fad ... and was the buzz at the 2005 NAMM Show.

It's funny how something that has been around for so long can suddenly gain a lot of exposure and popularity. Like the Djembe did a number of years ago, the Cajon is making a commotion throughout the music industry.

I wonder what will be next.  ::)

Jw Drums and Fed, you have a PM.

And yes i do have sound samples of them.

That is so true... even coupple of years ago when I first got interested in cajon... I searched on ebay and there was nothing... and there is a ton any day...

It's good though that it gets exposure... the more players play, more better ones will emerge... well more bad once too  :)  but the point is that things will develop... better or different sounding drums, new desings etc...  The hype will ofcourse die down but there always be demand for good music and musicianship which is developed only through a lot of "sweating" ...  


trauco233, thanks for the PM...
Let us know if there is a way to maybe see and hear some of your creations...

Do you play other percussion other then cajon?

by the way you should post some more comments because if you don't, it will seem like you are here to sell cajons (which is cool with me because I realy want one 8) )  and B-man might come and bust your donkey... if you know what I mean   ;D ;D

seriously though... tell us more about where you play and in what kind of group...  are there sites you recomend to check about "South American folk and Nouveau Flamenco"

Well myself i play cajon, charango, ronroco, cuatro, tiple and i play classical guitar. I love playing cajon, specially Latin American music, because i have an avid admiration for the Latin American folklore. I do not really play rock. And if it sounded like i want to sell cajones, well that is why i make them for. But i am not pushing. I thought there would be an interest for them here. By the way i do have samples. But where do i upload that here?
Well see you for now.

I have some great links for you guys to see but i have no idea if i am allowed to put links here. Let me know.
There is a lot of info in one of them.

Click on the Forum Rules link on the right to learn what is and isn't appropriate here. Thanks!

Mr. A.
Moderator

In my "interpretation of the law"  if it's link to your site put it in the signature in your profile, and if it's not your site and you just sharing information you could post the links.

by the way I didn't know any of the instruments you listed except cajon and classical guitar...
you ever heard of Rodrigo Rodriguez he is a classical guitarist originaly from Equador. He lives in US now.

We want people to succeed in what they do. What we don't want is people coming here for the SOLE PURPOSE of directing people to their own websites, whether it's to make money or not. When a new member comes on my forum, and the first and/or only thing they do is post links to their site or try to get business, it's obvious to me what their intentions are. It's to take from this forum, not give.

If everyone would just get involved with our community ... there would be no problems. I don't have a problem with trauco233 as long as he's not here to just get some new clients. If you want to advertise on this site, contact me directly. Thus far trauco233 is only involved in this thread and hasn't contributed to the forum ... but has already made contact with our members as potential customers. Not looking to good.  :-\

Sorry if i made it look as if i was looking for customers, but it is true that i make cajones. I would like to share some info that i will quote because it is not mine, but it is some history of the peruvian cajon for those that wanted to know about the peruvian cajon.

"The Peruvian Cajón



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Peruvian cajón, or wooden box, became synonymous with Afro-Peruvian music during this century, although its use dates back to the 1800’s. With the arrival of the recording industry in Peru, the cajón was added to the instrumentation of the vals criollo, or "creole waltz", and in the 1970’s it was adopted in Spain for flamenco music as well as for popular music such as rock and fusion. The latter development is traced to one man -- the guitar player Paco de Lucía, who took it to Spain and with it replaced the percussive hand clapping which accompanied his flamenco performances. The Peruvian cajón has a cousin of the same name in Cuba, where it is made in three sizes, reflecting the arrangement of sets of drums such as congas and batá. The Cuban cajón is primarily featured in the rumba de cajón. In Peru, however, where only a single cajón producing a variety of sounds is played, it fulfills a more universal musical function.

Just as its name indicates, a cajón is a box made of wooden sheets --preferably cedar or mahogany -- on which the player sits to strike the front and sides. A sound hole is cut into the back, and the front is loosely attached to permit a rattling sound to be made.

As with many folk instruments, the origins of the cajón cannot be established with assurance, but the most likely theories involve antecedents that were not drums nor necessarily made of wood. While it is possible that the cajón indeed represents a variant of the drums that it eventually replaced, Nicomedes Santa Cruz, among others, looks instead to the two botijas, or conical clay jugs, that were used by earlier generations of black Peruvians to accompany the zamacueca, the precursor of today’s marinera. Once the jugs' bottoms were removed, the mouths of the jugs were covered with patches of donkey skin, which were struck by the musicians. The larger, or bass, jug was the llamador, and the smaller instrument, used for improvising, was the repicador. Another candidate for predecessor of the cajón is the tamborete, no longer in use. The tamborete, which was also known as mesa de ruidos (table of noises) outside of Lima and tormento in Chile, was a sheet of wood set on four legs like a small table. Bottle caps and wood chips, which the player could strike to achieve different sounds, might have been attached to the top of the tamborete.

The cajón is now a national emblem for Peruvians, and an indispensable part of any ensemble that performs the traditional and folk music of Peru."

I just found this forum about three or four days ago, and some pleople contacted me with pm`s it was not me that contacted them first, just to clear this about me trying to make money with my cajones.

Since i would also like to contribute to this site i will teach you guys how to make a cajon with plywood. I would also like to clarify that i never intended to add my site to make business since i do not have a site yet. I just wanted to add some links for people to read more about the cajones. And decide if the peruvian or flamenco or cuban caja is best for their needs.

Tonight i will share some info on how to build your own cajon with plywood.

See Bart ... he is ok, he ain't hurting nobody ...   ;D :P

Thanks for the info, trauco233

sorry guys but today is a no go i am kind of tired i will do that tomorrow.

It's interesting ... there is a guy on ebay from peru that sells cajon through NOvica thing and I just realised that his are made from solid wood (pine), except the head... I think...

Actualy those were there for a while, at least a couple of years....

Yes they are made from solid wood, but the biggest one the depth is not enough. Should be at least a couple of inches more about 11 inches in depth.

The Peruvian cajon is equal to the flamenco drawer in volume. 2. The PC does not have snares or bordonas (guitar strings) . 3. It is totally closed, glued and nailed, without screws. 4. The percussion cover is of plywood 3 to 5 mm of thickness and it suggested that the other should be of fine wood too, like cedar or the mahogany. Although you may use 5mm plywood for the back where the hole is. 5. The great difference is the deep (low) , medium and high tones of the Peruvian cajon, against the snare sound of of the flamenco cajon. To them it works  better using it as a drum kit. For the Peruvian music the bolero and the acoustic rock, the Peruvian cajon  works better. The ricochet technic when slaping  the high tones is what does the snare or clacking sound in the Peruvian Cajon, not the strings.

By the way you dont need a snare strap to have the snare sound in the cajon. A good cajon should have stings not a bunch of wires in the inside. Although a lot of people believe that by adding this they will get a better sound but to me they are wrong because the flamenco cajon in reality has strings in the inside not a pearl snare strap inside. With strings in the interior  you will achieve a wet metallic sound that is used in the flamenco cajon, towards the dry sound that you get from the peruvian cajon.

In its beginning  the original Peruvian cajon had its front plate completely closed, and by using it and playing it a lot it would start ungluing on the top and this would make the clacking sound of wood on wood. It was this sound that atracted Paco de Lucia and this is how the flamenco cajon has its front cover glued and with screws so at the top has it srews only but no glue. It is from that moment that the peruvian cajon is left to the option of the player he may use the completely closed one or the one open. A lot of groups use both to create some contrast in the sound.

Here there is a sound sample that do not belong to my cajones but it is played by a great cajonero and some other ones from other cajoneros. These are cajon LA PERU and FLAMENKITO wich are very expensive. They come from Europe. Just to let you know that the sounds of these cajones are extremely good but the cost i believe is over 275 euros.

To be able to listen to the files you really need good speakers, with a polk audio it will sound really bad. So try to have some good speakers with some bass. Cheap speakers are useless for this files.

Flamenco cajon samples



http://www.flamenkito.com/producto_46/perunegro.wav (http://www.flamenkito.com/producto_46/perunegro.wav)

http://www.flamenkito.com/producto_202/cjaleo.mp3 (http://www.flamenkito.com/producto_202/cjaleo.mp3)

http://www.flamenkito.com/producto_45/cduende.mp3 (http://www.flamenkito.com/producto_45/cduende.mp3)

http://www.flamenkito.com/producto_44/cembrujo.mp3 (http://www.flamenkito.com/producto_44/cembrujo.mp3)

(http://www.flamenkito.com/producto_44/embrujo2.jpg)
(http://www.flamenkito.com/producto_196/c.jpg)
http://www.esflamenco.com/media/video/cajon_03.mpg (http://www.esflamenco.com/media/video/cajon_03.mpg)
http://www.esflamenco.com/media/video/cajon_04.mpg (http://www.esflamenco.com/media/video/cajon_04.mpg)
http://www.esflamenco.com/media/video/cajon_02.mpg (http://www.esflamenco.com/media/video/cajon_02.mpg)

Sound of cajon peruano

http://www.rumillajta.com/cajondec.mp3 (http://www.rumillajta.com/cajondec.mp3)



Well i guess this would be all for now. Hope you guys like this sounds of great cajoneros.

Rather than embedding the audio files, please just list regular links to the files - otherwise you DRASTICALLY slow down how the Cafe loads on other people's computers. Thanks.

The reason why i had embeded them before, it was because some people believed that i was here only to sell my cajones. This files are in other sites, wich are also great sites to buy from, but quite expensive, to my taste.

I has been changed now. They are ready for you to download with the url.

Those are nice clips trauco233 ... thanks for posting...
makes me want to buy a book on flamenco percussion...

I bet I could find a lot more info on line if I new spanish... :)

I am a guitarist, and i want to explore percussions, im kinda new in drumming. I recently got a cajon, because im inclined with unplugged gigs. I was wondering how to play the instrument better than im doing now. Is there any lessons that you know of that can teach how to play this instrument, and are there practice lessons also? There are many parts to a regular drumset and the cajon has limited sounds, and tabs in drums has different parts. I was wonering is it possible to use this tabs with the cajon? Thanks and hope for response. ;D

I think you are wrong when saying that the cajon has limited sounds. It has an enormous amount of sounds, although you have to explore it and find them. It is a very versatile instrument that you can find sounds that are impossible to find in other percussion instruments. Believe me the more you play your cajon the more sounds you will find.  And about rhythms there is an infinite number of rhythms that you may use in the cajon. One of the main obsctacles understanding the flamenco cajon is its rhythms and time, measure in wich the different styles are developed. There are various time signatures adn rhythmical structures in flamenco. There are two main ones, the ternary and the binary, each subdivided into two or three smaller parts, the so called binary or ternary divisions. And a bunch of other ones. It would be good to get a video that shows you all these different rhythms and sounds that can be achieved with this beatiful instrument.

Re Remo djembes, my experience with them is this: the bigger their heads are, the more ringing! The 14" ones are next to useless as far as a good African sound goes, the 12" ones work okay when you crank them up as tight as you can without busting them and then add some weather stripping tape spots on the underside of the head, but the 10" ones, hell just crank 'em up tight and your ready to go with a good natural Afro type sound...
Don't know why this is, but it's so.
BTW, I also have a beautiful Ivory Coast natural djembe, so I do know what they're supposed to sound like...
Drumwoulf

Hi all, just discovered this forum. Great isn't it!

I have been playing flamenco cajon for some 4 years now. In addition to a home made plywood one - made by my first cajon teacher - I have a ply and pine strung one, bought in Seville in 2001. I play flamenco rhythms for class accompaniment, for gigs and for pleasure.

It's well made and I tune the snare by an elaborate packing-tape-in-the-right-place method.

It sounds far, far better now than it did in it's formative years because as you play the instument it matures, and you bond with it. I can achieve a deep (deep!) hollow bass, tight or open snare, flat tone or round-box sounds, all isolated. Played together, you wonder wehre the drumset is. The sound is sensual, which is what makes it very attractive. Especially with flamenco rhythms.

I more recently bought a slapdrum - a strung lapdrum - from www.slapdrum.com, and I highly recommend this site. The instruments are beautifully made, from different quality woods and priced reasonably. I can boast that I have the only slapdrum in Europe!

At the end of the day, think twice about how much you intend to commit for the purchase of your instrument. Paying the right amount - even if it's more - for a quality instrument is absolutely worth it.

For me, it's quality etc but I can play 100 drums and not bond with a single one. Then play another and instantly click as the sound (literally!) resonates with me. That's the one that I'll want to play. It's easier to play & improvise on a drum that you have bonded with. Not unlike flirting with a person you have a connection with..or not..get results!

Djembe - I have 2 natural djembes, a 12" from Ghana and a 13" from Senegal. 13" sound is simply divine, esp the bass. I play West African rhythms. I have never played manufactured djembes and don't really intend to as they appear to me mostly soulless.

There's nothing like real, natural, raw drumming!

Hello,

I just signed up for the forum and am trying to find information on building a cajon.  I found one .pdf which is great but light on how the strings are attached.  I have figured out a way to get them in with three guitar strings per upper corner but I am still wondering how tightly they should press against the front head.  Should they be loose and just touching or tight against the front playing head?  I have an arrangement where I am using guitar tuning pegs to adjust tension but still need an idea on how to adjust the touch of the strings on the playing head.

Any comments are appreciated.

Thanks

The strings should touch playing surface or they won't resonate. The tightness will effect the sound you get so you will need to expiriment with that. That shouldn't be a problem since you got guitar pegs to adjust the tension.

hope it helps.

is this pdf you are talking about?
http://www.ocanartesania.com/V2/pdf/articulos/building_cajon.pdf
It seems to have a pretty good section on string attachment

Hi and thanks for the reply.

The pdf file is the one you mentioned.  http://www.ocanartesania.com/V2/pdf/articulos/building_cajon.pdf

It does show the strings well but when I got down to it I realized you could go overboard with it, in respect of how to do it.  I am going to use the guitar heads to tune it, which could very easily prove to be overkill and keep the three strings on each side.  I was thinking of using a guitar saddle or bridge but that was too much.  I will leave the strings coming out like in the pdf and have the frame they sit on press against the playing head.  If they need it I will cut a very shallow grove to keep them back a bit if the head cannot be screwed on tight enough because of the dimension of the string.

I have everything cut out including the hole, the frame for the strings and am gluing the whole thing together tonight.  Once that is dried I will cut the head and screw it on and see how it works.  Maybe some tinkering before I do the finish.

I am taking lots of pictures along the way and will eventually post them somewhere.

Thanks again

Hi All,
I'm a little late getting in this post but I have been pretty busy this summer.
I picked up a Meinl Cajon to add to my array of toys to bang on, I mean play music on. One thing I like about the Meinl is that you can turn on or off the snares with a simple knob on the side and the cost was resonable. I played it this past weekend at church and had a lot of compliments and questions about it.

But since it was the first time I played it through a sound system our sound guy had some issues. He said it sounded to muffled. I couldn't hear how it sounded in the room since I was on stage. I had a Audix D2 just inside the hole. So my question is - which mic, mic placement and EQ suggestions I can pass on?

By the way I love these drums, all kinds of sounds and fun to play. Try taking off your shoes and tap the tempo on the side with your heal instead of on the floor. Run your heal up and down the front while playing to change the tone. Have fun and experiment!!

At our church we tried to mic cajon in different way. So far the best to our ears are

1. In front with SD condenser mic, few inches away. Best sound but gets in a way...
2. In the back few inches from the hole, pointed on an angle and not directly at the hole, again SD condenser works as does sm57 or the like.

I think the chalenge is to get a good volume balance between the low-end sounds of bass tone and crack of the corners.

For those interested, there's a very good book out on flamenco percussion, mostly with cajón rhythms:
La percusión en el Flamenco by Nan Mercader
I live in Spain, so it was easy to find, though I imagine it is also available over the web. The rhythms are easily adapted to the drumset, which is what I've mostly done with it. Highly recommended!

I've done some reading on Japanese sites and stuff, and popular opinion is that ARCO (Japanese Cajon maker) makes top notch cajons at affordable prices, and Meinl and Pearl make cajons that don't sound as good. Another choice was Schalgwerk, the German percussion company. I'm not saying this is correct, but I'm just saying that Arco and Schalgwerk cajons are popular in Japan in terms of sound.
I just ordered my cajon from Arco; it'll take 4 weeks because I chose the cheaper method but the series of emails I exchanged with the Arco owner was an enjoyable experience. He responded quickly and was really helpful.
I'm not trying to spam (I wish I owned a popular company) but just thought I'd throw in a less known alternative.

Windhorse... I think you're the right person to answer my question I posted a minute ago...  do you have a moment to enlighten me??
I am going to build a quinto cajon.. the pyramidal type you mentioned having.  Will you please tell me the dimensions of the thing?  Perhaps the thickness of wood used? (if you know :)) and also, if the base is sealed or left open?   thank you much!

Gosh, well it's nice to feel needed...  :D

You must be planning on some Rumba?

The bottoms are open.
Quinto topside is 10 1/2 * 11 inches. Heigth is 18 inches, and the bottom is a perfect square of 4 3/4 inches.
These measurements are outer dimensions, and the wood is 1/2 inch plywood,,, of the densest and nicest birch you've laid your eyes on.

Mind you, they're nice, but the best of the Rumba quinto cajons I've laid my hands on were of the same company, but an earlier version which had loose screws to add snare like vibration, the width of the drum was a little smaller,, probably about 10 inches square, and the heigth was about 10 or twelve inches, and the bottom about a five or six inch square.

Good luck with the construction!

Dave

Hi, Dave!

You rock.  sending a "thank you" kiss for the help.

Take care and Happy Holidays!

 :-*
Linzyloo

Thanks all, good info. I just ordered a cajon for myself to mainly play in church acoustic settings. I've seen Alex Acuna at the last two Drummers for Jesus concerts in Dallas just whaling on the cajon, and I knew i'd get one someday.

As far as playing with the drums, (i mostly play drums in our contemporary services) I'd think the cajon could add that 'undertow' percussion sound, steady 16th's with accents that would comp the drum groove. We'll be experimenting with some of that.

Linzyloo et al,, check out these fat conga cajons being played by several of San Francisco's finest:

http://www.fatcongas.com/rumba.html

Dave

For you cajon players, if you haven't seen this, I think this is great application of cajon... I want his setup :)

http://www.congahead.com/Movies/streaming/edmars_tune.ram
and
http://www.congahead.com/Movies/streaming/puerto_esperanza.ram
http://www.congahead.com/Movies/streaming/concerto_aranjuez.ram

Nice fed.

I use set-ups like this a lot, although they always change depending on music, genre and situation. The instrumentation varies a lot as well.

Wow! Absolutely amazing that only two people are making all that sound!
I'm looking at that first video, and haven't seen the other two yet. But, both of those musicians are of the highest caliber!
The micing that the percussionist uses is done REALLY well.

Dave

REALLY nice stuff. That percussionist is SO tasteful and smooth.

It's great to see these live examples. I wonder how much of it is pre-rehearsed? Like all the things he does on chimes and shaker in one hand and all, then that dynamic build up where he uses the doumbeck ... certaintly very tastefull stuff and something to aspire to IMPHO