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.

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!

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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

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