The cajón [pronounced "ka-KHON"] may appear like a simple rectangular box, but it is much more than the sum of its parts. Cajón translates to box or crate from Spanish, and usually looks like just that. Despite its apparent simplicity, the cajón can stand in the place of a full drum kit without any sensitive animal skins, can blend seamlessly with acoustic instruments, all the while providing a seat for the percussionist. It's no surprise then that this Afro-Peruvian box drum has become a favorite among musicians around the world.
HISTORY OF THE BOX DRUM
In the 16th century, slaves were taken from West Africa to the distant coast of Peru. Although they lacked proper materials to recreate the music of their homeland, these displaced African slaves made do with what they could make from scratch. Drums such as the djembe and the talking drum required animal skins and many hours of careful craftsmanship. What's more, skin-head drums were viewed as a threat by slaveowners for a number of reasons.
African dance music would bring slaves together in bigger gatherings than their masters were comfortable with, and resonant drums could potentially allow for long-distance communication, posing an even bigger threat to the ruling class. So it was that the use of traditional drums was banned in the 18th century by the Spanish colonizers. But in port cities such as Piura and Lima, shipping crates were plentiful, and it was not at all strange to see a slave from the tea plantations walking around with a crate. Whether the cajón emerged through an act of subversion or out of simple convenience is hard to say... but it was very likely a combination of both.
Over time, the sound of the cajón became an essential component of Afro-Peruvian music. In the mid-1800s, an early version of the cajón was depicted for the first time by Ignacio Merino Muñoz, showcasing its importance to people of the time. Rhythms were created on the cajón that were quickly incorporated into the musical traditions of Peru. Nicomedes Santa Cruz (a famous Peruvian poet performing décimas with cajón accompaniment) referred to the instrument as "His Majesty, the cajón" out of respect for what the instrument meant to the Peruvian people (read more on this here).
When flamenco guitarist Paco de Lucía arrived in Peru to perform with Brazilian percussionist Rubem Dantas in the 1970s, Afro-Peruvian musician and composer Caitro Soto gifted them a cajón to take back to Spain. While earlier flamenco percussion largely consisted of clapping and stomping, the cajón quickly assimilated and adapted to Spanish tastes. Snares (in the form of guitar strings), bells, and rattles were often employed to give the cajón more of a Spanish flair.
The humble box drum has since become a mainstay of flamenco music, and has taken the world by storm. Today, the cajón can be heard in a number of traditional genres such as the coastal Peruvian música criolla (including tondero, zamacueca, Peruvian/creole waltz), modern Spanish flamenco, and Cuban Rumba (columbia, guaguanco, yambu). The versatility and portability of the box drum have helped the cajón break into all sorts of musical genres including blues, pop, rock, funk, and jazz.
CAJON CONSTRUCTION & DEVELOPMENTS
As the name suggests, the cajón is a box-shaped instrument, typically rectangular and approximately 12 x 12 x 18 inches in size. All sides are traditionally made of wood. Harder woods such as beech, birch, mahogany, and oak are often used for the body of the instrument, with a thinner striking surface on the front known as the tapa plate front panel, which is often many layers of thin plies designed to produce high and crisp slap tones. A hole is cut through the back of the instrument to allow the air and bass tones to escape (read more on this here).
Cajóns can take a number of forms, depending on the style of music being played. Traditional Peruvian cajón players gravitate towards a simpler design, but Spanish flamenco percussionists will add guitar strings or snare wires and sometimes other accessories to provide more tonal dynamics (learn more on this here). Most flamenco cajóns include screws that loosen and tighten in the upper corners of the tapa, allowing the player to adjust the level of snare, much as a kit drummer might adjust snare wires (more on this here).
Other regions of South America have developed their own variants on the box drum. Cuban cajóns are played on the top surface much like a conga drum (often in a five-sided pyramidal shape) and Cuban bass cajóns have an even larger playing surface with no snares. In Southern Mexico the cajón de tapeo, tapeador, or cajón de tamborero is also played on the top side, usually with one bare hand and a piece of wood for striking (read more here).
Over time, and as the cajón has increased in global popularity, finding its way into new genres of music, further developments have been made. Sometimes carbon fiber and other synthetic materials are used in place of wood. Plastic and metal brushes typically reserved for drum kits have been adapted to the cajón, especially in jazz and funk contexts. With the cajón, it's important to think outside of the box!
HOW TO PLAY THE CAJON
Being an unpitched idiophone, the cajón cannot be tuned. This means that the tonal character of the instrument is a direct result of the materials used, the placement of the sound hole, and the acoustic environment where it is played. While it may be tempting to grab the closest box and start playing, the durability and quality of sound may leave much to be desired. Manufactured cajóns will include feet or pins that improve seated stability while simultaneously elevating the cajón and allowing for greater bass resonance. Quality tone woods and joint work typical of professional model cajóns will vastly improve the dynamic versatility and longevity of the instrument.
In order to play the cajón, the tapa plate is struck in different positions to create a variety of effects. The edges will produce higher pitch, with lower bass pitches towards the center. Typcially, a cajón player will strike the tapa with palm and fingers, though other implements such as sticks and brushes are sometimes incorporated for different tones. In Peruvian playing, the heel of the foot is sometimes used to press against the tapa and change the pitch while playing (learn more on this here).
Some examples of different tones include...
- Bass Tone: Keeping the hand flat and relaxed, hit the upper middle section of the striking plate with the palm and fingers slightly apart, allowing the hand to bounce back on impact.
- High Tone: Hitting the edge or top corner of the tapa with the palm, strike rapidly and bounce back, while the fingers are relaxed and slightly apart for a 'pop' sound (much like the slap tone of Latin drumming).
- Pressed Tone: For high or low tones, depending on hand placement, holding the fingers together and leaving the hand in contact after striking will produce a shorter, more muted and staccato sound.
VIDEO RECOMMENDATIONS
- Alex Acuña - Peruvian cajón demo and history
- Paul Jennings - Tutorial for cajón basics
- Paquito Gonzalez - Flamenco cajón demo compilation
- Marco Fadda - Funk cajón tutorial and demo
- Arturo El Zambo Cavero - "Contigo Perú" performance
- Ulysses Owens Jr - Cajón brush technique
- Max Castlunger - Hand vs. brush on cajón
- Mona Tavakoli - Drum kit vs. cajón rhythms
If you're looking for a fun percussion instrument to get started playing, the cajón is very beginner-friendly, can easily be adapted to a number of musical genres, and doubles as a chair. It's hard to think of a more practical instrument, really! More seasoned percussionists who are used to playing a drum kit can swap out a bass drum for a cajón, or use the cajón in place of a stool. With the cajón, virtually any rhythm you can imagine is right at your fingertips!