A Discussion On Cajon And It’s Place In Music Today
The cajon is becoming, in my opinion, one of the most versatile instruments on the drumming market. It’s now an essential part of almost every working drummer’s arsenal, and for good reason. With the semi recent emergence of a huge number of singer songwriters, the cajon has taken on a relevancy like never before in modern music.
Traditionally the cajon (pronounced Ka’xon which is the spanish word for box) was used largely in Cuba in the Afro-Cuban song/dance style rumba, and in Peru in several Afro-Peruvian genres. It is theorized that it originated in Coastal Peru in the early 1800′s, when slaves of the west and central African origins would create these box shaped instruments out of shipping crates. Since it’s origin, the cajon has gone through many different designs, and continues to evolve to this day. It’s newfound place in modern music has brought even further design changes and tweaks to the original concept. They now come in a variety of shapes and sizes, and are made by many companies.
The modern cajon now looks simply like a wooden box, and commonly comes with a few differnt bells and whistles. The cajon I use is made by Meinl, and has snares behind the front plate helping me to create convincing snare and bass drum tones.
Meinl Cajon
One of the newest features emerging in the realm of cajon’s is the existence of a pedal either in front of, or behind the face plate. This is usually not used in conjunction with snares, and is controlled with a remote bass drum pedal. This allows the player to free up one of their hands that would normally be used to play bass drum accents on the front plate. This also allows the player to use the cajon in more scenarios that would normally require an entire drum set. I often use cajon, and a series of tambourines, shakers, and other percussion tools, to reproduce drumset tones when playing small venues, or just to play quieter. Pictured below is the cajon/pedal setup.
Cajon with Remote Bass Drum Pedal
The cajon can be played in a million different ways. I usually use a drum-set brush in one or both of my hands, a shaker under my right foot, and a tambourine under my left foot. This allows me to add a shaker texture to different sections of music, and a tambourine under the backbeat for choruses. I also often use a shaker in my right hand for certain songs. I posted video of myself playing my cajon setup in a previous entry. This should give you a good idea of what kinds of situations you can bring a cajon to, and a bit more information on it’s use. Have fun playing you’re own cajon!
Chain Drive vs Direct Drive
If you have played a few different models of pedals, you know that there can be a huge difference from one to the next. You can personalize the feel of your own pedal by adjusting the spring tension, rotating the cam, making the beater shorter or longer, and a few other variables depending on the make of the pedal. Aside from all of this there is one factor that you are stuck with, one way or another, when you buy a pedal, and that is whether it’s direct or chain driven. The decision to go direct or chain drive is one that needs to be thought through carefully before purchasing, as they are typically used in very different styles of music, and have very different feels.
I don’t of course mean to say that you can only play certain styles of music with one or the other, however the difference in feel usually makes both models more appropriate and applicable for certain genres. The difference lies primarily in the weight. Chain driven pedals (I feel) have more weight adjustment capability, and can be tweaked to feel very heavy, to moderately light. Direct drive pedals are very light, and extremely responsive. This makes them great for up tempo music such as Metal, Hardcore, and Punk. They are especially great for ultra fast double bass playing in conjunction with a bass drum trigger. These pedals are so responsive that you can move your feet as fast as you want without the seemingly weightless footboards ever leaving them. Obviously when using triggers you don’t need to worry about dynamics a whole lot, so the direct drives are a great way to minimize motion and impact, and increase speed as needed in this situation. Some of the most popular direct drive pedals out there are the Axis pedals, and trick pedals (as shown below.)
Trick Direct Drive Pedal
Axis Direct Drive Pedal
The most common complaint with these pedals is that they are too light, and so responsive that it becomes difficult to play with power and consistency. Unlike a chain driven pedal, they have no cam, and therefore it’s tough to generate the power and momentum that a cam provides, with the direct drive system. I have found this complaint to be true with certain types of direct drives (such as the ones shown above) but not others. Virtually every company has a direct drive model now, but I believe that Pearl has made some great advances with their Demon Drive series pedals. These pedals have greater spring adjustment than most direct drives allowing you to actually put some weight behind the pedal, which for most drummers helps generate more power. They are still responsive, but not to the point of being obnoxiously light. I would suggest checking these out to anyone purchasing direct drive pedals.
Pearl Demon Drive Pedal
Now on the other side of things is the chain driven models. These were the standard for a long time, and only recently have direct drives made a comeback. Advances are constantly being made on chain drive pedals, as they are still way more popular, and more widely used than their opposer. The main difference of course is the existence of a cam on which the chain rests and rotates, helping to create momentum in the stroke. The spring system, and most of the adjustments are pretty similar between direct and chain drives, but the cam allows for more freedom in these systems. The cam itself is adjustable, and can be rotated forward or backward depending on where you like the beater to rest in relation to the head. The spring system can also be tweaked more, and is able to create the feeling of weight or heaviness behind the pedal. I much prefer chain drives, because I feel I have much greater finesse and control over my playing with them. I also feel they provide a more powerful, and more consistent impact, and a greater freedom of motion. Some of the best chain drives are made by DW. I have found their 7000 and 9000 series’ to be fantastic (especially the 9000 as you can make them feel almost as light as a direct drive if wanted.) These are both pictured below along with some other great pedals including the Tama Iron Cobra, and the Pearl Eliminator.
DW 7000 Series Pedal
DW 9000 Series Pedal
Tama Iron Cobra Pedal
Pearl Eliminator Pedal
I hope this information about direct drive vs chain drive will help you make a more educated decision the next time you are in the market for a new pedal. Go try a few different types of pedals with each system, and determine what feels comfortable for you. After all, it is based on personal preference and comfortability. Thanks for reading!
