Have u ever played bass with a cajon, instead of a drummer?

quadrogong · #1 02-20-2009, 10:23 AM

my band accepts very small gigs as well as larger gigs,and we have a smaller,"acoustic" band we use for the small spaces..
my drummer installed a kick-drum pedal inside his cajon
(a peruvian percussion instrument,looks like a big wooden box)
so we get a nice little rhythm section..
acoustic guitar,electric bass and cajon.

he also uses shakers and other things along with it, but the point being,he gets a good,solid bass drum thump with this contraption,and I get to lock in with my bass,which is loads of fun.

This was a weird little gig, we played in the lobby of the broadway show,"Rent" before the show,and at intermission we played at the bar.

http://web.me.com/firewalkerpro/Site_4/Blank.html
here's a video with the cajon, the one one the right side has me playing my Bongo 4HH,I'm strumming a guitar in the left video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BECkZgNkK8U
here's one of me playing with the same artist,but I'm playing along with a pre-recorded rhythm loop,another way to beef up a small acoustic show..

Blueszilla · #2 02-20-2009, 10:38 AM

I have done this for over a year now. Our drummer is a fairly hard hitter, and several of our venues are smaller, so he brings the cajon, and sometimes other various rhythm noisemakers. Folks are always stretching to see what the hell he's playing.

I prefer a kit, but for those places it's used, it seems to work well.

RCCollins · #3 02-20-2009, 10:43 AM

a very cool change of pace!

I have never played bass WITH a cajon, but I HAVE played bass IN El Cajon on numerous occasions!

StyleOverShow · #4 02-20-2009, 10:46 AM

One of my regular percussionist is a cajon'er. He plays a trap set most of the time we gig together, but occasionally just shows up with his 'seat drum' as I call it.

His regular band is 'almost famous' in Los Angeles www.verybecareful.com

I'm not into the whole latin thing but they tour Europe and Asia regularly and are going down to South/Southwest in a couple of weeks.

-richard

tZer · #5 02-20-2009, 10:49 AM

I have not only played with one drummer on cajon, I've played with 2!

Each cajon had similar, but different qualities - one had a very 'kit-like' sound with a deep bass tone and a snare like front slap. The other, a more mid tone and not so snare-like (more doumbek-like) front panel.

KILLER little boxes, those cajons are and what a great alternative to a kit for super small, acoustic gigs!

The brothers I played with did a segment in the middle of our performance (a cajon battle, if you will) entitled "Sibling Rivalry" where they basically started off a "question and answer" licks trading section. As it evolved, they got more and more "Argumentative" (started stepping on each other's part) at one point, they both "got frustrated with each other and stopped talking altogether" - but then "made amends" and finished the piece. They hit the final beat and shook hands. As they walked away from their cajons after the last beat, Ted ran back over to "get the last word" - it was a very cool piece.

Thunderthumbs73 · #6 02-20-2009, 10:50 AM

Very cool!

bassteban · #7 02-20-2009, 10:51 AM

That's very cool(looks like a way fun gig as well). My drummer uses a cajon for quiet rehearsals & the occasional gig. I'd love a good pic of your guy's kick pedal mod.

Lowtonejoe · #8 02-20-2009, 11:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by quadrogong

my band accepts very small gigs as well as larger gigs,and we have a smaller,"acoustic" band we use for the small spaces..
my drummer installed a kick-drum pedal inside his cajon
(a peruvian percussion instrument,looks like a big wooden box)
so we get a nice little rhythm section..
acoustic guitar,electric bass and cajon.

he also uses shakers and other things along with it, but the point being,he gets a good,solid bass drum thump with this contraption,and I get to lock in with my bass,which is loads of fun.

This was a weird little gig, we played in the lobby of the broadway show,"Rent" before the show,and at intermission we played at the bar.

http://web.me.com/firewalkerpro/Site_4/Blank.html
here's a video with the cajon, the one one the right side has me playing my Bongo 4HH,I'm strumming a guitar in the left video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BECkZgNkK8U
here's one of me playing with the same artist,but I'm playing along with a pre-recorded rhythm loop,another way to beef up a small acoustic show..

Wow, very very cool.

Everything is cool about those 2 vids. They look good and sound great. So cool.

The Youtube vids are great too.

Awesome stuff!

Joe.

BigOldHarry · #9 02-20-2009, 11:10 AM

I have a cajon that I'm working on using with a looper to do one-man gigs on bass. Yeah, I'm a bit of a beatnik at heart...

Marley's Ghost · #10 02-20-2009, 11:13 AM

I play bass with cajones all the time.

bassteban · #11 02-20-2009, 11:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Marley's Ghost

I play bass with cajones all the time.

Are you that guy in Dethklok?

lopxtc · #12 02-20-2009, 11:30 AM

Eric Grossman, who is also on here ... plays bass with Javier Mendoza, local and big name here in St. Louis. Their normal drummer Joe plays the cajon almost every show. If not for most of the songs, then at least a majority of the songs.

Aaron

kesslari · #13 02-20-2009, 11:47 AM

Yes. Plenty fun.
Also done gigs with a good Tabla player. Also plenty fun.

MindSpark · #14 02-21-2009, 06:33 PM

The most famous local band over here doesn't even have a drummer. Two percussionists. One of them with a cajun and it always gives a great groove no matter how big the gig/concert/festival is.

groooooove · #15 02-21-2009, 07:28 PM

we always use djembe in these contexts, but ill have to look into this..

woffle · #16 02-21-2009, 08:50 PM

I play in a Heep tribute band which now and again have the odd (unpluged,acustic quiet)
gig once and a while where we take advantage of the said situation and use the cajon.
Must say this makes for a nice change,our set list is roughly unchanged but we have
re.aranged the songs somewhat to acomodate for the lack of M,stack SVT etc.
The possibility to rock without the 1000,w on stage adds to the fun.
For this I usally play an Ovation acustic thrue an Ampeg BA 500.
Great stuff,best of both.
Woffle

bongomania · #17 02-21-2009, 08:54 PM

I haven't played bass with a cajon player, but I have played cajon with a bassist on many occasions!

I love playing cajon. If any of you are unfortunate enough to watch the TV show "The Bachelor", one of the recent episodes featured our very own markjazzbassist playing bass with a cajon percussionist!

quadrogong · #18 02-22-2009, 11:22 AM

not sure what he uses,but it's like a pedal with a cable that goes into the hole in the bottom of the cajon..and he hits that baby,it sounds like a bass drum!..only sort of.."unplugged"..much more fun playing acoustic sets when i can lock in with a kick drum..i love it. his name is Andy Mack..pretty busy drummer in NYC/NJ area..and he absolutely rocks!

the artst's name is Deni Bonet, she's possibly THE best violinist I've ever heard..she's got that....tone. that "make you cry" tone?..she's the real deal..a prodigy or whatever one calls it.she's a pop artist,was Cyndi Lauper's violinist for many tours..she's a riot too..funny..almost like the Sarah Silverman of pop music or something..

she keeps me busy,maybe 2 shows a week..the acoustic set helps us get more gigs.

Green Mind · #19 02-22-2009, 12:02 PM

Last night I saw a group with the drummer from Xavier Rudd name Dave Tolley. He's a really great percussionist. He played about 90% of the songs on the cajon. It was pretty cool to watch and sounded nice.