Do you love or hate a cajon?

[Door County Bass]

Our percussionist plays an acoustic cajon (yup, they manufacture electric cajons). He uses a bass drum foot pedal for a nice thump. That frees up his hands. Thankfully, he has good taste and never gets too busy.

 

[Passinwind]

This reminds me of a Chet Baker quote: "It takes a really good drummer to be better than no drummer".

Yep, I feel that. I’ve been very spoiled by playing with both excellent trap kit and canon players over the years, and if they are not available I generally prefer just doing without. Unfortunately my favorite local canon player passed away a year or two ago, so that option’s gone. But I’m not gigging these days anyway and the jams I play tend to be more social in nature than serious musical workouts, so going with the flow is fine.

 

[_One//Man//Mutiny_]

I’ll say neutral, I have one and I like it but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t use it as an ottoman under my desk to kick my feet up 98% of the time

 

[CallMeAl]

Love! Our drummer uses one regularly (been with this band since 2017.) and boy can he play it well!

pros :
-keeps the stage volume low. Not only is it easy on our ears, we can bring less amp/PA power, AND we book these little breweries and wineries that would never hire a kit.
-easy load it
-it’s unique! EVERY SINGLE GIG we get at least one comment/question about it. People love it.

Cons:
-on the rare occasion we use a drum set, there are one or 2 songs I think “man this sounds great with drums!”

But overall the pros outweigh the cons for me (in this situation, anyway) and I’m often surprised by how much I don’t miss the drums

 

[LBS-bass]

Yep, I feel that. I’ve been very spoiled by playing with both excellent trap kit and canon players over the years, and if they are not available I generally prefer just doing without. Unfortunately my favorite local canon player passed away a year or two ago, so that option’s gone. But I’m not gigging these days anyway and the jams I play tend to be more social in nature than serious musical workouts, so going with the flow is fine.

The first band I was in was an acoustic three-piece group with no drummer. We were fine without percussion. After that I joined a five-piece band that played some fairly big rooms and I've almost always performed with drums of some sort since, either a real trap kit or an e-kit.

The blues band that I sometimes practice with has been practicing outdoors, distanced, with a cajon. Every now and then the drummer will say something like "you need to drive that part harder" and I just look at him and tell him he'll hear what he needs to hear when we have a real kit. It's like the cajon is just a placeholder for the sounds that we all really would prefer to hear. I can't really get emotional with it, at least not when it's being played like a substitute drum kit.

 

[kesslari]

anything = if the cat can play. it's the player. cajon is at least as good as a P-bass.

Can you put tort on a cajon?

 

[kesslari]

I think they're wonderful for what they are and where they come from. It started out as a packing crate, with one side a little loose so it rattled like a snare. Your traveling (think gypsy) or very poor group of musicians grabs an old wooden crate and bingo! Pretty full percussion sound.
In certain types of music, or at certain volumes in many types of music, with a great player, it sounds great.
Don't think I'd want to see Black Sabbath with a cajon replacing the drums.

Oh, and it takes cajones to play cajon... Just had to say it.

 

[40Hz]

I like them when they’re played by someone good. But I get tired of the cajon sound fairly quickly. However, to be fair, I feel the same way about most hand percussion. And no matter how well hand percussion is played they’ll still never be a replacement for a competent drummer and a full drum kit to my ears.

 

[darwin-bass]

Love?

I play cajon. Probably have played it more live in the last year than my bass (sad). I'm OK on cajon. I tend to play patterns that sound like a drum kit (kick / snare) rather than doing any latin percussion stuff. When our Spanish language service has no drummer I get asked to play cajon rather than bass.

And, yes, I'm reasonably good on bass. Really, they're not relegating me to sound & cajon just to keep me away from playing bass. Really. Right?

 

[ezstep]

Depends on who is playing it. One group has a pure amateur who rushes toward the end of a verse or chorus so he can throw in a few more licks. Other group has a real drummer who uses one from time to time. He keeps very good time on it, never tries to do rolls or anything the song doesn't need, very conservative.

So, yeah. Love/hate.

 

[Discount Bassy]

 

[CryingBass]

I love it, will never play on a regular drum set again based on past experience of never knowing a drummer that understood dynamics.

When we started our trio 5 years ago we had a fantastic singer that didn't play an instrument. He bought and learned the cajon and we had some great times. When we knew he was leaving early this year we recruited his replacement and she is going through the same process, great singer that's new to the cajon. We've played 2 gigs with her already and even at a basic level where she might be playing wise we were well received.

Again, my experience only but I love the fact that you don't have smashing/ringing cymbals to try and run sound over. The cajon is like electronic drums in that you can set it any volume as needed for the gig. From street dances in a tent to house party in a garage, we've had that flexibility. Makes playing/singing/running sound and lights at our gigs much easier for me.

Of course, YMMV.

Drummers and dynamics in the same sentence? Stop speaking in Oxymoron!

Now. Joe LaBarbera knew dynamics IMHO. And that’s all I got.

 

[CryingBass]

And another thing: When I have seen gear flyers in recent years, cajon’s lead trap sets in those ads often. A tell.

 

[glocke1]

Or is it something in-between? I have an opinion but I first would like to hear a few of yours.

Editing to specify that I mean a cajon being used in lieu of a full drum kit. Not a cajon in the abstract.

I love any percussion instrument that allows a drummer to play more quietly.

I bought one a few months back with the idea of learning it but have not had the time

 

[buldog5151bass]

My drummer is giving me a snare wire. I'm going to stop by Home Depot and get some plywood.

 

[glocke1]

This reminds me of a Chet Baker quote: "It takes a really good drummer to be better than no drummer".

I was trying to get some of my musician friends to play some jams without a drummer, and managed to talk them into it one time, and only one time. They were getting visibly irritated when I said "good, no drummer so we can play quieter and focus on song structures, etc).

They aren't down with that, I was at least able to get them to play the next time with a drummer friend i know who understands groove and dynamics. Playing with anyone else is just absolutely awful for the most part. Other drummers are loud, throw random fills and cymbal crashes everywhere....its crazy and leaves me wondering how they learned to play like that..if they had a teacher that showed them that that teacher should have his hands surgically removed.

 

[Ostie]

I play my cajon, congas and djembe in our acoustic trio. So I love it. I’ve never heard another band using one live, but yeah, you have to be able to keep time and play fills.

 

[BrickBatMansion]

Nope nope nope nope!

 

[Aidenn7]

metal on a cajon no bass though needs high hat, splash, ice bell and more cowbell.. lol

 

[ToneMonkey]

I once played in a trio with a singer who could flat out make a cajon talk. Every other time, it was just lame banging on a box.