Cajón

This article is about the Peruvian instrument. For the city, see El Cajon, California.

A cajón (Template:PronEng) (plural: Cajones; not cajons) (Spanish for 'crate', 'drawer', or 'box') is a kind of box drum played by slapping the front face (generally thin plywood) with the hands.

Origins and Evolution

The cajón is the most widely used Afro-Peruvian musical instrument in the 20th century.

Slaves of West and Central African origin in the Americas, specifically Peru, are considered to be the source of the cajón drum; though the instrument is common in musical performance throughout the Americas, especially Cuba. In Cuba, the cajón is associated with the Afro-Cuban drum/song/dance style known as rumba, while in Peru it is associated with several Afro-Peruvian genres.

The cajón was most likely developed in coastal Peru during the early 1800s. The instrument reached a peak in popularity by 1850, and by the end of the 19th century cajón players were experimenting with the design of the instrument by bending some of the planks in the cajón's body to alter the instrument's patterns of sound vibration.

Knowing that the cajón comes from slave musicians in the Spanish colonial Americas, there are two complementary origin theories for the instrument. It is possible that the drum is a direct descendant of a number of boxlike musical instruments from west and central Africa, especially Angola, and the Antilles. These instruments were adapted by Peruvian slaves from the Spanish shipping crates at their disposal. In port cities like Matanzas, Cuba they used cod-fish shipping crates. Elsewhere, small dresser drawers became instruments.

Another theory posits that slaves simply used boxes as musical instruments to combat contemporary Spanish colonial bans on music in predominantly African areas. In this way, cajóns could easily be disguised as seats or stools, thus avoiding identification as musical instruments. In all likelihood it is a combination of these factors - African origins and Spanish suppression of slave music - that led to the cajón's creation.

Early usage of the Peruvian cajón was to accompany Tondero and Zamacueca (old version of Marinera) dances.

In contemporary times, the instrument became an integral important part of Peruvian music and Cuban music.

In the 1970s the instrument was introduced to Flamenco music by guitarist Paco de Lucía.

The drum

Cajón player demonstrating typical hand positions on a flamenco cajón.

Half to three quarter inch thick wood was generally used for five sides of the box. A thin sheet of plywood was nailed on as the sixth side and acted as the striking surface or head. A sound hole was cut on the back side opposite the head or tapa.

The top edges were often left unattached and could be slapped against the box. The player sat astride the box, tilting it at an angle while striking the head between his knees. The modern cajón has several screws at the top for adjusting percussive timbre and may sport rubber feet. Some versions may also have several vertically stretched cords pressed against the tapa for a buzz like effect or tone. Guitar strings, rattles or drum snares may serve this purpose. The percussionist can play the sides with the top of his palms and fingers for additional sounds. There are also tube cajón, which are played like a conga.

Today

Today, the cajón is heard extensively in Cuban, Coastal Peruvian or Musica criolla musical styles: Tondero, Zamacueca and Peruvian Waltz, modern Flamenco and certain styles of modern Rumba. The cajón was introduced into flamenco in only the 1970s by guitarist Paco de Lucía. While in Peru, he was given the cajón by percussionist Caitro Soto. In the Paco de Lucia sextet, the cajón is played by Brazilian percussionist Rubem Dantas. In 1994, Dantas learned of a technique employing the pressure of the left foot on the front of the cajón to change pitch from a San Jose, CA cajonador named Mike Masuda. This pitch changing technique--derived from Peruvian-style cajón foot muting--is now common in flamenco.

The modern cajón is often used to accompany the acoustic guitar and is showing up on worldwide stages in contemporary music. Matt Krueger, Royal Flush and the Jacks of All Trades, Nine Mile, Jennifer Lopez, The Dixie Chicks, Ozomatli, Fleetwood Mac, Alejandro Sanz with Destiny's Child, Los Lobos, Anastacia, Atom Willard, Ben Harper, Nada Surf, Violent Femmes, Gaelic Storm, Sara Groves, Scott Matthews, Gipsy Kings, Red Wanting Blue, Sandi Thom, Megson, Tyrone Wells with Mark Chipello and the popular Spanish flamenco/rock/rumba duo Estopa, Norah Jones and The Coronas have all recently featured the cajón either on stage or television, and some have used it in the recording of their albums. Seth Lakeman has used the Cajón both in recordings and when playing live, integrating it with his unique brand of traditional British folk music.

As the instrument gains recognition, major drum & percussion companies are following the lead of custom builders and bringing the instruments to a wider audience. At the same time, the cajón continues to evolve.

Puerto Rican musician Pedro Barriera designed "wooden bongos".

In the Philippines, it has ushered a new breed of percussionists in the "acoustic" club circuit.

In 2001 the Cajón was declared "National Patrimony" by the Peruvian National Institute of Culture.

See also

• Afro-Peruvian
• Cañete
• Afro-peruvian music
• Flamenco
• Peru

External links

• How to Build a Cajón