You could always just buy a snare cut it in half and make a bracket, so it fits tightly in the middle of the base.

hi there

I have been building cajon from allsorts of bits and pieces including old wooden speakers. The snare i have built using everything from bottle caps to guitar strings. I have had some success with micing up a cajon. I simply put a old mic head inside the cajon, I dont want to give the game away as it has taken me months to get a good working prototype. but if your interested i can send you an mp3 of the mic in the cajon and then details on how i did it?

cheers

andy

ps brilliant webpage, i like the phantom power checker a lot - i have one which plays a tune!

I have built the Cajon and scrounged an old snare from the drummers in the band just thinking of the best way to mount it it fits the whole width of the Cajon

I've been to this site quite often in my planning to build my cajon, but still haven't made anything yet. I have looked at all the snare options and also found the need to have a tunable solution. The image http://www.framedrums.net/wp-content/uploads/cajon-flamenco-snare.jpg (from an earlier comment in this thread) is similar to what I am going to build, only flipped upside down as Casey suggests to put the ends of the snares in the corners. It will also be on a large tuning "frame" of sorts- adjustable by tightening/loosening a nut inside the drum (accessible from the hole or optional door) that will increase/decrease/fully disengage the snare system from the tapa. I want the ability for a "snare-less" cajon as well so had to build the disengage aspect into the tuning system. Essentially I am remaking the snare system of a typical snare drum to fit the layout of a cajon. I can provide details and results once this is built.

As for the door, someone else posted alternate ideas on doors to have the bottom open so that the weight of the player created the seal needed. I liked that idea, but then you would need to have a latch system. If you built the door in the top (cut the top board in halves or a 1/3 and 2/3 split, then the front half or third could be attached creating the rigidity needed while the back half or two-thirds could open as an access hatch. That way once you sit on it you create the seal.

We'll see how my first cajon turns out, and thanks in advance for all the ideas/inspiration!

@jjp - if the gluing/connection is solid, no, I don't think you need to put the frame pieces in the back in that case.

If you're going to have a snare inside, though, and if you don't have some kind of fancy adjustment system you can access when it's done, then I do recommend some way of getting inside... maybe instead of glue for the back panel, a bunch of screws (like every few inches) if it comes to that (though if using plywood you'd want the frame pieces to screw in to if you're going that route, because screwing into the edge of plywood isn't the best). The door is a pain, and the next one I build may not have it, but I would always want some way of taking it apart (with the tapa still on).

-c

@Tau - oops, accidentally ignored your fiberglass tapa question... no, sorry, no info on that, though I've heard of it being done. Seems like a good idea. I saw a picture of a plexiglass cajon somewhere on the net...

I tried approximately 15 store cajones and I didn't like the sound of any of them. I saw this site and decided why not? I built my frame out of 3/4" birch and the tapa form 1/8" birch. I improvised using a stretched half of a snare on an adjustable piece of wood to tension the snare sound.

I love the rich tones especially when mic'd

The only change I am going to make is to add resting block , made of scrap wood and rug, for when I disengage the snares.

Thanks again

Faria

I was wondering if assembling the frame inside the box would be more useful to avoind gaps than assembling the frame outside the box and fitting it into the box. (if that makes sense. also I havent been able to find much information on any fiberglass tapas. do you have any ideas on thoes?

Hola alguien sabe donde puedo conseguir un cajon para nino, no tan caro?Lo necesito lo mas pronto possible! Vivo en NY. Cualquier informacion escribanme a mi email, julissanz@msn.com El cajon es para un nino de 8 anos, gracias!

@hrasan - I can believe that the strings on mine were too short to work properly, for sure. Since i didn't want to commingle the snare and kick sounds, i didn't really have another option, which is why i gave up on the strings. That is, i didn't want to stretch them across the whole face of the tapa because then they'd always be sounding, no matter where i hit the cajon. In terms of the traditional string sound / guitar-like sound of your strings, I assume you mean that there is a perceptible pitch to the string, as opposed to just a snare-like shimmer or rattle. Since i gave early up on the strings, i can't offer any real experience, but from what i read it sounds like your strings are too tight. My impression from Ocana was that you tension them just enough to make the snare sound but not enough to actual vibrate at a pitch. But i assume you've tried slacking them off some? If you loosen them and the pitch goes away but so does the snare sound, maybe investigate ways of getting the snare sound back without tightening the strings (e.g. Ocana's recommendation of using a piece of tape somewhere in the middle of the string to hold it against the tapa, or changing the way the string lies against the tapa, or using different gauges of strings, etc.) We'd appreciate a report-back on any progress. :-) -c

I was just thinking (not meaning to be rude),you could always use it as a handy little cupboard if you stuffed up the build.

@Tim Hemmerich: see the article, page 7, "Snares": http://caseyconnor.org/jl/cajon?start=6

Yes, I think the speakers would work well. I have a couple myself that I'm planning to try this on... saves all the time of making the box. :-) Since speakers are generally designed to be rigid, air-tight, and to efficiently project whatever sound is happening inside them, I think they suit this application perfectly, assuming they are of appropriate size. Chipwood (I assume you mean the standard particle-wood-and-glue stuff, but this is true for any pseudo-wood stuff I would think) isn't always easy to work with (e.g. screws don't hold well), but there are probably ways around whatever limitations arise. The speaker boxes I have are large and probably of roughly equivalent volume to my cajon, but much skinnier; I don't think the sound of the cajon is much determined by the shape of the box, so I don't anticipate this being a problem, though it might be an issue for the tapa, which may not vibrate/flex in the same way, but we'll see. I might make one of them into a marimbula instead...

Hi Eli - glad you like the page. To answer your questions:

-About how much does this cost?

...hmmm, maybe around $30, if you build the one I've shown here? That's a very rough estimate. If you salvage a crate or some plywood from somewhere (or use a speaker cabinet from Goodwill, etc), make your own snares (though i don't recommend it, really), don't spend any money on finish or sandpaper, etc, then you could do it for almost nothing but the cost of screws and glue.

-Can I have two Tapa's one on the front for bass, one on the side for snares, which will be supported by frames much like the ones you use?

I think you should try it. The argument against it might be that the bass sound would suffer with less of a rigid enclosure backing it up, but it's worth a shot.

-Can I do this myself? I haven't really built like this before, (dont worry I'm an adult, as well as a general contractor, i do repairs on houses, with guidance).

Well, not knowing you personally, I can only say that generally it's one of the easiest instrument projects there are. Basically, build a box with a thin front and a hole in the back. I made the page to help people do it themselves. :-)

-how many days does this take?

I think two, minimum, since you have to wait for glue to dry a couple times. It took me maybe 4 to 6 hours each session, but i was moving slow and taking pictures and so forth.

Good luck,
-Casey

You said "because the end of the snare is not located at the top, would it not give off much... snareness" ... not sure what you mean... the assembly in general is at the top of the cajon, right? Maybe what you meant is that the contact the snare makes with the tapa is maybe too low? I'd agree: for my taste the contact point would be higher and more towards the corners a bit, but it takes some tweaking to get the placement right (it's also hard to tell from the picture, since we can't see how tall the cajon is.) If anything, I think it would give off too much snareness, since every hit (whether "snare" or "kick") is going to fire the snares when they are close to the center of the tapa.

Or maybe what you meant is that one end of the snare is not in contact with the tapa?

Most "real"-snare setups do that: one end is off the tapa and the snare is angled toward the tapa with a little tension to press the snares against the tapa. In other words, it doesn't sit, tensioned, on the tapa like a snare on a snare drum would. The angle that it hits the tapa at and the tension with which it is held both dramatically affect the sound of the snare (as would the length of the snares, i assume), which is why i would urge you to build in some kind of adjustability into the system until you have it perfected. As long as you have a hole in the cajon you can reach a hand in there and tweak.

-c

http://www.framedrums.net/wp-content/uploads/cajon-flamenco-snare.jpg

That looks good to me. Can I use that image on this site? The only reason I wouldn't do it that way is for adjustability... especially if you don't have a door in the cajon for more access. But if you like the sound it results in, then go for it. It's a simple and effective way of getting the snares in place (though i'd probably put them slightly more towards the corners to help with kick/snare separation). Do you think that your snares are long enough? They look like they might be on the short side and thus give kind of a short "bark" of a snare, but I don't have much experience yet tweaking with real snares.

Personally I tweak so much with the snare that the next system I make will probably have a couple movable blocks with wingnuts and bolts, etc, to allow easy but stable positioning. My current "snare on a length of stiff wire" is kind of silly, obviously, from a stability standpoint, but it does allow for infinite adjustment, which is nice.

Glad the site was useful. I'm hoping to update/overhaul it in the next couple months... stay tuned.

-c

P.S. I'm planning to upgrade this site in the next few months, and I hope to include a forum and email notification and so forth to make it easier for you to follow up on your questions. Thanks,
-c

Great article!! My only question is does the wooden frame (where the string are) touch the tapa? In other words, do I put the frame in in full contact with the front side panel? Thanks in advance from PR!! Please answer to my e-mail cntm.78@gmail.com thank you

halo,I like it(from indonesia)

hi, thanks for uploading this. i wanted to know what the exact hight wide and depth is of the box?

Guitar strings (or wires of some kind) are apparently the traditional method of obtaining the 'snare' sound. As far as i was able to determine, the only consequence was that it didn't sound as good :-). It may just be a matter of taste/tradition (perhaps in part because wires are easier to come by than snares, given the instrument's supposed humble origins). As described, i ended up with snare-drum snares, and all of the "modern" cajons that i've liked do the same. Maybe some day i'll play a fancy pro cajon with guitar strings and i'll finally get it, but for now i'm sticking with "real" snares.

Thanks Jim. Yeah, the door seal... I'm actually going to make another cajon or three (considering trying a small business with it). The door is something I like a lot in terms of a project cajon, but the seal and stiffness could be better. The clasps work well for what they are, but I think I'll scheme up something tighter for next time. Glad you figured out the orientation, though... i was scratching my head at your comment a bit at first. :-)

Just a thought on sealing that back door better -

If you were to switch the locations of the eyes/hooks, then the hooks would be pulling the door closed, rather than pulling it to the side of the box.

It sounds like you are happy enough with what you have that there won't be a version 2, but that seemed a simple adjustment that I thought I would mention.

Now I need to go start cutting some wood... :)

Last question, is it ok if i publish my project and use qoutes from your project in my written piece?

@marc cruz

Please see page 7, "snares": http://caseyconnor.org/jl/cajon?start=6

I don't think that the strings sound good, so I don't use them. Maybe in a cajon where the strings are longer, or maybe if you want a more traditional sound, they might be OK, I don't know. For me, the true snares (not strings) sound much better.

Re: the strings, Ocana says that it's a balance. They touch the tapa, there is no real space, and he even recommends trying a piece of tape in the center, if you're having trouble. But they shouldn't be too tight. You do not tighten them like guitar strings, as far as I know.

-c

@Gabe - some people run the snares across the top, horizontally. This makes some sense to me, although I wonder if it would sacrifice the snare/bass separation a little bit (e.g. I strike my cajon in a center/top area for the bass sound... it's nice not to be triggering the snare all the time when doing that, so having the snares more in the corners helps.)

Some do run wires vertically: see this link: http://caseyconnor.org/cajonstuff/cajon-munster-english.doc

(that link is on Page 10 of this article, "Other Links": http://caseyconnor.org/jl/cajon?start=9 ). Not my cup of tea, really, since it couples the bass/snare.

I don't know exactly what you mean by "placing it up vertically on the tapa". If it's still in the corners, I'd be happy, because I like to keep separate the snare and the bass sounds. If it's in the middle of the tapa, vertically, especially if you're talking about laying the entirety of the length of the snare against the tapa, then it will always be ringing, thus turning the cajon into a big, bassy, pseudo snare drum. I like the variety of sounds the cajon can make, so I put my clipped-off snares with their ends against the corners. Running wires along the face of the cajon may be the more traditional way to do it, and most "real" cajons I hear either have very short, barky snare sounds, and/or have wires that run the entire face of the cajon and always sound when you play the instrument, neither of which was my goal.

For lots of other snare images and ideas, see the "readers respond" page: http://caseyconnor.org/jl/cajon?start=10

Re: solid wood for the other surfaces: sure, see for example http://tonecajon.com/?page=available

As long as it's strong and dense and won't split, I think anything is fair game, there.

Good luck,
-c

@Gabe - hi - glad it was helpful. Not sure what your question means: if you want to use a snare drum snare, then yes, see page 7 regarding the snares: http://caseyconnor.org/jl/cajon?start=6 ... it is the way I recommend (so far) of implementing the snare. If you mean that you want to use a wire from a snare drum snare as an individual string, then I could see that working, since the wire would be springier and possibly more responsive than a guitar string, but if you were doing that I'd suggest just using the snare instead (as described at the link). Clip off one end, and voila, a great snare sound.

Thank you for all the info ad the pictures. I been looking around to see how a cajon is made and this page has helped me a lot. Great work.

thank you for the advice. i have one more question. are there certain types of wood trhat are more preferable or better-sounding than others. And may i ask who/what Ocana is, i have to acredit this in my bibliography.

what is the thickness for the tapa? im trying to build this cajon drum but im having problems making the snare thing.

Is it better to glue or nail the cajon together? And why?

I built a Cajon 3 weeks ago, using plywood I had around. 12mm for sides, top and bottom, 3.6 mm for tapa and back panel, but the back panel was doubled up. really just a trial and will buy some better quality faced ply one day. I took some ideas from this site so thank you: I though I would respond with what I discovered.

My original design borrowed your first snare idea, but across one corner only thinking that I could have a 'slap + snare' corner plus a 'slap only' corner. The snares were not very successful: if given a lot of tension they produced a distracting sort of hum. Now I have them slack and with a few loose wires wrapped around which is OK played lightly but I am working on alternatives and will post here if I have a breakthrough.

I did find that there was a nasty resonance from the back panel even though it was well screwed on, and cured that by using frameseal (the stuff that goes around window frames) applied from the inside (with the Tapa removed). I also glued a chunk of MDF to the inside of the back panel to deaden it. The bass seemed more solid after that.

Just for fun, we put an ordinary cheap PC mic inside it and played it through a computer sound card: if you want to hear that, and see the cajon, go to youtube.com/expertanswers.

Even without a microphone I am amazed at the range of sounds and dynamics you can extract from what is just a box.

Thanks David - please do report back if you do this experiment. My impression is that the helmholtz model doesn't apply very well; i originally kept the hole cut-out from my cajon with the idea that i would incorporate it as a "slide" over the hole, allowing me to vary the effective hole size and thus the kick pitch. In practice, it made no difference in the pitch (like, at all). In other words, i'm not sure there is really any resonance or vibration happening with the tapa; it seems like it is more of a "thud" wavefront. Perhaps with tapas of other sorts this would be different. Perhaps a tube would have a more dramatic influence. I'm curious too, so i look forward to anything you come up with. Thanks!

I would be interested in more exact instructions Nate
Thanks

I was recently introduced to this instrument by a friend from my church, I decided to build a cajon based on the dimensions and features from the one we have at church and from the information you have posted.
Like i said am not a pro or anything else but love the sound of this instrument.
The one i built is 18 inches tall by 12 inches wide. i did not install any type of resonating devices in it, just pure sound from what the tapa (face) would make.
I use it for the first time today at church, like i said am not a pro, but i got good results.
Thank you for all the vital information you have share with everybody else.

Thanks