Kwarta o Cajon

The cajon is a box made of wood sat on by a percussionist and played by slapping the resonant surface between the legs. It originated from Latin America, used especially for flamenco music, but because of the instrument's versatile sound, it has been adapted to different genres, from funk to samba, reggae, blues, and rock. A couple of years ago in the Philippines, it has been used in most acoustic acts.

I've played a cajon a couple of times before. My first time was in an acoustic night event in Cafe Dapitan near UST, with a band formed just three days before the performance. The next time I got to hit one ("hit" 'coz I really didn't think I was playing) was at Dencio's when jk's cousin Ynigo asked me to play while he sang during the resident band's open jam session.

And this morning, I got myself a cajon! Haha. Being a drummer, it's supposedly easy for me to play the cajon since it's also a percussion instrument. But then iba naman yung style ng pagtugtog ng cajon, more of the snare sounds. With the drums, I love kicking the bass. Ngayon wala na kong masipa. And with the cajon, I often find myself producing a bass sound when I actually want a solid snare (e.g. hitting the snare drum dead center o kaya rim shot). I'm still a bit confused, but that's why I bought one, so I can practice right?

Here are a couple of pictures of the instrument:





It has four vertical strings, unlike the more common horizontal-stringed. Tribal designs on both unused sides, one looks like a dragon. Antique finish, which the seller claims it would look chameleon when under the spotlight. AS IF I get to play under a spotlight. Haha.