Cajón
Encyclopedia
Percussion instrument
A percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration...
originally from Peru
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
, played by slapping the front face (generally thin plywood
Plywood
Plywood is a type of manufactured timber made from thin sheets of wood veneer. It is one of the most widely used wood products. It is flexible, inexpensive, workable, re-usable, and can usually be locally manufactured...
) with the hands.
Origins and evolution
Slaves of west and central Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
n origin in the Americas, specifically Peru
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
, are considered to be the source of the cajón drum; though the instrument is common in musical performance throughout the Americas.
The cajón was most likely developed in coastal Peru during the early 19th century or before, where it is associated with several Afro-Peruvian genres. 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
Angola
Angola, officially the Republic of Angola , is a country in south-central Africa bordered by Namibia on the south, the Democratic Republic of the Congo on the north, and Zambia on the east; its west coast is on the Atlantic Ocean with Luanda as its capital city...
, and the Antilles
Antilles
The Antilles islands form the greater part of the West Indies in the Caribbean Sea. The Antilles are divided into two major groups: the "Greater Antilles" to the north and west, including the larger islands of Cuba, Jamaica, Hispaniola , and Puerto Rico; and the smaller "Lesser Antilles" on the...
. 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
Tondero
Tondero is a dance and guitar rhythm from the Peruvian north coast .-Geographical origin of tondero and cumananas:The Tondero is a Peruvian dance and rhythm born in the north coast adjacent to the eastern valleys of the Sierra or “yungas” of Piura, Sechura and Lambayeque...
and Zamacueca
Zamacueca
The Zamacueca is an ancient colonial dance that originated in the Viceroyalty of Peru, taking its roots from African, Spanish, and Andean rhythms...
(old version of Marinera) dances.
In contemporary times, the instrument became an integral part of Peruvian music
Music of Peru
The music of Peru is an amalgamation of sounds and styles drawing on Peru's Andean musical roots and Spanish musical influences.Native Peruvian music is dominated by the national instrument, the charango. The charango is a type of mandolin, and was invented in the Viceroyalty of Peru by musicians...
and Cuban music
Music of Cuba
The Caribbean island of Cuba has developed a wide range of creolized musical styles, based on its cultural origins in Europe and Africa. Since the 19th century its music has been hugely popular and influential throughout the world...
. In Cuba, it is known as a Cuban box drum that was originally used to play Rumba
Rumba
Rumba is a family of percussive rhythms, song and dance that originated in Cuba as a combination of the musical traditions of Africans brought to Cuba as slaves and Spanish colonizers. The name derives from the Cuban Spanish word rumbo which means "party" or "spree". It is secular, with no...
Yambu and now incorporated into many other styles. The bass box drum is large enough to sit on and is played with the palm, fist and fingers. It was originally a crate from shipping cod fish in Havana
Havana
Havana is the capital city, province, major port, and leading commercial centre of Cuba. The city proper has a population of 2.1 million inhabitants, and it spans a total of — making it the largest city in the Caribbean region, and the most populous...
. The middle drum is played with spoons and was originally a box from church candles. The solo drum started as a desk drawer but has evolved into a specialized box made for this purpose. A more recent contribution to the cajón family is a tall, tapered box resembling a square ashiko
Ashiko
An ashiko is a kind of drum shaped like a truncated cone and meant to be played with bare hands. The drum is played throughout sub-Saharan Africa and the Americas....
. Another is the "Batajon " an innovative cajón invented by Fat Congas of Santa Barbara, with two heads like a Batá drum.
In the 1970s, Peruvian composer and cajón master Caitro Soto
Caitro Soto
Pedro Carlos Soto de la Colina, popularly known as Caitro Soto was an Afro-Peruvian musician and composer...
gave a cajón as a present to Spanish guitarist Paco de Lucía
Paco de Lucía
Paco de Lucía, born Francisco Sánchez Gómez , is a Spanish virtuoso flamenco guitarist and composer. He is considered by many to be one of the finest guitarists in the world and the greatest guitarist of the flamenco genre...
during one of his visits to Peru. De Lucía liked the sounds of this instrument so much that before leaving the country he bought a second cajón. Later he introduced the cajón to flamenco
Flamenco
Flamenco is a genre of music and dance which has its foundation in Andalusian music and dance and in whose evolution Andalusian Gypsies played an important part....
music.
The drum
Half to three quarter inch (1.3 to 2 cm) thick wood is generally used for five sides of the box. A thin sheet of plywood is nailed on as the sixth side and acts as the striking surface or head. A sound hole is cut on the back side opposite the head or tapa.The top edges are often left unattached and can be slapped against the box. The player sits 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
Timbre
In music, timbre is the quality of a musical note or sound or tone that distinguishes different types of sound production, such as voices and musical instruments, such as string instruments, wind instruments, and percussion instruments. The physical characteristics of sound that determine the...
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
Snare drum
The snare drum or side drum is a melodic percussion instrument with strands of snares made of curled metal wire, metal cable, plastic cable, or gut cords stretched across the drumhead, typically the bottom. Pipe and tabor and some military snare drums often have a second set of snares on the bottom...
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
Conga
The conga, or more properly the tumbadora, is a tall, narrow, single-headed Cuban drum with African antecedents. It is thought to be derived from the Makuta drums or similar drums associated with Afro-Cubans of Central African descent. A person who plays conga is called a conguero...
.
Today
Today, the cajón is heard extensively in Cuban, Coastal Peruvian or Musica criollaMúsica criolla
Música criolla is a category of Peruvian music that combines mainly African, Spanish and Andean influences. Afro-Peruvian music was first created by African slaves in Peru during the Colonial Period and beyond. The rhythms include Festejo, Landó, Socabon, Pregon, Zamacueca, and Alcatraz...
musical styles: Tondero
Tondero
Tondero is a dance and guitar rhythm from the Peruvian north coast .-Geographical origin of tondero and cumananas:The Tondero is a Peruvian dance and rhythm born in the north coast adjacent to the eastern valleys of the Sierra or “yungas” of Piura, Sechura and Lambayeque...
, Zamacueca
Marinera
Marinera is a coastal dance of Peru, generally called the "National Dance of Peru." Marinera is a graceful and romantic couple's dance that uses handkerchiefs as props. The dance is an elegant and stylized reenactment of a courtship, and it shows a blend of the different cultures of Peru...
and Peruvian Waltz
Vals (Peruvian)
The Creole Waltz , or Peruvian Waltz , is an adaptation of the European Waltz brought to the Americas during colonial times by Spain. In the Viceroyalty of Peru, the Waltz was slowly changed to the likings of the Criollo people...
, modern Flamenco
Flamenco
Flamenco is a genre of music and dance which has its foundation in Andalusian music and dance and in whose evolution Andalusian Gypsies played an important part....
and certain styles of modern Rumba
Cuban Rumba
In Cuban music, Rumba is a generic term covering a variety of musical rhythms and associated dances. The rumba has its influences in the music brought to Cuba by Africans brought to Cuba as slaves as well as Spanish colonizers...
. The cajón was introduced into flamenco in the 1970s by guitarist Paco de Lucía
Paco de Lucía
Paco de Lucía, born Francisco Sánchez Gómez , is a Spanish virtuoso flamenco guitarist and composer. He is considered by many to be one of the finest guitarists in the world and the greatest guitarist of the flamenco genre...
. While in Peru, he was given the cajón by percussionist Caitro Soto
Caitro Soto
Pedro Carlos Soto de la Colina, popularly known as Caitro Soto was an Afro-Peruvian musician and composer...
. In the Paco de Lucia sextet, the cajón is played by Brazilian percussionist Rubem Dantas.
The modern cajón is often used to accompany the acoustic guitar and is showing up on worldwide stages in contemporary music.
American acoustic rock band, Boyce Avenue
Boyce Avenue
Boyce Avenue is an American acoustic rock band. It was formed in Sarasota, Florida, by brothers Alejandro, Daniel and Fabian Manzano. The band is named after a combination of two streets the brothers lived on as children...
, uses the Cajón in some of their new covers, such as: "Here Without You
Here Without You
"Here Without You" is the title of a song recorded by American rock band 3 Doors Down. It was released in August 2003 as the third single from the album Away from the Sun. It peaked at number five on the Billboard Hot 100 for the week ending November 8, 2003. Only their songs "Kryptonite" and "When...
" (3 Doors Down) and "Just Can't Get Enough
Just Can't Get Enough (The Black Eyed Peas song)
"Just Can't Get Enough" is a song by American hip hop group The Black Eyed Peas. The song was written by members William Adams, Allan Pineda, Jaime Gomez and Stacy Ferguson, along with Joshua Alvarez, Stephen Shadowen, Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins, and Julie Frost, for the group's sixth studio album,...
" (Black Eye Peas).
Different uses of the Cajón
Besides its standard use, the cajon has been played in a variety of ways, according to the influences it has been under over time. Since it has been widely spread across the world, not only percussionists, but also other musicians have begun to play the cajon. The instrument has been played not only with hands, but also with plastic and metal brushes, as normally used for drums. Another way of playing the cajon is to use an ordinary bass drum pedal, thus turning the cajon into an indirect percussion instrument. This enables the player to beat it just like a pedal-bass-drum, but it also restricts the player's standard position.In February 2008, the Italian percussionist Ovidio Venturoso invented and patented an apparatus for playing the cajon both with hands and a pedal, without changing the standard position.
Consequently, a player can use both hands and feet and gain greater scope for artistic expression.
Furthermore, the pedal apparatus enables the Cajón to be played in a creative drum-set.
The Puerto Rican musician Pedro Barriera has designed "wooden bongos".
In the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
, 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
- Cajón (Mexico)Cajón de tapeoThe cajón de tapeo , tapeador, cajón de tamboreo or Mexican cajon is a wood box drum traditional to southern Mexico. It is played by slapping one face or two faces with a stick and a hand or with both hands. It was developed as a substitute of the tarima de baile of Oaxaca and Guerrero. It usually...
- CañeteCañete ProvinceCañete is a province located in southern Lima Region, Peru. It is bordered by the Lima Province on the north, the Ica Region on the south, the Huarochirí and Yauyos provinces on the east, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. Its capital is the town of San Vicente de Cañete District...
- Afro-Peruvian musicMúsica negraMúsica negra is a type of Latin American music initially developed by black slaves in South America, in particular Peru, where it is known as música criolla. Música negra's influences are largely West African music and Spanish music. Notable artists and groups include Lucila Campos, Pepe Vásquez,...
- FlamencoFlamencoFlamenco is a genre of music and dance which has its foundation in Andalusian music and dance and in whose evolution Andalusian Gypsies played an important part....
- PeruPeruPeru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
- Music of CubaMusic of CubaThe Caribbean island of Cuba has developed a wide range of creolized musical styles, based on its cultural origins in Europe and Africa. Since the 19th century its music has been hugely popular and influential throughout the world...