How To Make A Cajon Drum

The Cajon is native to countries in the South American region. One can see why; its sound is a core material when making samba and rumba music, which are significant parts of the South American musical sound. This drum’s sound is so unique that trying to recreate it from other kinds of drums would be an epic failure. Find a comfortable and playable guitar with the Best Small Hands Guitars.

The Cajon drum’s most tricky part is probably how its sound is only as good as the drum is crafted. Making a Cajon drum on your own might be a little tricky, and this is why this article covers a quick guide to getting it done. This is not professional advice cut straight from the books, but it is useful if you need something to steer you in the right direction. These tips would be a guaranteed help, and they are as follows: 

  • Your Choice of Material is Critical:

The design of a standard Cajon drum requires high-quality material that can withstand a reasonable degree of weight. This is because you or anyone else who wants to can only play the drum by sitting on it and slapping the surfaces on the front or side.  

This implies that whatever you are crafting must be strong enough to hold the weight of the player. For this reason, it is best to use hardwood. It is best if this hardwood has a minimum of ¾ of an inch in thickness. All parts of the drum must be equally thick. Check this for Drum Songs Beginners..

Most people would usually use plywood, either maple or birch wood, to carve out the Cajon drum’s exterior.  

If you also want to do this, you can easily purchase any plywood that works. All that matters is that it is high quality. This is also applicable to making plywood purchases for the playing surface area. Only high-quality material would hold in the long-run; because of this, you should carefully consider the quality of the materials you use. Hickory cherry wood is an excellent option for plywood types. Check out the Best Electronic Keyboards.

It is best if you focus on this first, as the other steps in the procedure, such as measuring dimensions and cutting out the pieces to assemble them, are less tasking if you get the material right.  

  • There is a Technique For Assembling: 

While cutting your wood, it is best to have a picture in your head of what the drum would look like after assembling. This gives you a better chance of carving the wood right. If you do not carve out the wood correctly, you might end up with something that is a world away from being a Cajon drum. So, be careful while cutting.  

After doing this, you would need to get what you have cut attached to what you already have. It is best to use wood glue\ to achieve this. Doing this would help you to connect the five sides of the box easily. Your initial focus should be on doing this, and it is not time to worry about the surface area for playing. 

This is because your success at this determines the final finish of the Cajon. Try to piece together four thick pieces of wood to the drum’s upper and lower sides using screws. All of this would help give it form and balance.  

  • Remember the Strings:

Depending on what you have in mind, you can stricture the sound of your Cajon drum. You can get the regular snare sound that drums make if you use guitar strings. Better still, you can use wires from a snare drum. Whatever you do, you have to use these wires or strings while building your drum. Make your moment feel comfortable by listening to the music of all the Best Raspy Voiced Singer 

These strings are vital for creating the sound of the drum; they echo through the drum’s front side. This is why you should be careful with fixing them. You can place the strings on any surface, but whatever you do, ensure that the string is tight and placed horizontally across the drum’s front surface area. You should also not forget to attach either side of the strings to brackets, preferably smaller ones. 

  • Drill a Hole:

Before you can finally assemble all the parts of the Cajon drum, you have to drill a hole in the drum’s backside. This hole is called a soundhole, and it ensures better reverberation when the Cajon finally gets played. You can be sure that the drum sound would be better if you drill and place this soundhole properly. All you would need to do is mark out the area you want to cut and use a hole saw to make the crafting even perfect.  

  • Don’t Forget the Finishing:

If you have successfully done all the things explained before now, you should be getting close to finishing your Cajon drum. After cutting the soundhole, you can quickly nail or screw the drum’s front side to the box structure within. With that, your work is almost over. But to finalize, you will need to properly sand the surface area and decide what stain you would prefer to use for the finishing. Be sure also to check out fixtures like the brackets you used to attach strings, as well as parts you glued. Double-check to ensure all is well and in place.  

Do not forget to test out the drum’s weight by sitting on it as you progress with the building; it must hold the bodyweight of the player and the pressure applied while it is being played. If you need more help to do this, there are tons of videos on the internet that would give you a detailed guide and take you through the step-by-step process of doing this. 


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