Cajon fatigue?

Here you go Bo. This is how I play my cajon. Like I posted earlier, I felt the cajon would resonate and sound better without me sitting on top of it and it easier on my back to be sitting on a chair. John
 

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Here you go Bo. This is how I play my cajon. Like I posted earlier, I felt the cajon would resonate and sound better without me sitting on top of it and it easier on my back to be sitting on a chair. John

Interesting technique. I've always felt that when I'm playing the cajon, the audience is staring at my (for lack of a better term) gentleman's sausage.... Depending on the audience,this is sometimes a distraction, other times it is an incentive to play even better. Your technique might eliminate that completely.

Not sure what to think now...
 
First post :D

Hello, my name is Jim T. and I play the Cajon :p

You need a bigger cajon

I have an X8. It's the tallest one I found in a beginner's price range at 13" x 13" x 21" for about a hundred bucks. Most of them are 19".

Yes, I've tried more expensive ones and yes, they sound better but I suck so it doesn't really matter.

I got a cajon because my guitar player told me he wanted to do some acoustic gigs. As is usual with guitar players, this never came to pass.

I took a few lessons to get started and I was amazed by how good the teacher sounded and how terrible I sounded.

That's just too funny not to quote :)

I've been trying to learn by watching "Ross's & Heidi's" youtube vids. If you search Cajon lessons you'll see who I'm talking about and they're both very impressive. Heidi's much easier on the eyes though.

I'm going to pay a local guy $75 for an hour lesson so at least I can ask some questions (I'm not a drummer)

I love my cajon- ideal for quiet figuring out the song rehearsals or quiet acoustic gigs- sore on the wrists if played for too long though.

I have a motorcycle as my preferred mode of transportation which helps with my hands and arms so I've yet to experience any real pain or fatigue. Just like rock climbing, it took a while to get used to using those different muscles and toughen up my hands.

And it's Jake no less! I don't know - the cajon looks a bit awkward to play and I keep thinking you'd eventually throw a back disc out because you're hunching forward like that to play it. It sounds cool - way easier to execute than say, tabla ;)

From all that I've read and seen, you really shouldn't be "hunching forward", I'm almost upright when I play.

Or you can play like this guy from Steep Canyon Rangers. He sits on one and plays the one in front of him. Awesome show by the way. Steve Martin showed up unannounced to sing and play his banjo :D

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Here you go Bo. This is how I play my cajon. Like I posted earlier, I felt the cajon would resonate and sound better without me sitting on top of it and it easier on my back to be sitting on a chair. John

That looks cool. I would think it would sound better as well since it's not being compressed by body weight?
 
I am new to the cajon after playing a set for 30 years. I am also dealing with the fatigue involved with the seating position. I really like John's idea of sitting in a chair. Seems I can hit the sweet spots on the drum better with it tilted back more like that. Never gave a cajon a second thought until recently, now I'm hooked.

Here's how I got sold on them. One of the bands I used to play drums for was playing a private party and invited me. I had heard that the new drummer was just awesome and couldn't wait to hear him. I show up and they are playing on a dock at the lake, no drum set, just a cajon. I was so disappointed.

Then he started doing his sound check and I'm like, are you freakin' kidding me!! After the sound check I say "hey man, are you triggering that thing or something? Those cannot be the acoustic snare and bass tones." He then informed me it was just the cajon with a SM57 in the port. I could not believe the sound he got. Then they started playing all kinds of cover stuff in all different genres, nothing acoustic about this gig at all, and it sounded like a damn drum set.

So anyway, I bought a couple nice cajons, a Schlagwerk Bass Cajon and a Kopf Double Shot Snare Cajon. Now my Pearl Master's Series set just collects dust. I play nothing but cajon now in two different bands. End of rant...
 
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One more thought. I added an LP Octo Cajon (10") on a Small snare stand
and play the cajon ALSO with an LP cajon pedal. Alternating between this and the standard cajon style alone adds a welcome break. The Octo takes some practice but it has excellent slap tones on the edge.
See this in my album.
Ned
 

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