An Introduction to Pearl Cajon Drums

The Pearl Drum Company is the leading producer in the world today of Cajon Drums and Box Drums (both are members of the percussion box family).

They also offer a wide variety of percussion instruments; more information on these can be found in my introduction to Pearl Drums.

The cajon drum was invented in colonial, Spanish-speaking South America, and the word “Cajon” is literally translated as “crate”, “drawer”, or “box”, but over time the word's vernacular usage has come to imply that it is a rectangular wooden box drum.

A box drum is generally played by slapping the front plywood face with one's hands. Cajon percussion can be used for both bass and treble tones.

Cajon music has become increasingly popular, especially the style known as cajon flamenco.

Pearl currently offers 8 different Cajon models, ranging from beginner level, to signature professional models.

Pearl Cajon carry a full spectrum of tones, including deep bass response, and can even be rigged to replace a bass drum.

Their best cajon drum, Pearl Signature Radial Edge Cajons are designed to sound like the tradtional instruments, but have advanced features to optimize their comfort, playability and sound.

The radial edge provides enhanced comfort for your legs, while the rosewood construction and fixed snares make this box drum sound unbelievable.

Pearl Jingle Cajons offer several advance in Cajon manufacturing.

Their fiberglass body makes them strong and durable, while their jingles and snare attachments can be modified to create a number of different sonic possibilities.

These instruments look gorgeous and come finished in Carubinga wood lacquer.

Designed by the renowned percussionist Jesus Diaz, Pearl Signature Cajons feature a distinct pyramidal shape.

This shape helps to add warmth and body to the sound of these drums, as there is less wave cancellation than with traditional rectangularly-shaped Cajons.

Pearl Jesus Diaz Signature Cajons are available in four different models, but each are the same height and are one hundred percent wood.

If you need a Cajon to take over for what your bass drum used to do, then i'd suggest the Pearl Boom Box Cajon.

It is slightly larger than standard for these instruments, and features a fiberglass body and a built-in bass port which lets the sub-frequencies come out huge!

With its lush red mahogany finish, the Pearl Boom Box Cajon could easily replace or supremely complement your bass drum.

Unique to Pearl's Cajon series in that they are round, Pearl Elite Tube Cajons sound more like traditional Congas than other do other Cajons.

Their Thai Oak construction gives them a very warm, very deep sonic characteristic and a beautiful look.

Elite Tube Cajons also feature a built in stand which helps increase their projection, making them great for solo use.

These percussion instruments come as a set of three, and all are able to fit inside of each other to make their transportation easy.

Another professional-caliber box drum, Pearl Elite Box Cajons are slightly less expensive than their Signature and Radial-Edge Signature counterparts, but still offer a distinguished sound.

The shell's are a Thai Oak and Plywood combination, with Matte Red Wine finish. The tonal range of these instruments is ideal for live use, as it provides both solid bass response and high-frequency attack.

Elite Box Cajons offer a professionally crafted sound port and sloped-edge design to ensure that you get great tone out of it and are comfortable while you're playing.

Committed to offering quality drums and percussion instruments to beginners and professionals alike, Pearl designed its Primero Percussion line to be both durable and affordable.

Primero Box Cajon are hand-crafted from Asiatic Pine, which is a good material for the price. This cajon drum box is easy to play, requires no setup, and is of a moderate volume so the rest of the family can get some sleep while you are up all night practicing.

You also get a handy carrying case for your new cajon box.

As part of its educational line of drums and percussion instruments, Pearl created the Fun Box Cajon for use by young children in their school music classes.

This cajon box drum is of a greatly reduced size than standard Cajon, and comes in a kid-friendly, yellow color.

Pearl Fun Box Cajon feature fiberglass construction, and a tribal inlay similar to the Pearl Fun Drum Djembe.

If you're looking to provide your child with their first foray into music, or increase your school's percussion instrument repertoire, then I recommend this drum box as its hazard-free, child-friendly, lots of fun, and will provide kids with fuel for their imagination as they learn about the Cajon and other Latin Percussion Instruments- they might even want to learn how to build a cajon drum of their very own!

I hope you've found this article useful. If you have, feel free to leave feedback and check out some of my other music articles.

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B. Angola and the Antilles (Caribbean Islands including Cuba and Jamaica)