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Using readily available items such as tables,
boxes, drawers and utensils has been a traditional part of music culture
for centuries. At times, such as the those endured by West Africans forced
into slavery, it was necessary to disguise these percussive instruments
in order to prevent intimidating their enslavers. A convenient item available
at the time was a cod fish shipping crate. It appeared to be nothing more
than a seat, yet with some alterations was made to produce a wide variety
of percussive sounds by slapping various parts of the box, whilst seated.
The concept evolved over time to became a mainstream part of Cuban and
Peruvian music, spreading in popularity to Africa and Europe, and of recent
times into Flamenco music.
Today the cajon, or "box" drum, is known for it's rich earthy
tones and a surprisingly wide dynamic range, from cracking high's down
to rumbling lows.
The WoodskinTM Cajon has been designed with
five mandates in mind.
. Richness and depth of the bass register or "bottom end".
. Clear and pure middle and upper registers.
. Aesthetic beauty, and fine handcrafted quality.
. Playing comfort.
. To be adaptable to a wide variety of musical genres.
Each WoodskinTM Cajon is personally designed and hand
crafted by Mark
Aspland, a percussionist, instrument maker and engineer, with
over thirty years experience with a vast array of drums and drumming styles.
These include Tabla, Djembe, Darabouka, Conga, Bongo, Drum kit, and many
other forms of hand percussion.
The WoodskinTM Cajon has been designed to
be a welcome addition to a wide variety of musical genre's.
In general, animal or resin skinned hand drums exhibit a note, or range
of notes associated with their sound. These percussive notes can become
identifiable with a particular musical genre.
Wooden skin drums however, when designed properly, deliver more percussion
and less note, making them less identifiable to a particular genre and
more universally adaptable to vastly different musical styles. Each WoodskinTM
Cajon has been engineered to take advantage of this phenomena and further
enhance it.
The quality of the resultant sound becomes a product of a carefully selected
number of components of each WoodskinTM Cajon. Mechanical sound enhancement
principles are even employed to target the desired sound scape.
As with all Cajon's The WoodskinTM Cajon is an acoustic unit. However the
incredible natural sounds offered by the unit respond very well to amplification.
Any of the following three microphone configurations work well but of course
everyone has their own preferences.
1. An instrument or vocal mic aimed at the face, and one at the rear sound
hole.
2. A single instrument or vocal mic aimed just at the face.
3. A piezoelectric mic placed internally.
©2003 WoodskinTM. All rights reserved. No part of this web site
may be reproduced or transmitted without prior permission. WoodskinTM cannot
be held liable for any material rendered unusable, or for any form of
consequential loss. The descriptions specifications and other claims made
with respect to the products featured on this web site are made from the
last update (10/11/03). WoodskinTM retains the right to discontinue production
of or make improvements or other changes to any of its products without
notice. Product packaging and other product literature should be consulted
for current descriptions specifications and other claims relating to WoodskinTM
products. Improvements or other changes to products shall not obligate
WoodskinTM to make corresponding improvements or changes to products previously
manufactured or sold.
®All Trademarks Acknowledged.
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