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Author Topic: Has anyone recorded a Cajon?  (Read 7760 times)

ajcamlet

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Has anyone recorded a Cajon?
« on: April 23, 2004, 03:35:14 PM »

have any you folks ever traked a Cajon?  Wood box looking thing that the player sits on... hits the front, sound hole in the back....

How would you go about micing this thing?

gtoledo3

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Re: Has anyone recorded a Cajon?
« Reply #1 on: April 23, 2004, 03:50:32 PM »

ajcamlet wrote on Fri, 23 April 2004 20:35

have any you folks ever traked a Cajon?  Wood box looking thing that the player sits on... hits the front, sound hole in the back....

How would you go about micing this thing?


There are two main sources of sound with the cajon- the sounds where the player slaps the surfaces of the box, and the sound created where the box and the floor meet...

For my taste, I don't think the cajon necessitates stereo micing-
I had pretty good results with a aea R84 about 3 or 4 feet away from the instrument, angled slightly downwards to the instrument. Far enough back that the sounds have enough space to develop in the room, and so that the mic doesn't favor any one area that the cajon is being slapped. Then, I put a shure 546 right down by the base of the cajon where it meets the floor.

The room you are playing the cajon in is probably more important than what you mike it with. I have heard many great percussion tracks that were tracked with just 57's.
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MusicMedicine

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Re: Has anyone recorded a Cajon?
« Reply #2 on: April 23, 2004, 04:48:03 PM »

There are a lot of different types of cajons, but the traditional Flamenco style you're talking about with the sound hole in the back, I find, sounds nice with a SD condenser (KM84 or Josephson C-42 are what I usually use) in front about 12"-18" out to capture the hand and finger sounds and a LD condenser (U195 is what I use but I don't have a huge selection LD mics) in back about the same distance from the hole to catch the resonance and bass of the drum (adjust the angle of this mic toward the hole or floor to get the best balance).

Alternately, I've also had luck using the U195 and placing it off to the side about 3' away from the drum (as gtoledo3 says this lets the sound build up in the room a bit so your room should sound good to use this approach). The drummer's touch will have lot to do with exactly where you place the mic.

If you're room doesn't have a wood floor, I suggest putting the cajon on a piece of 3/4" plywood so you can get some reflection off the floor. Carpeting, IME, sucks the life out of the drum.

Jeff
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mcsnare

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Re: Has anyone recorded a Cajon?
« Reply #3 on: April 23, 2004, 09:00:26 PM »

I've had lots of experience recording a cajon. I have tried everthing from Tele
E LAM 251's to a Coles 4038's and everything in between.  Grab a 57 and shove it in the hole. If the track is VERY open, put something else in front to get the wood slap. I'd be more concerned with how it works in the track and usually a 57 in the hole works fine.
Dave McNair

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Re: Has anyone recorded a Cajon?
« Reply #4 on: April 24, 2004, 02:40:27 AM »

Same here.  Although, I actually prefer shoving an M-88 in the hole.  However, nothing wrong with a good ol' 57...

And yeah, during tracking, I'd throw and LDC a couple feet away, but rarely use the track - Might boost it up during solo passages...
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John Scrip
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nob turner

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Re: Has anyone recorded a Cajon?
« Reply #5 on: April 24, 2004, 03:21:45 AM »

If you are going to double-mic a cajon with one mic in front and another in back, make sure to reverse the phase on one of the two mics.  Otherwise what you will get is a thin sound that bears little relation to the instrument.

Lately, I have been working more with omni's at a distance from drums like cajon and surdo.  I like the Schoeps MK2S capsules on the collette mics a lot.  Also, the Earthworks mics often work well on percussion.  Set the mic back a few feet, and you will capture the complete sound of the drum without the big transient spike that comes with close-miking.  This will allow you to fit the drum into a mix without watching your meters peg with each hit.  You also avoid the phasing problems inherent in multiple-miking.  For deep drums, there is nothing like a large room with a hard floor to enhance their sound... and little like a small dead room to kill them.
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ajcamlet

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Re: Has anyone recorded a Cajon?
« Reply #6 on: April 24, 2004, 11:05:39 AM »

Thanks to everyone for your guidance...EXcellent pointers and tips!  I'll post back post tracking......

chrisg

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Re: Has anyone recorded a Cajon?
« Reply #7 on: April 29, 2004, 04:00:33 AM »

I didn't know they made a sound.

How do you isolate one from the other?
Laughing
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