Cajon question

[Whopbamboom]

I just picked up a Fat cajon, seated model with strings inside. Great instrument. However, as with all instruments, a guy will find out pro's and con's when he starts using it...

A con I've found is that if I reach over to try to play another drum while sitting on the Cajon, the strings inside the cajon rattle in a very annoying matter, with every beat of the other drum. For instance, I can't play on my Fat "segundo" cajon between my legs without this annoying rattle (it doesn't sound at all like when you strike the big cajon). Now, I know that snare drums have throw-off levers for the snares, but there is nothing like that on the cajon. So what's a guy to do if he wants to play other drums while sitting on the cajon?

[Victorius]

hey, my friend has schlagwerk stringed cajon and we tested something that you're thinking about. Inside his cajon there is a plank where strings are pluged and touch the front we play. This plank is put to the socket and we could remove it at all. But we wanted only reduce snare effect so we put it away a little bit and use small piece of wood to block it in wanted position. Now strings snare less - only when strike harder. Perhaps your cajon is constructed in similar way. Hope it helps!

[windhorse]

I imagine sticking a towel between the strings.. But, I don't play the stringed kind. Only boxes.
Dave

[bongosnotbombs]

My buddy Max kelly in Florida has invented his own adjustable snare cajon, so he
can play it with snares and without.

http://maxkelly.com/features/music/insrument_cajon.html

[OLSONGO]

There are simpler solutions to the snares, it looks like that contraption will add a lot of weight.

Paz
Olsongo

[Whopbamboom]

I'm not concerned aboout weight, so that guy's cajon's are intriguing. Thanks for posting that. But unfortunately, I can't buy a second cajon right now. So I need to work with what I've got.

The towel and plank ideas would work, except I need to be able to QUICKLY dampen/loosen the strings while playing. So those ideas would be hard to implement in actual practice.

I have found that the snare effect goes away if I press up against the face of the cajon. So that might be something for me to think about.

Man, I wish there was an easy throw-off mechanism like what snare drums have...

On another note, that "Big Cajones" cajon looks like it uses actual snare drum snares, while my Fat Cajon uses two individual strings (look like wound acoustic guitar strings).

[Whopbamboom]

Hmmmm...

http://www.cajondg.com/en/products/tecspec.html

[p.a.dogs1]

… there is nothing like that on the cajon. So what's a guy to do if he wants to play other drums while sitting on the cajon?

Have a look here:
http://www.zerosurf.at/users/sela2/pages/en/innovations/quick-off-system.php?lang=DE

This is probably the most advanced Quick-Off-System for cajones.