The cajon is a curious beast. It is equal parts kick drum, snare, and drum throne. Its portability and flexibility have made it increasingly popular in worship music in addition to its roots in Latin and African musical performances.
Unfortunately, it can be challenging to decide how to mic a drum that doubles as a chair! A lot of that decision will be driven by whether you are on the stage or in the studio and how much isolation you have or need. Let’s look at a couple of these cases and suggest some proven approaches to making a cajon sound great.
Studio
I personally want to hear the room when I am recording a cajon. So, if I am overdubbing percussion or can have the player in an iso booth, I like to avoid using close mics on percussion to get a more natural sound.
My favorite technique is to get a stereo condenser mic like the Audio-Technica AT8022 or a pair of condensers like the Sennheiser e 614 in an XY configuration on a small stereo bar.
I set these up about six feet away from the cajon and about four feet up to minimize bounce from the floor. Make sure that these are pointed down toward the front of the cajon. This will get an open sound from the cajon that is well balanced between low- and high-frequency components.
Live
Of course, in a live environment or in a multi-instrument tracking session, a distant mic is generally not an option. If you are forced to go to a close-mic approach, it is worth considering how a cajon creates its signature sound. Because it is frequently emulating or replacing the sound of a kick drum and a snare at the same time, we need to take a brief look at the construction of the instrument.
A cajon is a six-sided box with one face resting on the floor and the opposite face holding up the percussionist! The back and sides are typically made from half-inch hardwood such as maple or birch, while the front is a thinner, eighth-inch piece that vibrates when struck. This piece actually generates the bulk of the sound, so we need to address it with the microphone to get the best results.
Since nearly all cajons have a rear port like the hole in a kick-drum head, we have the choice of getting the sound from the front or the back of the soundboard. If I am going to mic a cajon with a single mic, I generally prefer placing the mic in the port at a slight angle, aimed toward the top/front of the cajon. This will better bring out the sound of the snares if your cajon is equipped with them.
Since cajon players will often rock or lean back, I like to use a mic mount adapter like the one by Schlagwerk so that it maintains its position relative to the cajon. Its hook-and-loop fitting attaches to the back with no cutting or drilling required.
I will generally use a dynamic mic for this application, and something such as the Shure SM57 works very well. I actually prefer these over a kick-drum-style mic, as they tend to pick up the snap of the edge hits on the cajon in a more pleasing way. Note that you do want the mic to go into the cavity a bit. Because the port will move air, I find that having the element of the mic right on the opening makes it sound too boomy.
If possible, I always prefer to use two mics on a cajon to better represent the difference between the low end and the snap of the snare-type sound.
In this instance, a kick-drum-style mic works well on the back of the cajon. An AKG D112 MKII or a Sennheiser e 602-II on a short stand or a mounted clip works well. If I use the cajon clip, I like to angle this mic slightly down to avoid some of the high-frequency energy from the cajon, but many kick mics may filter this anyway.
When I use a stand-mounted mic, I like to have the mic at the edge of the port about 8–10 inches away from the cajon but angled toward the port at about thirty degrees. This gives me good low-frequency response and usually keeps me in a safe place where the percussionist won’t knock against the mic. You can also substitute a boundary microphone, like the Shure Beta 91A, and literally put it inside of the cajon. I am not a fan of this approach by itself, but it works well with an additional front mic to put some snap back into the sound.
For the front of the cajon, I like the Sennheiser e 614 or the sE Electronics sE7 about twice as far away as the kick mic (16–20 inches), slightly above the edge of the cajon, and pointed down toward the center of the face of the cajon. This placement does a great job of bringing out the subtle details of more flamenco-style playing and gives you a great snare sound to complement the kick sound that is coming off the back of the cajon.
One important detail in a dual-mic setup like this: you will almost certainly need to flip the polarity (frequently labeled “phase”) on only one of the microphone preamps, since energy will be coming into these mics in different directions. Since the rear microphone is usually pointed a different direction than any other mic onstage, I generally choose to flip its polarity. Listen to the combination of the two while reversing the polarity of the rear mic. Compare the regular vs. flipped polarity combinations, and whichever option gives you the most low end (no cancellation) is the one you should use.
I also like to engage the highpass filter on the front mic and roll off a bit of the highs on the rear mic above 3kHz to help emphasize the sonic differences I am trying to achieve, but that will be somewhat dictated by the microphones you choose.
A cajon can add that perfect touch to an acoustic-oriented performance, so don’t let fear of mic techniques keep you from trying one out on your next show. Give your Sweetwater Sales Engineer a call at (800) 222-4700, and they can help you choose the right mics to make a cajon sit perfectly in the mix.
