Hello everyone! I’m currently the newest intern here at Travelclef, Hong Yi. I have little to even zero music knowledge. The only contact I had with the technical aspect of music was grade 1 piano theory that I took in primary 1 (I’m in uni now). Armed with only superficial knowledge of the musical instruments that is around the office, I’m setting off to discover more about them and invite everyone to follow me on this journey.
For today, it’ll be all about the Cajon (pronounced as car-horn) as Travelclef is launching its Cajon workshop in full swing. I have seen it at many performances and always thought that it was pretty
interesting how a simple wooden box is able to create such sounds.
FUN FACT: The word Cajon has its origins from Spanish, meaning drawer or box! It has its origins tracing back to the 18th century, where it was used as a replacement of the African box drums. There are even different versions of the Cajon where the steel snare wires that produce the sound of the snares are not included.
Today I am finally able to uncover a little more about this instrument that has got me intrigued for a long while.
This is the first 2 Cajons that I came into contact with at Travelclef, both designed here at Travelclef. The name you see on them “Entzücken” actually means to delight or bring joy. The bigger one is the standard Cajon and the smaller one is a travelling size one! Never knew that it actually existed.
On my first day, I went to help out at an event set up, and only at that moment did I actually realise how compact the standard size Cajon is when it’s folded! The first thought that came to me was how much space it could save for storage at home. Even setting it up is so easy, it actually took me less than a minute to set it up after a quick demo. I even tried to play it on my own. The smaller Cajon, called the traveller’s Cajon is one that is not commonly found outside. Although not as loud or providing the same depth of sound, it is much more portable in comparison to the already very portable standard size Cajon.
During one of my short breaks, I took the chance to explore and play around with one of the Cajon that we had on display. I was only playing with random beats that felt good to me. It just so happened that Ben and Edmund heard me and they showed me how to incorporate it into a song along with the Ukulele (another instruments that I have yet to explore). It was actually very pleasant, and made me more interested in learning the different instruments. I missed the opportunity to video it down, but I’ll try to get it on video the next time and post it for everyone to take a look at it!
For now, I do have a video of the Cajon workshop that I can share. It actually looks pretty fun, and I do have thoughts of signing up for the course myself!
Did the video pique your interest in the Cajon workshop? If it did, do find out more about it here!
That’s it from me for now. I’ll be back as soon as possible! This is Hong Yi signing off, till next time!