A cajón is a wooden box drum said to have originated in Peru in the early 1800s by African slaves. It has the appearance of a rectangular box with a round sound hole in the center of one side. The panel with the sound hole is directly opposite the panel with the strummed, or actually slapped, with the hand. In Spanish, the word cajón means “crate” or “box.”
The cajón is frequently made of plywood, with thinner plywood used for the drum’s slapping side. A drawer from a chest of drawers is used to make a cajón in some areas. The cajón is angled between the knees so that the player’s hand can reach the playing surface.
The cajón is a musical instrument used in Afro-Peruvian and Afro-Cuban rumba music and dance. The cajón is also used in flamenco music. The acoustic guitar and the cajón are sometimes used together in modern music. The cajón has been used in songs by Los Lobos, The Dixie Chicks, Fleetwood Mac, and Jennifer Lopez.
Some cajóns have slanting sides and are narrow at the bottom. Strings are added to the slapping surface of some cajóns to give the music a buzzing vibration. A cajón may have more than one playing side, allowing for the creation of various sounds. One playing surface, for example, may produce clear, bright tones, whereas another may produce muffled, wooden sounds.
Materials like Plexiglass are used in ultra-modern versions of the cajón. Chino Bolanos, a Peruvian cajón artist, designed the Plexiglass cajón. It has a box shape, is transparent on the inside, and is completely hollow. The sound hole is clover-shaped, with four feet on the bottom corners. Cajóns are available in a variety of styles and sizes, with prices ranging from around $100 to over $300 USD.