Instrument Guide

Cajon drum box is a six-sided box used as a hand percussion musical instrument. Cajon is originated from Peru, South America. It is played by hitting its faceplate to create sounds. The percussion player can sit on top of the Cajon drum box and play the front plate using their bare hands to create tones. The Cajon drum is slowly gaining its popularity throughout the world. Nowadays, Cajon technology has improved and even some manufacturers have added electronic devices to the Cajon drum box. Bali Treasures Drum Factory is a worldwide supplier to the biggest brands and has innovated Cajon’s that can produce nice strong bass tones.

Cajon’s are gaining good popularity since the 1970s when Peruvian composer and Cajon master Caitro Soto introduced the Cajon drum to a Spanish guitarist. Since then the Cajon drum has been incorporated into many styles of music, namely modern rock, hip hop music, and modern alternative music. The improved use of the Cajon can be combined with kick pedals, hi-hat pedals, and double bass pedal.

A Djembe is a goblet-shaped hand drum, that is originated from West Africa and normally has a cow or goat skin drum head. The Djembe drum head is pulled for tension using ropes, mechanical tuning or industrial quality glue. The strongest part of the goat or cow skin is in the spinal area. This is why most of the drum heads have a spiral pattern. The more tension that is created on the drum skin, the higher the tones are when playing the drum. Djembe basically has 3 types of tones: low (bass), mid and high pitch (slap). The combination of the 3 tones can create wonderful African style rhythms.

The outer shell of the wooden drum can be painted or carved. Bali Treasures’ Djembe is painted and carved by master carver & painter families in Ubud. The decoration of the outer shell adds additional value to the customers’ eyes. Some of Bali Treasures Djembes have jingles attached to the outer side of the drum or seeds and beads placed inside the Djembe drum. The drum rhythm is mostly associated with African dance.

Historically, the African drum has played a very crucial role in the society of the Africans for hundreds of years back. It is stated that the Ancient Africans were the first ones who invented musical instruments in the form of drums. There are several types of African drums that have been globally known as the Djembe and Talking drum. African drums were created for multiple purposes such as religious rites, entertainment, and cultural celebrations.

Drumming is a significant part of Africans’ cultural lives. This culture has been inherited from one generation to the next generation since centuries ago, until the present epoch. Most of the professional historians say that the African drum is one of the oldest musical instruments in the world. The creation of the African instrument was naturally made from human initiative. This proves that music is inherently part of human life.