Miking a Cajon

Hi there

I was wondering if anyone has any tips on miking the cajon, for both live and recording purposes? I know there will be no "correct" way to do this as it will depend on the sound desired/personal preference. But any general tips on which types of microphones to use/mic placement/where to start would be most appreciated!

Thanks

Jamie

Hey

So, there's a few options when it comes to mic setup. Depending on what's available, a Shure Beta 91 is your best friend. It sits snugly in the bottom of your drum and picks up an awful lot of detail. They're amazing - I've found depending on the sound system in the venue, you might need an additional bass drum mic a few inches from the sound hole to really get the deeper noises coming through. Other than that, when I'm recording I use the sides quite a lot, so maybe a mic on each side (i dont really know mic names) one in front for snare and incidental ghost notes, 1 overhead and a bass drum mic in the back. You can use a more minimal version of this for stage as well.. it totally depends on the venue, sometimes just a good quality bass drum mic is required, sometimes a snare mic also. Hope this helps.

I used SM91 for a few years on stage, putting it inside the box. But recently we've made some tests with a sound engineer and found that much better mic position is outside of cajon, on the floor, 0.5 - 1m from the back side. If the stage conditions allow you to place the SM91 on the floor behind the cajon, you may try this position.

Guys,

Some great suggestions from here.

I was in the studio last week and we put a Yamaha sub kick mic on the back end as well as a Shure Beta 52A and oh boy! did the bass end sound good. Very full and punchy. I think I am going to get one.

Keep the suggestions coming. There really are all kinds of options out there.

Paul.