EQ'ing a Cajon

W

whats_true

New member
Hi!

We've acquired a new mate in a band that I mix, to which he plays the Cajon with a High Hat. Now, for some reason, I'm having the most difficult time trying to EQ him properly, specifically the Kick. It sounds incredibly muddy and I'm just having trouble getting that Kick to "punch." I think I've gotten the snare down as well as the Hats, but that bass is driving me nuts~~

This is live sound mind you and the board I'm using is not very grand. I'm lucky to have Sub speakers, and that does add some kick to it, but still, it's not bang that I want. I'm using a D-6 Mic for Kick and a 57 for snare mic. Each Channel EQ is: Hi 12k, HiMid 3K, LowMid 400Hz, and Low 80hz, with AUX1 being the Sub channel.

Anywho, a lot to take in for a first post hehe. Any help or tips on getting this thing right would be most helpful. Thanks again.
 
Double heads, big boom maybe..? If it's only strong suit is shaking the room sometimes you got to go with it.
Then there's Drumadog. :)
 
So, you two work together??? That would make him a Co-cajun, no?
 
Kick sound is all about good heads, good tuning, a snappy beater hit and mic placement. EQ should just be the icing on the cake.
 
what's a cajon have to do with his again?


kick?


cajon?

if your trying to get the instrument the cajon to kick better, well, it has no heads. so good luck changing them.

the beef in a cajon is much higher then the beef in a kick drum, probably 100-200 ish (give or take) and be very careful about cutting the mids as it will make it sound better alone if you do so but will quickly get lost in a mix.
treat it like a mid frequency instrument, and not so much like a drum kit.

that is if i understand you correctly.
good luck, ymmv.
 
@giraffe

Sorry, when I say Kick, I'm usually just referring to the Bass sound it makes. I use a kick mic, so, I usually just refer to it as that, the kick.

You made a good point though and I thank you for the help. They are playing again tonight, so, we'll see how this goes.

Thanks again everybody. Help is much appreciated.
 
You're going to get a lot more change from mic positioning than from EQ'ing.

And cajons are pretty much either "beefy" or "thin" -- You can't add a lot of beef to a cajon with none.

You can always put a kick mic on the lower area of the tapa and put a 57 about 2/3 in the hole. Roll all the highs off the tapa mic and blend it in.
 
Massive Master said:
You're going to get a lot more change from mic positioning than from EQ'ing.
Click to expand...

Well, I wouldn't quite say that John. For instance if one uses a low pass to remove all freqs above 50 Hz the results are going to be a bit more dramtic than moving mics.

Massive Master said:
And cajons are pretty much either "beefy" or "thin" -- You can't add a lot of beef to a cajon with none.
Click to expand...

You can if you sidechain a gate and an oscillator at 60 Hz or so triggered from the cajon, or use some other sort of subharmonic synthesizer.

That crap said, who wants an artifical sounding cajon? As John is saying get the micing right and the rest will follow. Try micing in front of the hole and back, possibly reversing polarity on one of the mics. It's a "trick" used for open back guitar cabs to add some beef as well. Also try some different mic patterns, omni may be a better choice than cardioid.
 
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