Live Cajon Mic Setup (My Complete Guide)

This is a beginners guide for live sound you can use with the cajon. I'll show you the steps to follow to get ready on stage for soundcheck at your first live show/gig on cajon. Once with a basic mic and once with the Audix ADX-60 microphone I use for every gig that I play.

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Hey I’m Ross McCallum. I make all kinds of cajon videos. If you like my playing style, please subscribe! Also take a moment to share your comments, questions and get involved with the great cajon drummer community. If you have any suggestions for tutorials, covers, or collaborations, please let me know!

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[rosslmccallum]

Here are the chapters!
1:25 - Setting up the first mic
3:15 - How the mixing desk works
3:54 - Soundcheck with first mic
5:19 - Make your soundcheck super simple
7:08 - Explaining the 80hz bass rolloff
8:42 - How the EQ works
10:07 - How I setup my main good mic
11:03 - Let's learn about Phantom Power
13:39 - Plugging in and setting up properly
14:09 - Time to do the EQ for the second mic
15:19 - Adding a nice reverb effect
15:39 - Soundcheck with the second mic
19:09 - Talking about foldback mixes
21:06 - Enjoying the sound and playing grooves
22:03 - Benefits of using your own mic for live shows
22:45 - Benefits of not needing a mic stand on stage
23:40 - Outro and members club information

[Muffinsindaoven]

If you’re not already aware, I believe you’re not quite understanding comp correctly. A compressor takes the low volume sounds and brings them up, but also takes the high volume sounds and brings them down. This is very useful if you want a higher volume on the track but the track keeps peaking. Hope this helped!

[mehulj]

5:49, 6:37 That's me 😂, taking over the audience before the show gets started 😂😂, Nice one Mate!!

[tubular]

Leaving no stone unturned.. probably best video on you tube for sound stage 😁😁great stuff Ross

[jasonmusic]

sounds great for a beat up vocal mic, nice work and nice playing

[fireboxcajon]

Nice video! With some great playing and tips. Thank you, you have inspired many, many cajon players! Personally, whenever I put a microphone inside a cajon I think, "This is the reason some people say all cajons sound the same." To me the sound on the inside lacks personality and sounds rather raw. The outside of the entire cajon box resonates with every hit, and they are all different. A mic on the inside seems to miss all that. But I understand the compromise - in a live situation a single mic on the inside is wildly convenient. I don't play much live but when I do I use a Zoom H5 on the upper part of the tapa and a MXL A55 bass mic on OUTSIDE of the sound hole lined into the Zoom. The Zoom sits on a short goose-neck extender fixed on top of a desk microphone stand. No big unwieldy mic stands involved. The Zoom stereo line-out goes to a DI box and I like to have the board pan the left channel to the right and right channel to the left. I hear the cajon in stereo, I like to mic it in stereo. But wow, it's not nearly as convenient as a single mic for sure! Many live venues may not have the acoustics and sound system that would justify a complex setup. I get it, but I'm stuck on the quality side for now. I make my own cajons and when I play them in public I want them to sound the way I hear them day-to-day.

[PrakashPorua]

Nice insight... Personally i like to mic my cajon from front and back both...back i use a kick mic normally... Sennheiser e602 and in front i like either sm57 or some pencil condensers like Rode M5 for catching those highs. And it also allows me to give separate effect to the snare sounds and i can also use shakers on that mic

[SebaDentis]

Great tutorial! That was exactly what i needed! I will use this config from now on!

[nguyenhoanganh]

Hi dude, how do i think about sl75c behringer for cajon ?

[boxfeel]

Your cajon has a very good balence sound of high and low and with that 1 mic it sounds ground, I always believe with sound, keep it simple and thats how the best sound comes out .

[brucecollis]

I mounted a mic holder just under the sound hole so I can put in a 57 or any other mic. I aim the mic toward the snares. Plug it in and forget about it. No mic stand, more stage space. You can get an adapter for european mic's that takes a standard 5/16 coarse bolt.

[adeppisch]

Thanks Ross. I hope to ramp up my live cajon playing with a guitar player. I just recently tried out my new DW cajon pedal & love it (see my latest video here on my YouTube channel.). That was just picked up with a smart phone. I’d love to save up for the mic you use here (inside the cajon), just to explore more sonic possibilities. I tried a bass drum mic in back & 57 in front. However, the one internal mic seems like the way to go. Keep up the great videos! Cheers.

[tangobasso]

Any advice for mixing a cajon with a built-in piezo pickup?

[masahiroshinoda]

I saw the poster which says "アルバイト arubaito" on the wall. Did you take this video at a studio in Japan?

[CajonplayerIndiamusic]

Hi, Ross McCallum, Thanks a lot for this detailed information, also may i know if i join your channel at level-1 is there possibility to upgrade to next level to get more learning in same month?

[bonggsauu]

Can sm57 be used for cajon? Can it be used to act on stage? Help me....

[gayanpathirana]

Hey, appreciate what you are trying to do but I believe having a basic working knowledge in audio engineering baics could help any live musician.

Even the dynamic SM58 like mics, I'd have used two, one in the back, one in front and have the EQ seperately. Turning the high EQ all the way up can mess you up when least expected. In fact turning anything all the way up is a bad idea.
Contrary to the common misconception that a compressor is to increase volume, you can actually use it to make it sound better.
Even in your pro setup, you are using the same mic for both highs and lows, sending both of them equally to the reverb, which is going to make the mix super muddy.
Hope you take this as constructive criticism as it is intended.

[VasilyVishnevskiy]

After 2 years, do you still use same mic or you found something better?

[jasonmusic]

who the heck doesnt have a kick microphone at a venue, jeez lol