Cajón
A box drum from Peru; the player sits on it and strikes the front panel.
What it means
The cajón is a box-shaped percussion instrument from Peru: a wooden box on which the player sits, striking its thin front panel with the hands. Different striking points produce different sounds, from a deep, resonant bass tone in the center to bright, crisp sounds near the edges.
The cajón originated among Afro-Peruvian slaves, who used improvised boxes as a substitute for forbidden drums.
Musical use
Traditionally the cajón belongs to Afro-Peruvian music and to flamenco, where it became firmly established from the 1970s onward, notably through guitarist Paco de Lucía. Today it is widely used as a compact, acoustic percussion instrument in singer-songwriter and pop settings, often as a substitute for a full drum kit.