8dio - Tonehammer Cajon and Bongo

8dio - Tonehammer Cajon and Bongo



Cajon and Bongo VST. The history behind the Cajon and Bongo is actually one of darkness and despair.

The Slaves of West and Central African origin are considered to be the origin of the Cajon drum, which is essentially a wooden box with a thin sheet of wood nailed on as the sixth side acting as the striking surface. The Cajon is a highly featured instrument in Cuban music, which also traditionally contains the bongo. The Bongo was also brought from Africa to Cuba by the slaves and both are often featured in salsa, rumba, changui and other traditional styles. The modern adaptation of the Cajon is often found in Spanish flamenco music, however this is a relatively new introduction. The Cajon was introduced by the flamenco master, Paco De Lucia during the 1970s and is now a common instrument in Spanish guitar music.

8DIO decided to explore both instruments extensively by sampling two sets of professional Cajons (snare and non-snare) and three sets of professional Bongos (small, medium and large). We recorded them as ensemble groups, divisi groups and individual solo sets. The end result includes nearly 8000 samples and 34 instrument patches. We sampled both types of instruments close and dry, using hands, fingers, mallets, sticks and brushes. We made sure to cover a huge range of different playing surfaces on all instruments. Both of the Cajons were also recorded with two different microphone positions (internal and external), so users can truly get the sound they wish. Then, we also captured the 2 cajons and the large primary bongo pair a second time, in a warm, slightly wet wooden percussion studio, just to allow that much more user flexibility. And as a bonus, we’ve included a special section of ensemble hand claps, finger snaps and hotrod stick clacks. All instruments and articulations in the library have a full 10 round robins per velocity layer, and up to 10 velocity layers each.

The end-result is the most detailed ensemble and solo Cajon and Bongo library in the history of sampling – amassing over 7.500 samples.

Note: 8DIO Cajon and Bongo was formerly known as Tonehammer: “Bongajon”