NAMM 2017: Manufacturer Overview – Logjam Music Ltd.

Aloha!

I am sure that a lot of folks head to NAMM to see what the big guys are doing, and sure enough these companies are always coming up with new ideas and products. But I really relate to the cool stuff that individuals are coming up with, when they make their dreams into reality and then get a chance to wow the crowds. One of these fellows is Howard Bragen, who took the time to run me through his line of products from Logjam Music Limited.

Howard is first and foremost a musician and songwriter, and this UK denizen came up with a unique way to accompany himself on the guitar: with wood stompers that have on-board electronics that allow them to be played through an amp. They are small and are much more convenient than carrying around a kick drum or cajon, and the sound they make is quite amazing.

Bragen began selling Logjam stompers about ten years ago, and today there are five different models to choose from. These hand-built boxes are made from in the UK from sustainable hardwoods (such as sapele), and require little to no maintenance. No batteries are used, and they use mic capsules (not piezo elements) so they produce a lovely organic tone. All of them come with a 3-year warranty, though I cannot see much opportunity for things to go wrong. Here is a rundown of the Logjam line-up:

The Logarhythm 4 (£74.95) measures 195 X 100 X 45 mm and weighs around 560 grams. This is a larger unit that allows for different tone if it is struck in different locations or if both feet are used. It has a fluted rubber base to keep it from sliding around while you are using it.

The Microlog 2 (£54.95) is designed to fit on a pedal board so it is smaller, measuring 70 X 100 X 45 mm, and weighing in at 215 grams. It is smaller, but it still produces a respectable bass drum sound. Of course, there is not quite the variety of available tones as with the Logarhythm 4.

The Prolog (£99.95) is a bit different as it is elongated so that the user can tap the front chamber for a drum sound, and click their heel on the extension to get more of a stick sound. It is a bit bigger than the previous two stompers, as it is 300 X 125 X 42 mm, but it still only weighs 600 grams. This is my favorite of the conventional Logjam stompers.

The Travelog 2 (£64.95) is the portable model that is designed to fit in your guitar case, with a small footprint of 125 X 100 X 45 mm, and a weight of 350 grams.

Lastly, there is the Rattlebox (£139.95), which is Logjam’s newest addition to their product line. It has more of a wedge shape than the other stompers, and it measures 292 X 130 X 50 mm, with a total weight of approximately 600 grams. This box provides a snare or stick sound, and it can be played with feet, sticks, brushes, mallets, or your hands. It has a really pretty and natural tone when it is unplugged, and when it is plugged in it loses none of this organic feel. This would be a cool addition to the Prolog if you wish to have more of a complete drum set sound to go along with your solo act.

All five of these Logjam stompers sounds good, are convenient to use, and they look nice too. They are not terribly expensive and you do not need to buy a lot of expensive gear to make them work with your set-up. I think they are really cool and I am glad that Howard Bragen made the trip to Anaheim to share them at NAMM 2017. For more information, head over to their website at logjam.net

Mahalo!

Meinl FCA5-L Foot Cabasa Review

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When I first saw the Meinl foot cabasa, I thought it was a super idea. The cabasa is an Afro-Latin instrument with loops of steel ball chain around a cylinder; it is popular in Latin music, especially in Bossa Nova tunes. The German company Meinl came up with the great idea to mate the cabasa with a drum pedal to allow musicians to multi-task.

I figured this foot cabasa would be a natural for a guitarist that was looking for a little percussion, or a conga or timbale player that wanted to add a another layer of percussion to a live show. Not surprisingly, reality is a little different than I figured it would be.

The Meinl foot cabasa uses one of their turbo (I hate that adjective) cabasas with a stainless steel cylinder over a wooden block that has 5 sound ports on each side for extra volume. This is attached to one of their stout powder-coated foot pedal frames that would be similar to what you would find on a high-hat or bass drum set-up.

You can set up this instrument so that it will provide a single or double-stroke for each depression of the pedal (i.e. will rotate only when stepping down, or when stepping and releasing). A drum key is included for working on/adjusting the pedal.

This all sound great on paper, but when I tried it out I realized pretty quickly that it would not work out for me.

For starters, any idea you have of starting an acoustic one-man band you might be put off by the operation noise of the pedal. If you are playing an amplified set you might get away with it, but for an acoustic coffee house set the clanky pedal movement is just too loud.

Another issue would be the lack of volume control when using the foot cabasa. As you are not muting it with your hand you can only have one volume level, which is loud. Turbo loud, as the Meinl folks may say.

Of course, there is my personal problem, which is my complete lack of coordination, which prevented me from doing anything that would be consider even the least bit musical with this pedal.

Your mileage may vary, and this might be just the product you are looking for, but just be sure that you try before you buy, so you do not get stuck with something you will not be able to use. If you decide to pick up a Meinl FCA5-L foot cabasa, they have a list price of $276, and a more reasonable street price of $159.

Mahalo!

Meinl Headliner Cajon Review

Sugoi!

I have been messing around with a cajón for a few months now, and it is a blast. Of course this smells like blog post material to me…

The cajón is an Afro-Peruvian percussion instrument that has been around since the late 1700s. Cajon translates from Spanish to English as "crate" or "drawer", and it is pretty much a wooden box that the player sits on top of while tapping or slapping the frontplate.

It evolved from instruments from west and central Africa, and was adopted by Peruvian slaves using Spanish shipping crates. I have heard that these boxes became popular as musical instruments because the Spaniards had banned music in predominantly African areas of their colonies. Cajóns were easily disguised as stools or tables and thus were not identified as musical instruments.

Modern cajóns are popular in Peruvian and Cuban music. They are made of nice plywood for the sides and back, and may have different tonewoods for the front plate. The fronts are usually attached with screws, and the tone can be altered by tightening or loosening the screws.

They also have a mechanism similar to the one found on snare drums to give a sizzle sound. The tension of the snare can be adjusted, and more expensive cajóns will have a lever to disable the snare mechanism.

I have experimented a bit with my cajón and have gotten some great results with brushes and drum sticks, and even tried out my bass drum pedal on it. The pedal worked great, but I was afraid I might crack the wood, and it made me feel a little bit like a creepy one-man-band.

The cajón we are looking at today is a Meinl Headliner, model HCAJ1NT. It has a rubber wood (whatever that is) frontplate and body sprayed with a matte finish. This is a small-sized cajon, measuring about 18 inches tall by 12 inches wide and deep. There is a non-slip seating surface on top, little rubber feet on the bottom and an adjustable snare inside.

If you want to try out a cajón for yourself, this would be a good choice. The Meinl Headliner has a list price of $196 and a street price of $99. It is a lot of fun and makes a nice end table too.

Mahalo!