BTW, Paul, we do this song both with a full rock band, as well as a stripped down acoustic number where the percussionist has only a Djembe and tambourine available. We use one of those little Audio Technical mics that are normally flown over a choir, mounted down near the floor down by the bottom of the Djembe. The player lifts the Djembe when those big kick sounds are desired on the breaks.

I will differ with Mac in that I think that this is just a percussion loop that rolls in the background rather than a live cajon player, and it fades out for most of the song. The percussion that is going in the background, to my ear, lacks the 'crack' of most cajon sounds. All of Mac's other statements about the cajon, however, I agree with. Take note that a bunch of the 1/8th note chugging going on in this particular example is the high end of acoustic guitar and mandolin strumming. You can get most of the feel for this song without a percussion loop or cajon simply by high pass filtering (quite high, 1500 Hz and above by my guess) either chorded or even just palm muted acoustic guitar strumming. This version of the song is the local radio cut for here in Colorado Springs. I have the CD and it doesn't have the mandolin on it

There are many places to get percussion loops for free or for purchase. For free, I'll point you to the guy who hosts my website: http://rekkerd.org/loops/ He runs worship at his church in the Netherlands.

If you are looking to drop some money on a Cajon (seems like you have a pile of play money right now!), a co-worker of mine is an endorsee of Kopf Percussion cajons - I've seen what he plays for them and it's very impressive compared to my Meinl cajon. Might be too pricey to ship internationally. I used to own a Pearl - which I found at a local thrift shop for $35 - and sold it for the same to a struggling worship leader here in town. If you to shop for a cajon, get one with tunable snares and learn how to tighten/loosen the snares.

I tell you what - it's been a long time since I've done a collaboration with anyone overseas - I love this song, and I would be honored to give you a hand with some of the parts including acoustic and cajon playing/recording. Send me a PM if you are interested.

-Scott

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