A few years ago, a professional drummer friend came to my husband, Shachar, asking if he could build him a cajon. The friend had tried umpteen cajons, and none of them had the quality of sound he was looking for. My husband co-owned a carpentry, and at the time his work was divided between designing high-scale home interiors and handmade electrical bass guitars. But drums?
‘No problem,’ he said, and when Yair gave a big thumbs-up to the results, the Kandu cajon was born and the carpentry slowly but surely began to move its area of core competence over from kitchens to cajons. Today, Kandu can be found throughout the world; it was even recently seen being played by a few of the Muppets.
This year, it happened again. Another percussionist friend approached Shachar and Yaniv, his partner, with a new request: a small, yet uber-powerful drum they could take easily wherever they go. Something unique, something diverse. Something that would offer a wide range of sound quality – from crisp snare to smooth ethnic.
A few months later, KTÄK was born.
KTÄK is the world’s first handcrafted, ecological, two-sound body snare. In other words, it’s a snare you can wear. Highly versatile, made of Finnish birch wood and coated with a child-friendly, water-based lacquer, it’s ideal for musicians on the go, great for musical families going on trips or hikes who want to be ready to respond to any musical opportunity. It’s affordable enough to give your kids and high-quality enough to play on stage.
And the best thing about the KTÄK, in my opinion?
It’s proof that there are still some idealistic artisans out there who aren’t looking to copy what anyone else is doing – they’re looking around at the needs of the world today, and trying to create something the future will want.
Check them out on Kickstarter, where you can support their project and even order one of your own.
Or come visit the Kandu carpentry, located in an ecological, spiritual village called Maale Zvia, nestled in the hills of the Galilee in northern Israel.
This guest post is by Shachar’s wife, and a Green Prophet friend – Joy Pincus
