Meinl CA5BK Cabasa Black Medium

Unfortunately I failed to do my research on this cabasa as it turns out this particular design is better suited to live applications than studio applications. I say this because the Meinl CA5BK has 11 sound ports that help to amplify the sound emanating from the resonant chamber. In the real world, whether it be on stage or in a practice environment this is great; however, in the studio where subtleties in playing style can be detected by the most sensitive of condenser mics, it really is hard to justify when an ideal mic position is hard to decipher.

Additionally the beads on my particular cabasa are considerably tight and I have discovered no way in which to loosen them. Given this setback I can't really get this cabasa to do more than the one trick.