Small, unobtrusive, steel knobs on the outside of the cajon make it possible to quickly and easily make fine adjustments to the pressure of the snare on the back of the tapa, enabling many degrees of variation in the snare sound. Their position on the top of the cajon (made possible by the smallness of knobs) allows the player to mute the snare buzz by turning it to contact the top (seat) of the cajon.