Meinl SH4BK Live Shaker

I bought this to play with a Bossa Nova trio* and it is just ideal. It has a very nice full but soft and relaxed sound, and you can get a percussive sound to add variety very easily. It's much better than the egg shaker I bought, which is quite harsh in comparison. It is quite loud enough for a live performance (with upright bass, guitar and alto sax). It appears to be well made and doesn't rely on rubber bands to hold the two halves together. It's remarkably inexpensive and it is exactly what I need.

Highly recommended.

* In case you are wondering how a trio can play a shaker as well, the idea is to record backing tracks in a looper.

I bought this shaker because first these are very limited in our local music stores here in our region and secondly, they are quite expensive also if they are available. Third, they are really affordable through Thomann.

I have also a metal enclosed type of shaker (from Meinl) but this model is really gem, especially for acoustic songs. It's really balance and not disturbing no matter how you shake it. I'm not a percussionist but I sound as percussionist when I'm using this shaker from Meinl.

I really recommend this shaker, I think egg shakers and metal enclosed shakers sound bad when compared to the sound of this Live Shaker from Meinl.

Recommendation: Though the body seems to be strong enough, I still want this item to have it's own case so you'll not be afraid for possible damages it might get when not in use.

But in summary, I will not hesitate to give it 10 stars, if there is 10 star rating. Highly recommended and all musicians who prefer acoustic music should have this one in their gig bags.