The kool drum is a steel tongue drum, also known as a tank drum or hank drum.
The kool drum has been designed and developed by Jimmy James, a sound engineer with 40 years experience in music and acoustics. He was inspired by an idea published by Dennis Havlena, who wanted to produce an alternative to the hang drum, (a hand pan made by PANArt of Switzerland), by building an instrument from a gas bottle.
In three years, we've made over 150 classic kool drums and sent them to 15 countries. We now use new steel blanks to ensure a uniformity of sound. As ideas come along and our passion grows we continue to develop and evolve our kool drums, the latest innovation being the nova, nine notes, laid out more like a hand pan (Hang, Halo, SPB, etc) and with selected tunings that have inspired us. Sound has always been of first importance and we have worked hard to find the best damping systems to assure the optimum sound. We have found the finest paints and resistant varnish to keep your kool drum looking great and sourced a custom designed bag to carry and store it.
The kool drum sounds great on its own, but also complements the sound of a hand pan.