The 2Drum is the First of its Kind

Jimmie James plays "The 2nd Drum" which has a 10 inch and 11
inch head, and has a very unique sound

Photo Credit: Jason Lewis for Sentinel

The 2Drum is the first of it's kind

By Jason Lewis
Sentinel Staff Writer

Jimmie James had a dream. It was not on the level of Martin Luther King's dream, but James dream is making history.

James has been playing the conga drums for many years, and has come up with a few inventions in the past. Last year he had a dream of a drum that had never been seen before.

"This drum appeared into my dream," James said. "I'd never seen this drum before in my life. I started to play it and thought that it was some type of weird drum."

James woke up and rushed to find a piece of paper to sketch out this drum, and he drew a conga drum that had two heads.

The idea was pretty much unthinkable. James went to numerous drum stores to see if they could produce this two headed drum, but nobody could see his vision or idea.

James was on the verge of giving up, but then he went to Motherland Music Store in Culver City, where he met Dan Rice. Rice had never seen anything like this drum, but he had connections with drum makers in Guana, Africa.

Not too long after finding a drum maker in Guana the two headed drum was produced. James was told that he had made history because a new drum had not been produced in over 100 years.

This is a very unique drum with a very distinctive sound. There is a 10 inch and 11 inch head. The sound is unique because when one head is played the sound will vibrate into the barrel, and then bounce back up into the other head. So there are multiple sounds instead of one sound with the standard one head drum.

This drum is also more convenient because a drummer can carry one drum instead of two.

James is in the process of getting the drum mass produced. There have been two made so far. One he will keep for himself, and the other one is headed to the Smithsonian Museum.

Many interested drummers have been in contact with James to purchase their very own two head drum, and he will be selling them at about $2,500 each.

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