NIGHT VERSES · DRUM FILLS

The drum fills in 8 Gates Of Pleasure

23 fills to learn, played 59 times across 191 bars. Two fills that share a rhythm and differ only in how they are spread round the toms are one fill here, learned once and orchestrated twice.

TEMPO
160 BPM
TIME
3/4
BARS
191
LENGTH
4:47
DIFFICULTY
80/100

Bar 26

LOOP · 160 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 26 · LANDS ON BAR 27

On hi-hat, snare, mid tom and kick. 85 out of 100 -- hard -- and what decides that is the independence between the hands and the feet. In the song it lands on bar 27. The exercise loops the figure on its own first, and the one after it puts it back: one bar of rest to count yourself in, the figure, then the landing with the time still running. Getting out of a fill is the half most people never practise.

Bar 39, and 3 more times

LOOP · 160 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 39-42 · LANDS ON BAR 43

On crash, hi-hat, snare, mid tom and kick. 65 out of 100 -- demanding -- and what decides that is how much of it falls off the beat. In the song it lands on bar 43. The exercise loops the figure on its own first, and the one after it puts it back: one bar of rest to count yourself in, the figure, then the landing with the time still running. Getting out of a fill is the half most people never practise.

Bar 44, and 1 more time

LOOP · 160 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 44 AND 48 · LANDS ON BAR 45

On crash, hi-hat, snare, mid tom and kick. 73 out of 100 -- demanding -- and what decides that is the independence between the hands and the feet. In the song it lands on bar 45. The exercise loops the figure on its own first, and the one after it puts it back: one bar of rest to count yourself in, the figure, then the landing with the time still running. Getting out of a fill is the half most people never practise.

Bar 46

LOOP · 160 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 46 · LANDS ON BAR 47

On crash, hi-hat, snare, mid tom and kick. 71 out of 100 -- demanding -- and what decides that is the independence between the hands and the feet. In the song it lands on bar 47. The exercise loops the figure on its own first, and the one after it puts it back: one bar of rest to count yourself in, the figure, then the landing with the time still running. Getting out of a fill is the half most people never practise.

Bar 50

LOOP · 160 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 50 · LANDS ON BAR 51

On crash, hi-hat, snare, mid tom and kick. 53 out of 100 -- a step up -- and what decides that is the independence between the hands and the feet. In the song it lands on bar 51. The exercise loops the figure on its own first, and the one after it puts it back: one bar of rest to count yourself in, the figure, then the landing with the time still running. Getting out of a fill is the half most people never practise.

Bar 54

LOOP · 160 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 54 · LANDS ON BAR 55

On crash, snare, mid tom and kick. 60 out of 100 -- a step up -- and what decides that is how many notes a second it asks for. In the song it lands on bar 55. The exercise loops the figure on its own first, and the one after it puts it back: one bar of rest to count yourself in, the figure, then the landing with the time still running. Getting out of a fill is the half most people never practise.

Bar 56, and 1 more time

LOOP · 160 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 56 AND 60 · LANDS ON BAR 57

On crash, snare and kick. 57 out of 100 -- a step up -- and what decides that is the independence between the hands and the feet. In the song it lands on bar 57. The exercise loops the figure on its own first, and the one after it puts it back: one bar of rest to count yourself in, the figure, then the landing with the time still running. Getting out of a fill is the half most people never practise.

Bar 58

LOOP · 160 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 58 · LANDS ON BAR 59

On crash, snare, mid tom and kick. 71 out of 100 -- demanding -- and what decides that is the independence between the hands and the feet. In the song it lands on bar 59. The exercise loops the figure on its own first, and the one after it puts it back: one bar of rest to count yourself in, the figure, then the landing with the time still running. Getting out of a fill is the half most people never practise.

Bar 62

LOOP · 160 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 62 · LANDS ON BAR 63

On crash, snare, mid tom, floor tom and kick. 77 out of 100 -- demanding -- and what decides that is the independence between the hands and the feet. In the song it lands on bar 63. The exercise loops the figure on its own first, and the one after it puts it back: one bar of rest to count yourself in, the figure, then the landing with the time still running. Getting out of a fill is the half most people never practise.

Bar 78, and 4 more times

LOOP · 160 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 78-82 · LANDS ON BAR 83

On crash, hi-hat, snare, mid tom and kick. 64 out of 100 -- a step up -- and what decides that is how many notes a second it asks for. In the song it lands on bar 83. The exercise loops the figure on its own first, and the one after it puts it back: one bar of rest to count yourself in, the figure, then the landing with the time still running. Getting out of a fill is the half most people never practise.

Bar 84

LOOP · 160 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 84 · LANDS ON BAR 85

On crash, snare and kick. 67 out of 100 -- demanding -- and what decides that is how many notes a second it asks for. In the song it lands on bar 85. The exercise loops the figure on its own first, and the one after it puts it back: one bar of rest to count yourself in, the figure, then the landing with the time still running. Getting out of a fill is the half most people never practise.

Bar 86, and 1 more time

LOOP · 160 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 86 AND 94 · LANDS ON BAR 87

On crash, snare, mid tom and kick. 65 out of 100 -- demanding -- and what decides that is the independence between the hands and the feet. In the song it lands on bar 87. The exercise loops the figure on its own first, and the one after it puts it back: one bar of rest to count yourself in, the figure, then the landing with the time still running. Getting out of a fill is the half most people never practise.

Bar 89, and 1 more time

LOOP · 160 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 89-90 · LANDS ON BAR 91

On crash, snare, mid tom and kick. 68 out of 100 -- demanding -- and what decides that is the independence between the hands and the feet. In the song it lands on bar 91. The exercise loops the figure on its own first, and the one after it puts it back: one bar of rest to count yourself in, the figure, then the landing with the time still running. Getting out of a fill is the half most people never practise.

Bar 96, and 1 more time

LOOP · 160 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 96-97 · LANDS ON BAR 98

On crash, snare, mid tom and kick. 68 out of 100 -- demanding -- and what decides that is how many notes a second it asks for. In the song it lands on bar 98. The exercise loops the figure on its own first, and the one after it puts it back: one bar of rest to count yourself in, the figure, then the landing with the time still running. Getting out of a fill is the half most people never practise.

Bar 106, and 14 more times

LOOP · 160 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 106-120 · LANDS ON BAR 121

On crash, snare, mid tom, floor tom and kick. 71 out of 100 -- demanding -- and what decides that is how many notes a second it asks for. In the song it lands on bar 121. The exercise loops the figure on its own first, and the one after it puts it back: one bar of rest to count yourself in, the figure, then the landing with the time still running. Getting out of a fill is the half most people never practise.

Bar 142

LOOP · 160 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 142 · LANDS ON BAR 143

On hi-hat and mid tom. 35 out of 100 -- a fair first song -- and what decides that is how fine the subdivision is. In the song it lands on bar 143. The exercise loops the figure on its own first, and the one after it puts it back: one bar of rest to count yourself in, the figure, then the landing with the time still running. Getting out of a fill is the half most people never practise.

Bar 146

LOOP · 160 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 146 · LANDS ON BAR 147

On hi-hat, snare, mid tom and kick. 61 out of 100 -- a step up -- and what decides that is how many notes a second it asks for. In the song it lands on bar 147. The exercise loops the figure on its own first, and the one after it puts it back: one bar of rest to count yourself in, the figure, then the landing with the time still running. Getting out of a fill is the half most people never practise.

Bar 151

LOOP · 160 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 151 · LANDS ON BAR 152

On hi-hat, snare, mid tom and kick. 93 out of 100 -- hard -- and what decides that is how many notes a second it asks for. In the song it lands on bar 152. The exercise loops the figure on its own first, and the one after it puts it back: one bar of rest to count yourself in, the figure, then the landing with the time still running. Getting out of a fill is the half most people never practise.

Bar 156

LOOP · 160 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 156 · LANDS ON BAR 157

On hi-hat, snare, mid tom and kick. 85 out of 100 -- hard -- and what decides that is how many notes a second it asks for. In the song it lands on bar 157. The exercise loops the figure on its own first, and the one after it puts it back: one bar of rest to count yourself in, the figure, then the landing with the time still running. Getting out of a fill is the half most people never practise.

Bar 166, and 1 more time

On snare, mid tom and floor tom. 31 out of 100 -- a fair first song -- and what decides that is how much of it falls off the beat. In the song it lands on bar 168. The exercise loops the figure on its own first, and the one after it puts it back: one bar of rest to count yourself in, the figure, then the landing with the time still running. Getting out of a fill is the half most people never practise.

Bar 171, and 1 more time

LOOP · 160 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 171 AND 179 · LANDS ON BAR 172

On hi-hat, snare, mid tom and kick. 78 out of 100 -- demanding -- and what decides that is how many notes a second it asks for. In the song it lands on bar 172. The exercise loops the figure on its own first, and the one after it puts it back: one bar of rest to count yourself in, the figure, then the landing with the time still running. Getting out of a fill is the half most people never practise.

Bar 175

LOOP · 160 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 175 · LANDS ON BAR 176

On crash, snare, mid tom and kick. 69 out of 100 -- demanding -- and what decides that is the independence between the hands and the feet. In the song it lands on bar 176. The exercise loops the figure on its own first, and the one after it puts it back: one bar of rest to count yourself in, the figure, then the landing with the time still running. Getting out of a fill is the half most people never practise.

Bar 182, and 8 more times

On crash, hi-hat, snare, mid tom and kick. 73 out of 100 -- demanding -- and what decides that is the independence between the hands and the feet. In the song it lands on bar 191. The exercise loops the figure on its own first, and the one after it puts it back: one bar of rest to count yourself in, the figure, then the landing with the time still running. Getting out of a fill is the half most people never practise.

How a fill is practised

A fill is rhythm before it is orchestration. The room plays the whole figure on the snare first, puts the feet under it second, and moves it round the toms last -- looped on its own, round and round, until the hands know it. Then it puts the fill back where it lives: a bar of rest to count in, the figure, and the downbeat it lands on, because landing square is the other half of the job.

PRACTISE THESE FILLS →

Questions

How many drum fills are in 8 Gates Of Pleasure?

23 distinct fills, played 59 times: bars 26, 39-42, 44, 46, 48 and 50, and 21 more places.

What is the hardest fill in 8 Gates Of Pleasure?

The one at bar 151, at 93 out of 100. 191 bars of 3/4 -- not four -- at 160 BPM, 4:47 of playing on crash, ride, hi-hat, snare, high tom, mid tom, floor tom and kick.

READ OFF THE SCORE ITSELF · 191 BARS ANALYSED