ANIMALS AS LEADERS · DRUM FILLS

The drum fills in Conflict Cartography

23 fills to learn, played 63 times across 181 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
140 BPM
TIME
4/4
BARS
181
LENGTH
4:36
DIFFICULTY
73/100

Bar 26

LOOP · 140 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 26 · LANDS ON BAR 27

On crash, snare, floor 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 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 29, and 3 more times

On crash, hi-hat, snare, mid tom, floor 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 33. 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 41, and 3 more times

LOOP · 140 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 41-44 · LANDS ON BAR 45

On crash, hi-hat, snare, mid tom, floor tom and kick. 76 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 47, and 2 more times

LOOP · 140 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 47-49 · LANDS ON BAR 50

On crash, snare, mid tom and kick. 61 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 50. 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

LOOP · 140 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 56 · LANDS ON BAR 57

On crash, snare, mid tom and kick. 60 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 61, and 1 more time

LOOP · 140 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 61-62 · LANDS ON BAR 63

On crash, snare and kick. 62 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 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 66, and 1 more time

LOOP · 140 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 66-67 · LANDS ON BAR 68

On crash, hi-hat, snare, floor 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 68. 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 70

LOOP · 140 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 70 · LANDS ON BAR 71

On snare, floor 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 71. 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 74, and 4 more times

LOOP · 140 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 74-78 · LANDS ON BAR 79

On crash, hi-hat, snare, mid tom, floor tom and kick. 74 out of 100 -- demanding -- and what decides that is the independence between the hands and the feet. In the song it lands on bar 79. 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 · 140 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 84 · LANDS ON BAR 85

On crash, snare 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 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 88

LOOP · 140 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 88 · LANDS ON BAR 89

On hi-hat, snare, mid tom, floor tom and kick. 81 out of 100 -- hard -- and what decides that is the independence between the hands and the feet. In the song it lands on bar 89. 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 93, and 3 more times

On crash, ride, snare, mid tom, floor tom and kick. 77 out of 100 -- demanding -- and what decides that is how many notes a second it asks for. In the song it lands on bar 97. 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 98, and 8 more times

On crash, hi-hat, snare, mid tom, floor tom and kick. 73 out of 100 -- demanding -- and what decides that is how many notes a second it asks for. In the song it lands on bar 107. 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 118, and 3 more times

On crash, ride, snare, mid tom, floor tom and kick. 77 out of 100 -- demanding -- and what decides that is how many notes a second it asks for. In the song it lands on bar 122. 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 125

LOOP · 140 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 125 · LANDS ON BAR 126

On hi-hat, snare, mid tom, floor tom and kick. 80 out of 100 -- hard -- and what decides that is the independence between the hands and the feet. In the song it lands on bar 126. 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 129, and 6 more times

On crash, snare, mid tom, floor tom and kick. 74 out of 100 -- demanding -- and what decides that is how many notes a second it asks for. In the song it lands on bar 136. 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 144, and 1 more time

LOOP · 140 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 144-145 · LANDS ON BAR 146

On crash, hi-hat, snare, mid tom, floor tom and kick. 66 out of 100 -- demanding -- and what decides that is how many notes a second it asks for. In the song it lands on bar 146. 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 153

LOOP · 140 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 153 · LANDS ON BAR 154

On snare, floor tom and kick. 63 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 154. 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 157, and 2 more times

LOOP · 140 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 157-159 · LANDS ON BAR 160

On crash, snare, mid tom, floor tom and kick. 71 out of 100 -- demanding -- and what decides that is how much of it falls off the beat. In the song it lands on bar 160. 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 161

LOOP · 140 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 161 · LANDS ON BAR 162

On 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 162. 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 163

LOOP · 140 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 163 · LANDS ON BAR 164

On crash, snare, mid tom and kick. 66 out of 100 -- demanding -- and what decides that is the independence between the hands and the feet. In the song it lands on bar 164. 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 176, and 1 more time

On crash, hi-hat, 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 178. 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 179, and 2 more times

On crash, snare, mid tom, floor tom and kick. 62 out of 100 -- a step up -- and what decides that is how much of it falls off the beat.

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 Conflict Cartography?

23 distinct fills, played 63 times: bars 26, 29-32, 41-44, 47-49, 56 and 61-62, and 17 more places.

What is the hardest fill in Conflict Cartography?

The one at bar 88, at 81 out of 100. 181 bars of 4/4 at 140 BPM, about 4:36 of playing, on crash, ride, hi-hat, snare, mid tom, floor tom, kick and hi-hat foot.

READ OFF THE SCORE ITSELF · 181 BARS ANALYSED