TOKYO SHOEGAZER(東京酒吐座) · DRUM FILLS

The drum fills in Constellations

14 fills to learn, played 52 times across 156 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
97 BPM
TIME
4/4
BARS
156
LENGTH
6:25
DIFFICULTY
62/100

Bar 8, and 11 more times

LOOP · 97 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 8, 24, 48, 56 AND 68, AND 7 MORE PLACES · LANDS ON BAR 9

On hi-hat, snare and kick. 45 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 9. 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 20

LOOP · 97 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 20 · LANDS ON BAR 21

On crash, snare, mid tom and kick. 48 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 21. 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

LOOP · 97 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 44 · LANDS ON BAR 45

On crash, hi-hat, snare, mid tom, floor tom and kick. 59 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 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 50, and 2 more times

LOOP · 97 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 50, 120 AND 134 · LANDS ON BAR 51

On ride, snare and kick. 47 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 52

LOOP · 97 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 52 · LANDS ON BAR 53

On crash, ride, snare, mid tom, floor tom 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 53. 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 60

LOOP · 97 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 60 · LANDS ON BAR 61

On crash, ride, snare, mid tom, floor tom and kick. 55 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 61. 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 75, and 1 more time

LOOP · 97 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 75-76 · LANDS ON BAR 77

On crash, hi-hat, 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 77. 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 82, and 5 more times

LOOP · 97 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 82-84 AND 122-124 · LANDS ON BAR 85

On crash, ride, snare, mid tom, floor tom 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 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 90, and 2 more times

LOOP · 97 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 90-92 · LANDS ON BAR 93

On crash, ride, 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 93. 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 5 more times

LOOP · 97 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 98-100 AND 146-148 · LANDS ON BAR 101

On crash, ride, snare, mid tom, floor 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 101. 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 105, and 7 more times

LOOP · 97 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 105-108 AND 153-156 · LANDS ON BAR 109

On crash, ride, snare, mid tom, floor tom and kick. 41 out of 100 -- a fair first song -- and what decides that is the independence between the hands and the feet. In the song it lands on bar 109. 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 116

LOOP · 97 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 116 · LANDS ON BAR 117

On crash, snare, high tom, mid tom, floor tom and kick. 46 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 117. 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 131, and 1 more time

LOOP · 97 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 131-132 · LANDS ON BAR 133

On crash, ride, snare, floor 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 133. 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 138, and 4 more times

LOOP · 97 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 138-142 · LANDS ON BAR 143

On crash, ride, hi-hat, snare, mid tom and kick. 62 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 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.

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 Constellations?

14 distinct fills, played 52 times: bars 8, 20, 24, 44, 48 and 50, and 24 more places.

What is the hardest fill in Constellations?

The one at bar 82, at 65 out of 100. 156 bars of 4/4 at a walking 97 BPM, 6:25 of playing, on crash, ride, hi-hat, snare, high tom, mid tom, floor tom and kick.

READ OFF THE SCORE ITSELF · 156 BARS ANALYSED