CHIMAIRA · DRUM FILLS

The drum fills in Dead Inside

9 fills to learn, played 12 times across 106 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
150 BPM
TIME
4/4
BARS
106
LENGTH
2:48
DIFFICULTY
82/100

Bar 21, and 3 more times

LOOP · 150 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 21-22 AND 37-38 · LANDS ON BAR 23

On crash, snare, kick and hi-hat foot. 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 23. 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 42

LOOP · 150 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 42 · LANDS ON BAR 43

On crash, hi-hat, snare and kick. 76 out of 100 -- demanding -- and what decides that is how many notes a second it asks for. 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 47

LOOP · 150 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 47 · LANDS ON BAR 48

On hi-hat, snare, high tom, mid tom, kick and hi-hat foot. 64 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 48. 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 51

LOOP · 150 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 51 · LANDS ON BAR 52

On crash, snare, high tom, 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 52. 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 59

LOOP · 150 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 59 · LANDS ON BAR 60

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 60. 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

LOOP · 150 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 75 · LANDS ON BAR 76

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 76. 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 81

LOOP · 150 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 81 · LANDS ON BAR 82

On crash, hi-hat, snare and kick. 83 out of 100 -- hard -- and what decides that is how many notes a second it asks for. In the song it lands on bar 82. 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

LOOP · 150 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 89 · LANDS ON BAR 90

On hi-hat, snare and kick. 82 out of 100 -- hard -- and what decides that is how many notes a second it asks for. In the song it lands on bar 90. 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

LOOP · 150 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 105 · LANDS ON BAR 106

On crash, snare, mid tom and kick. 55 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 106. 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 Dead Inside?

9 distinct fills, played 12 times: bars 21-22, 37-38, 42, 47, 51 and 59, and 4 more places.

What is the hardest fill in Dead Inside?

The one at bar 81, at 83 out of 100. 106 bars of 4/4 at 150 BPM, about 2:48 of playing, on crash, hi-hat, snare, high tom, mid tom, kick and hi-hat foot.

READ OFF THE SCORE ITSELF · 106 BARS ANALYSED