MORBID ANGEL · DRUM FILLS

The drum fills in Dominate

2 fills to learn, played 7 times across 68 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
106 BPM
TIME
4/4
BARS
68
LENGTH
2:34
DIFFICULTY
100/100

Bar 8, and 2 more times

LOOP · 106 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 8, 16 AND 64 · LANDS ON BAR 9

On ride, snare, high tom and kick. 95 out of 100 -- hard -- and what decides that is how many notes a second it asks for. 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 45, and 3 more times

LOOP · 106 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 45-48 · LANDS ON BAR 49

On crash, hi-hat, snare and kick. 100 out of 100 -- hard -- and what decides that is how many notes a second it asks for. In the song it lands on bar 49. 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 Dominate?

2 distinct fills, played 7 times: bars 8, 16, 45-48 and 64.

What is the hardest fill in Dominate?

The one at bar 8, at 100 out of 100. 68 bars of 4/4 at a walking 106 BPM, 2:34 of playing, on crash, ride, hi-hat, snare, high tom, mid tom and kick.

READ OFF THE SCORE ITSELF · 68 BARS ANALYSED