INVENT ANIMATE · DRUM FILLS

The drum fills in False Meridian (Official)

10 fills to learn, played 19 times across 152 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
132 BPM
TIME
4/4
BARS
152
LENGTH
4:36
DIFFICULTY
67/100

Bar 53

LOOP · 132 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 53 · LANDS ON BAR 54

On crash, hi-hat, snare, high tom, mid tom, floor tom and kick. 72 out of 100 -- demanding -- and what decides that is the independence between the hands and the feet. In the song it lands on bar 54. 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

LOOP · 132 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 61 · LANDS ON BAR 62

On crash, snare, mid tom, floor tom and kick. 58 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 62. 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 3 more times

LOOP · 132 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 66-69 · LANDS ON BAR 70

On crash, snare, high tom, mid tom, floor tom and kick. 72 out of 100 -- demanding -- and what decides that is the independence between the hands and the feet. In the song it lands on bar 70. 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 71, and 1 more time

LOOP · 132 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 71-72 · LANDS ON BAR 73

On crash, hi-hat, mid tom, floor tom and kick. 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 73. 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 80, and 1 more time

LOOP · 132 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 80 AND 136 · LANDS ON BAR 81

On crash, snare, high tom, mid tom, floor tom and kick. 52 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 81. 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 1 more time

LOOP · 132 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 93-94 · LANDS ON BAR 95

On crash, 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 95. 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 104

LOOP · 132 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 104 · LANDS ON BAR 105

On crash, snare, high tom, mid tom, floor tom and kick. 58 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 105. 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 3 more times

LOOP · 132 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 131-134 · LANDS ON BAR 135

On crash, snare, mid tom, floor tom and kick. 55 out of 100 -- a step up -- and what decides that is how much of it falls off the beat. In the song it lands on bar 135. 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

LOOP · 132 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 144 · LANDS ON BAR 145

On crash, hi-hat, snare, high tom, mid tom, floor tom and kick. 65 out of 100 -- demanding -- and what decides that is how many notes a second it asks for. In the song it lands on bar 145. 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 152

LOOP · 132 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 152

On crash, hi-hat, snare, high tom, mid tom and kick. 59 out of 100 -- a step up -- and what decides that is how many notes a second it asks for.

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 False Meridian (Official)?

10 distinct fills, played 19 times: bars 53, 61, 66-69, 71-72, 80 and 93-94, and 5 more places.

What is the hardest fill in False Meridian (Official)?

The one at bar 53, at 72 out of 100. 152 bars of 4/4 at 132 BPM, about 4:36 of playing, on crash, hi-hat, snare, high tom, mid tom, floor tom and kick.

READ OFF THE SCORE ITSELF · 152 BARS ANALYSED