ISRA · DRUM FILLS

The drum fills in Hit The Beast (Demo)

2 fills to learn, played 5 times across 66 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
66
LENGTH
1:44
DIFFICULTY
32/100

Bar 37, and 1 more time

LOOP · 150 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 37 AND 45 · LANDS ON BAR 38

On crash, snare and floor tom. 19 out of 100 -- straightforward -- and what decides that is how many notes a second it asks for. In the song it lands on bar 38. 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, and 2 more times

LOOP · 150 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 51-53 · LANDS ON BAR 54

On crash, snare, high tom, mid tom, floor tom and hi-hat foot. 25 out of 100 -- a fair first song -- and what decides that is how many notes a second it asks for. 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.

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 Hit The Beast (Demo)?

2 distinct fills, played 5 times: bars 37, 45 and 51-53.

What is the hardest fill in Hit The Beast (Demo)?

The one at bar 37, at 26 out of 100. 66 bars of 4/4 at 150 BPM, about 1:44 of playing, on crash, ride, snare, high tom, mid tom, floor tom, kick and hi-hat foot.

READ OFF THE SCORE ITSELF · 66 BARS ANALYSED