Illumination Theory · Dream Theater

483 bars of 4/4 at a walking 92 BPM, 23:10 of playing, on crash, ride, hi-hat, snare, high tom, mid tom, floor tom, kick and hi-hat foot.

ProgressiveMetal90 to 119 BPMAdvanced
TEMPO
92 BPM
TIME
4/4
BARS
483
LENGTH
23:10
DIFFICULTY
69/100
THE BEAT

One bar, and 4% of the song

The beat the song is built on is one bar, played through bars 379-381, 383 and 399-401, and 3 more places -- 4.4% of every bar the kit plays. This one moves around more than most: the beat is where to start, not the whole job.

LOOP · 92 BPM
ILLUMINATION THEORY · BAR 380
THE FILLS

Where it comes off the beat

48 fills to learn, played 104 times: bars 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 98 more.

LOOP · 92 BPM
BARS 1-9 · LANDS ON BAR 10 · PLAYED 9 TIMES
LOOP · 92 BPM
BARS 17-18 · LANDS ON BAR 19 · PLAYED 2 TIMES
LOOP · 92 BPM
BARS 20-21 · LANDS ON BAR 22 · PLAYED 2 TIMES
LOOP · 92 BPM
BAR 26 · LANDS ON BAR 27

44 more fills are written out on the fills page.

THE SHAPE

How the song is built

483 bars across 35 sections: 186 keep time, 108 are fills, 27 are stops and 119 are silent. The longest unbroken stretch of time is bars 166-176.

PART H
BREAK
OUTRO 2
34 groovesS22S35HDECB+29Fill into the next barFill that ends a sectionInto the next partStop / hitRest

Questions

What BPM is Illumination Theory?

92 BPM, in 4/4, with the time kept in thirty-second notes. The room plays it at any tempo from a quarter of that up to the written one, against the record where the record can follow.

Is Illumination Theory hard to play on drums?

69 out of 100: demanding, mostly on the independence between the hands and the feet. The beat itself is 44 out of 100; the rest of the number is everything around it.

How long is the drum part?

483 bars, about 23:10 at the written tempo. The course breaks it into 165 exercises over 48 sittings, about 26 minutes each.

What do I need on the kit?

crash, ride, hi-hat, snare, high tom, mid tom, floor tom, kick and hi-hat foot. That is most of a full kit; the part moves around it rather than sitting in one place.

How many fills are in Illumination Theory?

48 fills to learn, played 104 times: bars 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 98 more.

READ OFF THE SCORE ITSELF · 483 BARS ANALYSED
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