HYPOCRISY · DRUM FILLS

The drum fills in Impotent God

5 fills to learn, played 16 times across 113 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
195 BPM
TIME
4/4
BARS
113
LENGTH
2:17
DIFFICULTY
92/100

Bar 14, and 1 more time

LOOP · 195 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 14 AND 91 · LANDS ON BAR 15

On ride, 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 15. 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 46

LOOP · 195 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 46 · LANDS ON BAR 47

On ride, snare and kick. 86 out of 100 -- hard -- and what decides that is how many notes a second it asks for. In the song it lands on bar 47. 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 63, and 4 more times

On crash, ride, snare, high tom, mid tom, floor tom and kick. 46 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 68. 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 69, and 6 more times

On crash, ride, snare and kick. 53 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 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 87

LOOP · 195 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 87 · LANDS ON BAR 88

On ride, snare and kick. 54 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 88. 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 Impotent God?

5 distinct fills, played 16 times: bars 14, 46, 63-67, 69-75, 87 and 91.

What is the hardest fill in Impotent God?

The one at bar 46, at 86 out of 100. 113 bars at 195 BPM -- fast, and 2:17 of it without a break -- on crash, ride, snare, high tom, mid tom, floor tom and kick.

READ OFF THE SCORE ITSELF · 113 BARS ANALYSED