DEVIN TOWNSEND PROJECT · DRUM FILLS

The drum fills in Juular

6 fills to learn, played 11 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
123 BPM
TIME
4/4
BARS
113
LENGTH
3:40
DIFFICULTY
100/100

Bar 41

LOOP · 123 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 41 · LANDS ON BAR 42

On snare, mid tom, floor tom, kick and hi-hat foot. 83 out of 100 -- hard -- and what decides that is how many notes a second it asks for. In the song it lands on bar 42. 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 62, and 2 more times

LOOP · 123 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 62-64 · LANDS ON BAR 65

On crash, ride, snare and kick. 98 out of 100 -- hard -- and what decides that is how many notes a second it asks for. In the song it lands on bar 65. 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 73

LOOP · 123 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 73 · LANDS ON BAR 74

On snare, high tom, mid tom, floor tom, kick and hi-hat foot. 74 out of 100 -- demanding -- and what decides that is how many notes a second it asks for. In the song it lands on bar 74. 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 85

LOOP · 123 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 85 · LANDS ON BAR 86

On crash, snare, floor tom, kick and hi-hat foot. 85 out of 100 -- hard -- and what decides that is how many notes a second it asks for. In the song it lands on bar 86. 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 101

LOOP · 123 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 101 · LANDS ON BAR 102

On crash, snare, high tom, mid tom, floor tom and kick. 73 out of 100 -- demanding -- and what decides that is how many notes a second it asks for. In the song it lands on bar 102. 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 109, and 3 more times

LOOP · 123 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 109-112 · LANDS ON BAR 113

On crash, ride, snare, high tom, mid tom, floor tom and kick. 99 out of 100 -- hard -- and what decides that is how many notes a second it asks for. In the song it lands on bar 113. 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 Juular?

6 distinct fills, played 11 times: bars 41, 62-64, 73, 85, 101 and 109-112.

What is the hardest fill in Juular?

The one at bar 109, at 99 out of 100. 113 bars of 4/4 at 123 BPM, about 3:40 of playing, on crash, ride, hi-hat, snare, high tom, mid tom, floor tom, kick and hi-hat foot.

READ OFF THE SCORE ITSELF · 113 BARS ANALYSED