TOOL · DRUM FILLS

The drum fills in Lateralus

19 fills to learn, played 51 times across 263 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
86 BPM
TIME
3/4
BARS
263
LENGTH
9:15
DIFFICULTY
83/100

Bar 35, and 3 more times

LOOP · 86 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 35, 41, 122 AND 125 · LANDS ON BAR 36

On crash, hi-hat, snare, high tom, mid tom, floor tom and kick. 67 out of 100 -- demanding -- and what decides that is the independence between the hands and the feet. In the song it lands on bar 36. 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 37

LOOP · 86 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 37 · LANDS ON BAR 38

On crash, hi-hat, snare, high tom, kick and hi-hat foot. 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 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 75, and 2 more times

On crash, hi-hat, snare, high tom, mid tom, floor tom, kick and hi-hat foot. 68 out of 100 -- demanding -- and what decides that is the independence between the hands and the feet. In the song it lands on bar 78. 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 3 more times

On crash, hi-hat, snare, high tom, mid tom, floor tom, kick and hi-hat foot. 76 out of 100 -- demanding -- and what decides that is the independence between the hands and the feet. In the song it lands on bar 84. 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 117, and 3 more times

On crash, hi-hat, snare, high tom, mid tom, floor tom, kick and hi-hat foot. 75 out of 100 -- demanding -- and what decides that is the independence between the hands and the feet. In the song it lands on bar 121. 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 127

LOOP · 86 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 127 · LANDS ON BAR 128

On crash, hi-hat, snare, kick and hi-hat foot. 70 out of 100 -- demanding -- and what decides that is how much of it falls off the beat. In the song it lands on bar 128. 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 129, and 5 more times

On crash, ride, snare, high tom, mid tom, floor tom and kick. 78 out of 100 -- demanding -- and what decides that is the independence between the hands and the feet. 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 136, and 2 more times

On crash, ride, snare, high tom, mid tom, floor tom and kick. 84 out of 100 -- hard -- and what decides that is the independence between the hands and the feet. In the song it lands on bar 139. 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 140

LOOP · 86 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 140 · LANDS ON BAR 141

On crash, snare and kick. 72 out of 100 -- demanding -- and what decides that is how many notes a second it asks for. In the song it lands on bar 141. 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 178, and 2 more times

LOOP · 86 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 178-180 · LANDS ON BAR 181

On hi-hat, snare, kick and hi-hat foot. 84 out of 100 -- hard -- and what decides that is the independence between the hands and the feet. In the song it lands on bar 181. 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 194, and 1 more time

LOOP · 86 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 194-195 · LANDS ON BAR 196

On crash, ride, snare, high tom, floor tom and kick. 64 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 196. 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 197, and 3 more times

LOOP · 86 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 197-200 · LANDS ON BAR 201

On crash, ride, snare, high tom, mid tom, floor tom and kick. 84 out of 100 -- hard -- and what decides that is how much of it falls off the beat. In the song it lands on bar 201. 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 202

LOOP · 86 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 202 · LANDS ON BAR 203

On crash, ride, snare, mid tom, floor tom and kick. 74 out of 100 -- demanding -- and what decides that is the independence between the hands and the feet. In the song it lands on bar 203. 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 204, and 2 more times

LOOP · 86 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 204-206 · LANDS ON BAR 207

On crash, ride, snare, floor tom and kick. 82 out of 100 -- hard -- and what decides that is the independence between the hands and the feet. In the song it lands on bar 207. 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 208, and 4 more times

LOOP · 86 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 208-212 · LANDS ON BAR 213

On crash, ride, snare, mid tom, floor tom and kick. 79 out of 100 -- demanding -- and what decides that is the independence between the hands and the feet. In the song it lands on bar 213. 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 242

LOOP · 86 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 242 · LANDS ON BAR 243

On snare, mid tom, floor tom and kick. 60 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 243. 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 250

LOOP · 86 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 250 · LANDS ON BAR 251

On crash, ride, snare and kick. 74 out of 100 -- demanding -- and what decides that is how much of it falls off the beat. In the song it lands on bar 251. 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 254, and 2 more times

LOOP · 86 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 254-256 · LANDS ON BAR 257

On crash, ride, snare, high tom, floor tom and kick. 75 out of 100 -- demanding -- and what decides that is the independence between the hands and the feet. In the song it lands on bar 257. 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 260

LOOP · 86 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 260 · LANDS ON BAR 261

On crash, floor tom and kick. 41 out of 100 -- a fair first song -- and what decides that is how much of it falls off the beat. In the song it lands on bar 261. 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 Lateralus?

19 distinct fills, played 51 times: bars 35, 37, 41, 75-77, 80-83 and 117-120, and 16 more places.

What is the hardest fill in Lateralus?

The one at bar 136, at 84 out of 100. 263 bars of 3/4 -- not four -- at 86 BPM, 9:15 of playing on crash, ride, hi-hat, snare, high tom, mid tom, floor tom, kick and hi-hat foot.

READ OFF THE SCORE ITSELF · 263 BARS ANALYSED