ERSCHRAK · DRUM FILLS

The drum fills in Mortuary

3 fills to learn, played 24 times across 228 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
190 BPM
TIME
4/4
BARS
228
LENGTH
4:48
DIFFICULTY
69/100

Bar 175, and 14 more times

LOOP · 190 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 175-189 · LANDS ON BAR 190

On crash, hi-hat, snare, high tom, mid tom, floor tom and kick. 63 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 190. 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 192, and 3 more times

LOOP · 190 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 192-195 · LANDS ON BAR 196

On hi-hat, snare, high tom, mid tom, floor tom and kick. 58 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 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 217, and 4 more times

LOOP · 190 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 217-221 · LANDS ON BAR 222

On crash, hi-hat, snare, high tom, mid tom, floor tom, kick and hi-hat foot. 57 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 222. 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 Mortuary?

3 distinct fills, played 24 times: bars 175-189, 192-195 and 217-221.

What is the hardest fill in Mortuary?

The one at bar 175, at 63 out of 100. 228 bars at 190 BPM -- fast, and 4:48 of it without a break -- on crash, ride, hi-hat, snare, high tom, mid tom, floor tom, kick and hi-hat foot.

READ OFF THE SCORE ITSELF · 228 BARS ANALYSED