ATHERAKIA · DRUM FILLS

The drum fills in Nihilis Misanthropia

3 fills to learn, played 7 times across 155 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
120 BPM
TIME
4/4
BARS
155
LENGTH
5:10
DIFFICULTY
43/100

Bar 12, and 1 more time

LOOP · 120 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 12 AND 139 · LANDS ON BAR 13

On crash, hi-hat, snare, high tom, mid tom, floor tom and kick. 51 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 13. 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 16, and 3 more times

LOOP · 120 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 16, 49, 78 AND 143 · LANDS ON BAR 17

On crash, ride, hi-hat, snare and kick. 61 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 17. 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 147

LOOP · 120 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 147 · LANDS ON BAR 148

On crash, ride, hi-hat, snare, high tom, mid tom, floor tom and kick. 87 out of 100 -- hard -- and what decides that is how many notes a second it asks for. In the song it lands on bar 148. 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 Nihilis Misanthropia?

3 distinct fills, played 7 times: bars 12, 16, 49, 78, 139 and 143, and 1 more place.

What is the hardest fill in Nihilis Misanthropia?

The one at bar 147, at 87 out of 100. 155 bars of 4/4 at 120 BPM, about 5:10 of playing, on crash, ride, hi-hat, snare, high tom, mid tom, floor tom and kick.

READ OFF THE SCORE ITSELF · 155 BARS ANALYSED