Octavarium · Dream Theater

619 bars, 34:21, at 65 BPM: slow enough that every note is exposed. Crash, ride, hi-hat, snare, high tom, mid tom, floor tom, kick and hi-hat foot and nothing else.

ProgressiveMetalUnder 90 BPMBeginner
TEMPO
65 BPM
TIME
4/4
BARS
619
LENGTH
34:21
DIFFICULTY
69/100
THE BEAT

One bar, and 6% of the song

The beat the song is built on is one bar, played through bars 250-252, 254-260 and 262-264, and 3 more places -- 6.3% of every bar the kit plays. This one moves around more than most: the beat is where to start, not the whole job.

LOOP · 65 BPM
OCTAVARIUM · BAR 251
THE FILLS

Where it comes off the beat

52 fills to learn, played 120 times: bars 51, 60, 63, 71, 72, 73 and 114 more.

LOOP · 65 BPM
BAR 51 · LANDS ON BAR 52 · PLAYED 9 TIMES
LOOP · 65 BPM
BARS 71-73 · LANDS ON BAR 74 · PLAYED 3 TIMES
LOOP · 65 BPM
BAR 77 · LANDS ON BAR 78
LOOP · 65 BPM
BARS 81-84 · LANDS ON BAR 85 · PLAYED 4 TIMES

48 more fills are written out on the fills page.

THE SHAPE

How the song is built

619 bars across 38 sections: 336 keep time, 121 are fills, 71 are stops and 44 are silent. The longest unbroken stretch of time is bars 459-476.

BREAK
PART AH
PART CM
PART CU
OUTRO 2
33 groovesFLCMCUAHS3+28Fill into the next barFill that ends a sectionInto the next partStop / hitRest

Questions

What BPM is Octavarium?

65 BPM, in 4/4, with the time kept in thirty-second notes. Slow enough to hear every mistake, which is why the room lets you sit at the written tempo rather than under it.

Is Octavarium hard to play on drums?

69 out of 100: demanding, mostly on the independence between the hands and the feet. The beat itself is 66 out of 100; the rest of the number is everything around it.

How long is the drum part?

619 bars, about 34:21 at the written tempo. The course breaks it into 189 exercises over 58 sittings, about 26 minutes each.

What do I need on the kit?

crash, ride, hi-hat, snare, high tom, mid tom, floor tom, kick and hi-hat foot. That is most of a full kit; the part moves around it rather than sitting in one place.

How many fills are in Octavarium?

52 fills to learn, played 120 times: bars 51, 60, 63, 71, 72, 73 and 114 more.

READ OFF THE SCORE ITSELF · 619 BARS ANALYSED
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