Parabol / Parabola · Tool

176 bars of 4/4 at a walking 80 BPM, 9:32 of playing, on crash, ride, hi-hat, snare, high tom, mid tom, floor tom, kick and hi-hat foot.

ProgressiveUnder 90 BPMIntermediate
TEMPO
80 BPM
TIME
4/4
BARS
176
LENGTH
9:32
DIFFICULTY
74/100
THE BEAT

One bar, and 12% of the song

The beat the song is built on is a 2-bar phrase, played through bars 11-12, 15-16 and 26-27, and 4 more places -- 11.6% of every bar the kit plays. This one moves around more than most: the beat is where to start, not the whole job.

LOOP · 80 BPM
PARABOL / PARABOLA · BARS 11-12
THE BEAT, WRITTEN OUT →
THE FILLS

Where it comes off the beat

16 fills to learn, played 44 times: bars 5, 6, 7, 11, 14, 15 and 38 more.

LOOP · 80 BPM
BARS 5-7 · LANDS ON BAR 8 · PLAYED 3 TIMES
LOOP · 80 BPM
BAR 11 · LANDS ON BAR 12 · PLAYED 4 TIMES
LOOP · 80 BPM
BARS 14-15 · LANDS ON BAR 16 · PLAYED 2 TIMES
LOOP · 80 BPM
BAR 66 · LANDS ON BAR 67

12 more fills are written out on the fills page.

EVERY FILL, WRITTEN OUT →
THE SHAPE

How the song is built

176 bars across 29 sections: 73 keep time, 44 are fills, 5 are stops and 38 are silent. The longest unbroken stretch of time is bars 57-65.

PART M
PART O
PART Y
PART AG
PART AN
OUTRO
OUTRO 2
24 groovesS29ANYBAE+19Fill into the next barFill that ends a sectionInto the next partStop / hitRest

Questions

What BPM is Parabol / Parabola?

80 BPM, in 4/4, with the time kept in thirty-second notes. The room plays it at any tempo from a quarter of that up to the written one, against the record where the record can follow.

Is Parabol / Parabola hard to play on drums?

74 out of 100: demanding, mostly on how much of it falls off the beat. The beat itself is 26 out of 100; the rest of the number is everything around it.

How long is the drum part?

176 bars, about 9:32 at the written tempo. The course breaks it into 70 exercises over 24 sittings, about 24 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 Parabol / Parabola?

16 fills to learn, played 44 times: bars 5, 6, 7, 11, 14, 15 and 38 more.

READ OFF THE SCORE ITSELF · 176 BARS ANALYSED
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