MUDVAYNE · DRUM FILLS

The drum fills in Pharmaecopia

25 fills to learn, played 86 times across 160 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
97 BPM
TIME
4/4
BARS
160
LENGTH
5:48
DIFFICULTY
78/100

Bar 6, and 1 more time

LOOP · 97 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 6 AND 92 · LANDS ON BAR 7

On crash, hi-hat, snare, high tom, mid tom, floor tom, kick and hi-hat foot. 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 7. 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 10

LOOP · 97 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 10 · LANDS ON BAR 11

On crash, hi-hat, snare and kick. 73 out of 100 -- demanding -- and what decides that is how much of it falls off the beat. In the song it lands on bar 11. 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

LOOP · 97 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 16 · LANDS ON BAR 17

On crash, hi-hat, snare 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 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 20, and 1 more time

On crash, hi-hat, snare and kick. 69 out of 100 -- demanding -- and what decides that is the independence between the hands and the feet. In the song it lands on bar 22. 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 23, and 5 more times

On crash, snare, high tom, mid tom, floor tom and kick. 70 out of 100 -- demanding -- and what decides that is the independence between the hands and the feet. In the song it lands on bar 29. 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 32

LOOP · 97 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 32 · LANDS ON BAR 33

On hi-hat, snare, kick and hi-hat foot. 70 out of 100 -- demanding -- and what decides that is the independence between the hands and the feet. In the song it lands on bar 33. 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, and 4 more times

LOOP · 97 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 37-41 · LANDS ON BAR 42

On crash, snare, high tom, mid tom, floor tom and kick. 66 out of 100 -- demanding -- and what decides that is how much of it falls off the beat. In the song it lands on bar 42. 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 43

LOOP · 97 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 43 · LANDS ON BAR 44

On crash, hi-hat, snare 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 44. 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 46

LOOP · 97 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 46 · LANDS ON BAR 47

On crash, hi-hat, snare, high tom, mid tom, floor tom and kick. 68 out of 100 -- demanding -- and what decides that is how much of it falls off the beat. In the song it lands on bar 47. 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 48, and 1 more time

LOOP · 97 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 48-49 · LANDS ON BAR 50

On crash, hi-hat, snare and kick. 68 out of 100 -- demanding -- and what decides that is how many notes a second it asks for. In the song it lands on bar 50. 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 51

LOOP · 97 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 51 · LANDS ON BAR 52

On crash, hi-hat, 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 52. 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 53, and 1 more time

On crash, snare, mid tom, floor tom and kick. 68 out of 100 -- demanding -- and what decides that is how much of it falls off the beat. In the song it lands on bar 55. 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 56, and 1 more time

On crash, snare, high tom, mid tom and kick. 58 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 58. 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 60, and 11 more times

On crash, ride, hi-hat, snare, high tom, mid tom and kick. 75 out of 100 -- demanding -- and what decides that is how much of it falls off the beat. In the song it lands on bar 72. 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 73, and 1 more time

LOOP · 97 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 73-74 · LANDS ON BAR 75

On crash, snare, high tom, mid tom, floor tom and kick. 61 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 75. 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 82, and 1 more time

LOOP · 97 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 82 AND 159 · LANDS ON BAR 83

On crash, ride, hi-hat, snare, high tom, mid tom, floor tom and kick. 62 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 83. 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 84

LOOP · 97 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 84 · LANDS ON BAR 85

On crash, snare, high tom, mid tom, floor tom and kick. 62 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 85. 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 88

LOOP · 97 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 88 · LANDS ON BAR 89

On crash, hi-hat, snare and kick. 72 out of 100 -- demanding -- and what decides that is how much of it falls off the beat. In the song it lands on bar 89. 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 96, and 1 more time

LOOP · 97 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 96-97 · LANDS ON BAR 98

On crash, hi-hat, snare, mid 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 98. 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 99, and 3 more times

LOOP · 97 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 99, 101, 105 AND 107 · LANDS ON BAR 100

On crash, ride, hi-hat, snare and kick. 68 out of 100 -- demanding -- and what decides that is how much of it falls off the beat. In the song it lands on bar 100. 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 109

LOOP · 97 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 109 · LANDS ON BAR 110

On crash, snare, high tom, mid tom and floor tom. 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 110. 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 112, and 1 more time

LOOP · 97 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 112-113 · LANDS ON BAR 114

On crash, ride, snare, high tom, mid tom, floor tom and kick. 73 out of 100 -- demanding -- and what decides that is the independence between the hands and the feet. In the song it lands on bar 114. 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 116, and 4 more times

On crash, ride, snare and kick. 69 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 123, and 2 more times

LOOP · 97 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 123-125 · LANDS ON BAR 126

On crash, snare, high tom, mid tom and kick. 66 out of 100 -- demanding -- and what decides that is the independence between the hands and the feet. In the song it lands on bar 126. 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 23 more times

LOOP · 97 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 129-152 · LANDS ON BAR 153

On crash, snare, high tom, mid tom, floor tom and kick. 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 153. 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 Pharmaecopia?

25 distinct fills, played 86 times: bars 6, 10, 16, 20-21, 23-28 and 32, and 24 more places.

What is the hardest fill in Pharmaecopia?

The one at bar 16, at 79 out of 100. 160 bars of 4/4 at a walking 97 BPM, 5:48 of playing, on crash, ride, hi-hat, snare, high tom, mid tom, floor tom, kick and hi-hat foot.

READ OFF THE SCORE ITSELF · 160 BARS ANALYSED