VULVODYNIA · DRUM FILLS

The drum fills in Psychosadistic Design

2 fills to learn, played 3 times across 76 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
150 BPM
TIME
4/4
BARS
76
LENGTH
2:02
DIFFICULTY
68/100

Bar 23, and 1 more time

LOOP · 150 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 23-24 · LANDS ON BAR 25

On ride, hi-hat, snare and kick. 75 out of 100 -- demanding -- and what decides that is how many notes a second it asks for. In the song it lands on bar 25. 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 76

LOOP · 150 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 76

On hi-hat, snare and kick. 33 out of 100 -- a fair first song -- and what decides that is how fine the subdivision is.

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 Psychosadistic Design?

2 distinct fills, played 3 times: bars 23-24 and 76.

What is the hardest fill in Psychosadistic Design?

The one at bar 23, at 75 out of 100. 76 bars of 4/4 at 150 BPM, about 2:02 of playing, on crash, ride, hi-hat, snare, floor tom and kick.

READ OFF THE SCORE ITSELF · 76 BARS ANALYSED