LAMB OF GOD · DRUM FILLS

The drum fills in Ruin

8 fills to learn, played 35 times across 129 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
133 BPM
TIME
4/4
BARS
129
LENGTH
3:53
DIFFICULTY
78/100

Bar 32

LOOP · 133 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 32 · LANDS ON BAR 33

On crash, snare and kick. 64 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 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 83, and 1 more time

LOOP · 133 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 83-84 · LANDS ON BAR 85

On crash, snare and kick. 61 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 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 89, and 22 more times

LOOP · 133 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 89-111 · LANDS ON BAR 112

On crash, ride, hi-hat, snare, high tom, mid tom and kick. 74 out of 100 -- demanding -- and what decides that is the independence between the hands and the feet. In the song it lands on bar 112. 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 113, and 1 more time

LOOP · 133 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 113 AND 125 · LANDS ON BAR 114

On crash, snare and kick. 49 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 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 115

LOOP · 133 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 115 · LANDS ON BAR 116

On crash, snare, high tom, mid tom and kick. 56 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 116. 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 119, and 1 more time

LOOP · 133 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 119-120 · LANDS ON BAR 121

On crash, snare, high tom, mid tom 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 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

LOOP · 133 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 123 · LANDS ON BAR 124

On crash, ride, snare, high tom, mid tom and kick. 67 out of 100 -- demanding -- and what decides that is the independence between the hands and the feet. In the song it lands on bar 124. 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 127, and 2 more times

LOOP · 133 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 127-129

On crash, snare, floor tom and kick. 48 out of 100 -- a step up -- and what decides that is the independence between the hands and the feet.

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 Ruin?

8 distinct fills, played 35 times: bars 32, 83-84, 89-111, 113, 115 and 119-120, and 3 more places.

What is the hardest fill in Ruin?

The one at bar 89, at 74 out of 100. 129 bars of 4/4 at 133 BPM, about 3:53 of playing, on crash, ride, hi-hat, snare, high tom, mid tom, floor tom and kick.

READ OFF THE SCORE ITSELF · 129 BARS ANALYSED