GORGASM · DRUM FILLS

The drum fills in Silence Follows Dismemberment fixed

6 fills to learn, played 9 times across 104 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
195 BPM
TIME
4/4
BARS
104
LENGTH
2:09
DIFFICULTY
87/100

Bar 24

LOOP · 195 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 24 · LANDS ON BAR 25

On hi-hat, snare, mid tom, floor tom and kick. 77 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 34, and 1 more time

LOOP · 195 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 34 AND 38 · LANDS ON BAR 35

On crash, hi-hat, snare and kick. 83 out of 100 -- hard -- and what decides that is how many notes a second it asks for. In the song it lands on bar 35. 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 36

LOOP · 195 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 36 · LANDS ON BAR 37

On crash, hi-hat, snare and kick. 100 out of 100 -- hard -- and what decides that is how many notes a second it asks for. In the song it lands on bar 37. 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 72

LOOP · 195 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 72 · LANDS ON BAR 73

On crash, hi-hat, 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 73. 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 80, and 2 more times

LOOP · 195 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 80, 88 AND 92 · LANDS ON BAR 81

On crash, hi-hat, snare and kick. 46 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 81. 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 104

LOOP · 195 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 104

On hi-hat and kick. 57 out of 100 -- a step up -- and what decides that is how much of it falls off the beat.

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 Silence Follows Dismemberment fixed?

6 distinct fills, played 9 times: bars 24, 34, 36, 38, 72 and 80, and 3 more places.

What is the hardest fill in Silence Follows Dismemberment fixed?

The one at bar 36, at 100 out of 100. 104 bars at 195 BPM -- fast, and 2:09 of it without a break -- on crash, hi-hat, snare, mid tom, floor tom and kick.

READ OFF THE SCORE ITSELF · 104 BARS ANALYSED