DARKO US · DRUM FILLS

The drum fills in SUPRA

3 fills to learn, played 7 times across 113 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
113
LENGTH
3:01
DIFFICULTY
67/100

Bar 31, and 1 more time

LOOP · 150 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 31-32 · LANDS ON BAR 33

On crash, 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 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 57, and 2 more times

LOOP · 150 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 57, 77 AND 85 · LANDS ON BAR 58

On crash, snare and kick. 54 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 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 81, and 1 more time

LOOP · 150 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 81-82 · LANDS ON BAR 83

On crash, snare, mid tom and kick. 74 out of 100 -- demanding -- and what decides that is how many notes a second it asks for. 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.

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 SUPRA?

3 distinct fills, played 7 times: bars 31-32, 57, 77, 81-82 and 85.

What is the hardest fill in SUPRA?

The one at bar 81, at 74 out of 100. 113 bars of 4/4 at 150 BPM, about 3:01 of playing, on crash, hi-hat, snare, mid tom and kick.

READ OFF THE SCORE ITSELF · 113 BARS ANALYSED