TOOL · DRUM FILLS

The drum fills in Vicarious

15 fills to learn, played 28 times across 172 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
114 BPM
TIME
5/4
BARS
172
LENGTH
7:06
DIFFICULTY
80/100

Bar 21

LOOP · 114 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 21 · LANDS ON BAR 22

On crash, hi-hat, snare, high tom, 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 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 25

LOOP · 114 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 25 · LANDS ON BAR 26

On crash, hi-hat, snare, high tom, mid tom and kick. 82 out of 100 -- hard -- and what decides that is the independence between the hands and the feet. In the song it lands on bar 26. 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 33

LOOP · 114 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 33 · LANDS ON BAR 34

On hi-hat, snare, high tom, mid tom and kick. 76 out of 100 -- demanding -- and what decides that is the independence between the hands and the feet. In the song it lands on bar 34. 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

LOOP · 114 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 37 · LANDS ON BAR 38

On crash, snare, high tom, mid tom, floor tom and kick. 70 out of 100 -- demanding -- and what decides that is how much of it falls off the beat. In the song it lands on bar 38. 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 41

LOOP · 114 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 41 · LANDS ON BAR 42

On crash, ride, snare, mid tom and kick. 76 out of 100 -- demanding -- and what decides that is the independence between the hands and the feet. 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 49

LOOP · 114 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 49 · LANDS ON BAR 50

On crash, hi-hat, snare, high tom, mid tom and kick. 96 out of 100 -- hard -- and what decides that is the independence between the hands and the feet. 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 53

LOOP · 114 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 53 · LANDS ON BAR 54

On crash, hi-hat, snare, mid tom, floor tom 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 54. 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

LOOP · 114 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 56-57 · LANDS ON BAR 58

On crash, ride, snare, high tom, mid tom, floor 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 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 1 more time

LOOP · 114 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 60-61 · LANDS ON BAR 62

On crash, ride, snare, high tom, mid tom, floor tom and kick. 76 out of 100 -- demanding -- and what decides that is the independence between the hands and the feet. In the song it lands on bar 62. 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 65, and 1 more time

LOOP · 114 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 65-66 · LANDS ON BAR 67

On snare, high tom, mid tom, floor tom and kick. 67 out of 100 -- demanding -- and what decides that is how much of it falls off the beat. In the song it lands on bar 67. 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 74

LOOP · 114 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 74 · LANDS ON BAR 75

On snare, high tom, mid tom, floor tom and kick. 60 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 77, and 1 more time

LOOP · 114 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 77-78 · LANDS ON BAR 79

On crash, ride, snare, high tom, mid tom, floor tom and kick. 80 out of 100 -- hard -- and what decides that is the independence between the hands and the feet. In the song it lands on bar 79. 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 · 114 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 81-82 · LANDS ON BAR 83

On crash, ride, snare, high tom, mid tom, floor tom and kick. 81 out of 100 -- hard -- 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 100

LOOP · 114 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 100 · LANDS ON BAR 101

On snare, high tom, mid tom, floor tom and kick. 59 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 101. 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 108, and 8 more times

LOOP · 114 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 108-116 · LANDS ON BAR 117

On crash, ride, hi-hat, snare, high tom, mid tom, floor tom, kick and hi-hat foot. 89 out of 100 -- hard -- and what decides that is the independence between the hands and the feet. In the song it lands on bar 117. 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 Vicarious?

15 distinct fills, played 28 times: bars 21, 25, 33, 37, 41 and 49, and 9 more places.

What is the hardest fill in Vicarious?

The one at bar 49, at 96 out of 100. 172 bars of 5/4 -- not four -- at 114 BPM, 7:06 of playing on crash, ride, hi-hat, snare, high tom, mid tom, floor tom, kick and hi-hat foot.

READ OFF THE SCORE ITSELF · 172 BARS ANALYSED