DEMONS INSIDE · DRUM FILLS

The drum fills in Who is Insane?

12 fills to learn, played 17 times across 141 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
213 BPM
TIME
4/4
BARS
141
LENGTH
2:39
DIFFICULTY
59/100

Bar 28, and 1 more time

LOOP · 213 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 28-29 · LANDS ON BAR 30

On crash, high tom, mid tom and kick. 47 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 30. 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 · 213 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 53 · LANDS ON BAR 54

On crash, snare and kick. 56 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 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 60, and 1 more time

LOOP · 213 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 60-61 · LANDS ON BAR 62

On crash, snare, high tom and kick. 51 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 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 68, and 1 more time

LOOP · 213 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 68-69 · LANDS ON BAR 70

On crash, snare and kick. 40 out of 100 -- a fair first song -- and what decides that is how many notes a second it asks for. In the song it lands on bar 70. 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 75, and 2 more times

LOOP · 213 BPM
PLAYED AT BARS 75-77 · LANDS ON BAR 78

On crash, snare, mid tom, floor tom and kick. 41 out of 100 -- a fair first song -- and what decides that is the independence between the hands and the feet. In the song it lands on bar 78. 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 85

LOOP · 213 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 85 · LANDS ON BAR 86

On crash, 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 86. 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 101

LOOP · 213 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 101 · LANDS ON BAR 102

On crash, snare and kick. 47 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 102. 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 105

LOOP · 213 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 105 · LANDS ON BAR 106

On crash, snare, mid tom, floor tom and kick. 39 out of 100 -- a fair first song -- and what decides that is the independence between the hands and the feet. In the song it lands on bar 106. 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

LOOP · 213 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 113 · LANDS ON BAR 114

On crash, snare and kick. 57 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 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 117

LOOP · 213 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 117 · LANDS ON BAR 118

On crash, snare and kick. 42 out of 100 -- a fair first song -- and what decides that is how many notes a second it asks for. In the song it lands on bar 118. 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 121

LOOP · 213 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 121 · LANDS ON BAR 122

On crash, snare and kick. 47 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 122. 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 140

LOOP · 213 BPM
PLAYED AT BAR 140 · LANDS ON BAR 141

On crash, snare and kick. 42 out of 100 -- a fair first song -- and what decides that is how many notes a second it asks for. In the song it lands on bar 141. 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 Who is Insane??

12 distinct fills, played 17 times: bars 28-29, 53, 60-61, 68-69, 75-77 and 85, and 6 more places.

What is the hardest fill in Who is Insane??

The one at bar 113, at 57 out of 100. 141 bars at 213 BPM -- fast, and 2:39 of it without a break -- on crash, hi-hat, snare, high tom, mid tom, floor tom and kick.

READ OFF THE SCORE ITSELF · 141 BARS ANALYSED