Drum Fills

[Aaaidn]

I just wondered what kind of drum fills you guys use?

I switched out to a 4 Piece a while back and I've noticed all my fills seem too generic. Every one the same.

Anyone any ideas?

[Russ]

How many different rudiments do you use in the course of your playing? Remember that the key to versatility and being able to play more stuff is the mastery of different rudiments like flam taps, triple stroke rolls, paradiddles, double strokes, and more. The more of these you do the more you can expand what you play.

[Aaaidn]

I'm working on my double stroke and my paradiddles at the minute, don't want to have too much to practice.

[kyle102565]

i keep it pretty simple, rolls and parradiddles

[kickinit]

4 words....

Linear Drumming, Mike Johnston

[isaacvining]

Any time I'm in the studio my fills are almost always very generic. Anything too colorful and you won't get asked back .

[trickg]

I just wondered what kind of fills you guys use?

I switched out to a 4 Piece a while back and I've noticed all my fills seem too generic. Every one the same.

Anyone any ideas?

I don't necessarily see that as a bad thing. I play a 5 piece most of the time and my fills, at least anything that tends to land on "1," tend to be pretty basic for the work I do with the church praise bands. I think part of it might depend on the music too, but ultimately there are fills that work really well, and those that are kinda quirky, so keeping with things that work, I tend to play a lot of the same kinds of ideas. I just try to not repeat myself too often.

[Russ]

I'm working on my double stroke and my paradiddles at the minute, don't want to have too much to practice.

That's great! You're well on your way, keep up the good work- just try to work in some rudiment time each time you practice. Devote a portion of the time you play songs or covers to playing rudiments to a metronome and you shall be well on your way.

[slinglander]

When I've switched to 4 pc. I'll use my FT to start more fills, even ride the high tom or FT just to start a fill; my snare gets double its normal work out since I'll start a lot of fills from there to the FT, up to the high tom and back to the snare. Same thing applies to a crash as the snare: start with the crash and work my way back to the snare....lots of linear permutations.
Just be sure that high tom is tuned in a way that makes it stand out more than the FT. A lot of drummers tune the high tom so low there's not enough difference between it and the FT sound. This is especially true when the high tom is tuned "sloppy" or loose and combined with a heavily muted head.
And those paradiddles come in really handy to start a fill, even what I call the first half or: RLRR.
Almost forgot: your kick can now end more fills or at least play a more prominent part too.

[truckerdrummer]

best thing i ever did was take it down to 2 toms for the kind of music i play now... i end up playing more to the song now. it forced me to really concentrate on the groove and to be creative with the fills... i use the kick drum and crashes in my fills alot now. and i also fill less, which means when it is time to play a fill, it really stands out. don't let it limit you. any time you change your set up it can open up a whole new world to you whether you're adding pieces or subtracting them.

[marko138]

When I've switched to 4 pc. I'll use my FT to start more fills, even ride the high tom or FT just to start a fill; my snare gets double its normal work out since I'll start a lot of fills from there to the FT, up to the high tom and back to the snare. Same thing applies to a crash as the snare: start with the crash and work my way back to the snare....lots of linear permutations.
Just be sure that high tom is tuned in a way that makes it stand out more than the FT. A lot of drummers tune the high tom so low there's not enough difference between it and the FT sound. This is especially true when the high tom is tuned "sloppy" or loose and combined with a heavily muted head.
And those paradiddles come in really handy to start a fill, even what I call the first half or: RLRR.
Almost forgot: your kick can now end more fills or at least play a more prominent part too.

Absolutely! I use the kick a lot...almost as a 3rd tom in fills.

[tadly]

Like a lot of others, I've found that I'm really comfortable playing on a 4pc. It means that you don't just go through the toms, high to low; you incorporate the kick more, go between toms & snare, and, like slinglander said, even go low to high (it blew everyone's mind the first time I did that at rehearsal--they'd never heard that before!) I've been teaching applying the rudiments to the kit, and some, like paradiddles, flams & drags, apply really well.

[kyle102565]

Absolutely! I use the kick a lot...almost as a 3rd tom in fills.

ive got the same deal here.
all you really need is one up and one down if your in a groove.

this coming from a grenhorn that played an 11 piece at one time, my 6 piece is too much right now yet i dare not take it down.
tommorrow, new snare head.
life is good being a drummer

[SpatzST]

4 words....

Linear Drumming, Mike Johnston

If you like Mike Johnston, you should check out Gary Chaffee. Hes the guy who really pioneered "Linear Drumming" a long time ago

[Northern Redneck]

any time i'm in the studio my fills are almost always very generic. Anything too colorful and you won't get asked back .

x2

[JohnnySticks]

Along the lines of what others have said about rudiments, I like to choose a rhythm pattern (not necessarily a rudiment but it can be) and try to see how many different ways/stickings/ drum patterns I can come up with. Some of them sound cool and I work on them. Some sound dorky but lead to something that sounds cool. I think 'going small' is a real boon to creativity.

[JohnnySticks]

I just try to not repeat myself too often.

I saw a sign in a school practice room (it's a rich kids school and they really stress music education and jazz etc):

"Life's too short to play the same solo twice. Improvise!" I think I shall make that my signature.

[jafo]

Absolutely! I use the kick a lot...almost as a 3rd tom in fills.

I use the bass drum in every fill in some manor. Along with puting in some cymbal shots during fills too. This breaks up the "generic" fill sound of just toms. I've used the bass in my fills since I started larning drums from day one of using fills. Just how I was taught. I decided to use the cymbals in fills alittle later on on my own and it works great.

I like mainly using quad type fills when using the bass. More than triplets really. I'm actually better at the quads then triplets believe it or not. Go figure. I can fit quads in in a fill easier.

Try this..... with the bass drum, just get your foot pedal going as fast as you can and just roll through your toms with doubles and triples and see what happens. You will have to adjust your foot speed with your roll so they match. butjust try it. You can go any speed you want really, but just experiment with it. It'll lead to other things. Just keep you mind open.

[Nechre]

Don't forget that rests in a fill can add spice too. Stopping and then starting back up during a fill is often harder than just doing a tom run or rudimental pattern.

[slinglander]

I hate to add even more but long threads do that:
often, if you can think of a linear "answer" to the lead guitar or keys or vocals for your fill this will help the musicality of the song. It's also a good way to learn to listen to fit in your fill too.

[keysanddrums]

Richie Hayward often would fill between his snare and kick. Think about playing melodic figures with your fills, not just hitting the drums. Consciously attempt to make every note count and mean something musically. Writing fills for songs is a good way to change it up. The more you think about and hone in on what exactly you want to play, the more varied your fills will become.

[imperialstar15]

On any drum kit, i love doing a few rounds of sixteenth or eighth note fills, anything type you want, keeping an upbeat sixteenth or eighth note beat, then i like to build up the suspense, and when everything piles up, i rip out on a triplet fill, bwtween the snare and toms, and then break in to either a half time, groove, with eighth notes on hi hat. snare backbeat, and quarter note triplets on base, and then do some 32nd note fills, (the 32nds are actually equivalent to the sixteenth notes you do in the beginning fills and/or the beginning beat, because after the triplet fill it goes in half time)

[thorn]

Think about playing melodic figures with your fills, not just hitting the drums. Consciously attempt to make every note count and mean something musically. Writing fills for songs is a good way to change it up. The more you think about and hone in on what exactly you want to play, the more varied your fills will become.

This is sort of any old thread, but I thought the above was such good advice it was worth agreeing with.

Just because drums don't have to play in key, as the rest of the band does, doesn't mean fills can't be melodic and structured. Imagine how boring Van Halen would be if he ONLY did double taps ALL the time, or used the tremelo every time he went into the chorus. Hearing a 16th note drum roll can be nice, but after awhile can get old... drumming offers a lot of targets - learn to use them and spice it up.

The blessing and curse of rhythm is the freedom to do most anything (within reason, in the feel of the song), but to also keep it interesting and appropriate. There's nothing wrong with spontaneous, but having a basic plan is a good thing too.

thorn

[usadrumhead]

do not underestimate the power of a ratamaque. ratamaques and swiss army tripelts sound pretty sweet.

[groovearteest]

triplets are what im using right now mainly. working on subdivisions a little bit. Ive been watching building blocks to gospel chops on youtube by soultone cymbals. It really tought me some stuff I didnt know existed.