Forty Six & 2 Outro Solo — Danny Carey (Tool) Drum Lick | MetalForge
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Learn the Forty Six & 2 Outro Solo drum lick by Danny Carey of Tool. From Forty Six & 2 (Ænima (1996)). The climax of Forty Six & 2 is one of the most celebrated drum moments in progressive metal, a spraw...
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1. Danny Carey's Signature Licks — The climax of Forty Six & 2 is one of the most celebrated drum moments in progressive metal, a sprawling solo section where Danny Carey unleashes the full vocabulary of tom melodies, polyrhythmic fills, and tribal phrasing that became his signature. After the song builds through tense, restrained verses, Carey opens up into a cascading run around the kit that uses his deep toms melodically, weaving triplet and sextuplet groupings against the underlying 4/4 pulse so the fills feel like they float above the beat. This is the part that taught a generation of drummers how to think about the kit as a melodic instrument rather than just a timekeeper. The phrasing is conversational: Carey states an idea, develops it, and then answers it, building intensity through repetition and variation rather than sheer speed. Hand-foot combinations link the toms to the bass drum, creating long linear runs where no two limbs strike at once, which is why the section sounds so fluid and continuous. Underneath the flash, the groove never loses its center - the pulse stays rock solid, which is what allows the polyrhythmic ideas to land. For drummers, this outro is a complete study in tom orchestration, dynamic build, and the controlled use of odd groupings over a straight pulse. The best way to approach it is to break the section into individual fills, learn each one slowly, and only then attempt to connect them into the long developing phrase Carey plays. Pay attention to sticking and to which hand leads each tom run, because the orchestration is what gives the lines their melodic shape. Like his work on Pneuma and Schism, this solo rewards patience: practiced methodically, it builds independence, four-limb coordination, and the kind of musical phrasing that separates great metal drummers from merely fast ones. Take your time mapping the orchestration, record yourself often to check that the pulse stays steady underneath the flash, and treat the section as a long-term project rather than something to rush through in a single sitting.2. Danny Carey Profile — Break the solo into individual fills and learn each one slowly Identify which hand leads each tom run to shape the melodic phrasing Layer triplet and sextuplet groupings over the steady 4/4 pulse Connect hand-foot combinations into flowing linear runs around the kit Build the section through repetition and variation, not raw speed
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