SOP - Boom Bang Pow

What is the harmony behind the hooks?
2:30 - The songs are introduced
3:20 - It is all about the onomatopoeia
4:40 - This music is just about dancing
6:06 - "Boom Clap"

bass pumping

7:21 - It goes back to the Beetles
7:45 - We Will Rock You
8:00 - 4 on the floor
10:25 - What is Syncopation?
11:50 - Syncopated Drums
14:00 - French Immitation
16:00 - Tutti Fruiti
17:10 - Boom Boom Boom Boom
18:20 - Bang Bang

Latin Double-time

19:40 - Black-Eyed Peas
21:00 - Different Cultores
24:00 - The old style of a chaconne.

Bass that repeats
Syncopation
Dancing melody

Artist: Bob Tozier
School: North Allegheny

Notes:

Panoply created a podcast series called Switched on Pop.

Play in a new window

In this series, it was stated:

" Pop music surrounds us, but how often do we really listen to what we're hearing? Switched on Pop is the podcast that pulls back the curtain on pop music. Each episode, join musicologist Nate Sloan and songwriter Charlie Harding as they reveal the secret formulas that make pop songs so infectious. By figuring out how pop hits work their magic, you'll fall in love with songs you didn't even know you liked."

What do you think about third podcast? Can you find any other songs that work like this? Are there any compositional ideas that you would like to try?

Comments

Yosen Wang from: North Allegheny - posted: September 27, 2017
"Mars" from The Planets has a similar bass line running throughout the background of the piece.

Amy Muhlenkamp from: North Allegheny - posted: October 12, 2017

I agree that a lot of songs use onomatopoeia in order to move the song along. It is found most commonly in bridges.

Anthony Hockenberry from: North Allegheny - posted: October 12, 2017
This pumping and the pulsing bass is very common in electronic dance music, which often has 4 on the floor, very loud bass that sticks out.

Shane Stewart from: North Allegheny - posted: October 29, 2017
This was a very interesting one. The onomotopea technique always makes me think of "you put the boom boom into my heart" from "Wake Me Up Before You Go Go".

Charles Hart from: North Allegheny - posted: October 31, 2017
A song with similar drum parts to We Will Rock You is The Walk by Oso Oso

June Bracken from: North Allegheny - posted: November 1, 2017
An example of a double-timed latin key change is in the song From Eden by Hozier. This was a topic discussed in the podcast and is used by many artists.

Maeve Smith from: North Allegheny - posted: November 1, 2017
A song with a really good moving bass line is Erase Me by Kid Cudi. It is super prominent in the beginning of the song and then continues with the same rhythm with different bass instruments throughout the song.

Maggie Johnson from: North Allegheny - posted: November 1, 2017
Sent to Tozier

Eugenia Lee from: North Allegheny - posted: November 1, 2017
One song that contains a syncopated bass is One, Two Step by Ciara. It also has a similar effect to onomotopoeia with the "one, two step."

Angela Lu from: North Allegheny - posted: November 2, 2017
I agree that songs with a repeating bass and onomatopoeia make you want to dance. The combination of the two make an interesting and catchy song.

sharon dong from: North Allegheny - posted: November 2, 2017
The syncopated bass line and onomatopoeia in pop songs was interesting to learn about. One song that has some onomatopoeia is "Firework" by Katy Perry. She sings "boom, boom, boom" a few times towards the end of the song.

Marshall Henry from: North Allegheny - posted: November 2, 2017
This is found in alot of electronic music and older rock music. But one example of how it is found in more modern pop music was in our musical last year, Legally Blonde. It is found in the Bend and Snap song. This effect provides a powerful notion of moving forward.

Maria Constantine from: North Allegheny - posted: November 3, 2017
Erase me- Kid Cudi uses a LOT of bass and Onomatopoeia. The bass and sounds used during these electric pop songs usually differ in the bridges of the songs and flow back to the original style during the recap.

Steven Lu from: North Allegheny - posted: November 3, 2017
I agree that onomatopoeia makes a song catchier. Another time it was used was in the rap by Supa Hot Fire against B-Bone.

Mess Tajewski from: North Allegheny - posted: November 6, 2017
This podcast reminds me of other catchy and popular songs using scatting, which to me sounds like a version of onomatopoeia, like in the song "I'm Yours" by Jason Mraz.

Natalie Daninhirsch from: North Allegheny - posted: November 7, 2017
I think we as a people like songs with onomatopoeia and nonsense words because there is nothing overcomplicated - they can be danced to and followed rhythmically. Take Cha Cha Slide or Hoedown Throwdown - filled with booms and claps that make us want to dance.

Kayla Grasak from: North Allegheny - posted: November 8, 2017
We enjoy this active use of onomonopeia because of the simplicity of it and how it keeps us involved in the music.

Jason Ginocchi from: North Allegheny - posted: November 8, 2017
In a lot of metal music blast beats are put into many songs by the drums and they are really what drives the music and makes it so intense.

Trevor Fenk from: North Allegheny - posted: November 10, 2017
moving and pumping music is what makes electronic music great, without it, music woukd be boring!!!

Kirthana Kannan from: North Allegheny - posted: November 10, 2017
I like the idea that onomatopeia makes a song so catchy; now that I think about it, a lot of the songs I love have a sound in the refrain. In Want U Back by Cher Lloyd, the chorus has a very prominent sound that makes the song unique and memorable.

Margaret Johnson from: North Allegheny - posted: October 28, 2018
I absolutely LOVE syncopation. Displacement of the beat is something that makes people automatically sit back and think, whoa whats happening now? It also really helps with tranisitioning over to a different time signature.

kiera Wilkinson from: North Allegheny - posted: September 26, 2019
This episode of SOP was interesting because it broke down the simpleness of a pop song and showed how similar many "dance" songs are. The bass plays an important role in making the song exciting in a 'dance song' and the beat patterns in these pop 'dance' songs are similar to the intense building beat patterns that are aslo in pieces like Mars by Gustav Holst.

Nicholas Palermo from: North Allegheny - posted: September 26, 2019

The podcast made me think about how pop muisc utilizes particular music conepts and styles that transends into all types of music thoughout history. For example modern American composer, John Williams unilizes certain aspects of Gutov Holst's The Planets, op. 32: Mars, The Bringer of War in his composition for the Star Wars films.

David Ban from: North Allegheny - posted: September 30, 2019
I think it was very interesting about the syncopation, because it realy shows why we we like the music that we do. I might try to add that in my compositions.

Clay Sheleheda from: North Allegheny - posted: October 1, 2019
I want to use that 4 on the floor beat in my songs.

Nick Faber from: North Allegheny - posted: October 1, 2019
I think the "Boom Bang Pow" is really the backbone of the entire song. The punchiness of the beats are what gets people moving, and without the drive the song would just be flat and uninteresting.

Futen Wang from: North Allegheny - posted: October 3, 2019
Musical onamonopoeia is also commonly used by John Williams, who incorporates it into his musical scores like E.T.

Sari Abu-Hamad from: North Allegheny - posted: October 3, 2019
I think that the boom bang sound is a major part of almost all pop songs. One song that has that sound throughout it is "Some Nights" by Fun.

Noah Chadran from: North Allegheny - posted: October 3, 2019
I feel that it makes the song more about the melody, when it comes to using onamotapia instead of verbs or nouns or adjectives.

Rebekah Rest from: North Allegheny - posted: October 8, 2019
I think the onomatopoeia and the syncopation are really important in pop music because it gets people moving and makes songs more memorable.

Sophia Elliott from: North Allegheny - posted: October 9, 2019
I found the "Boom" part interesting. You hear songs like "Bang Bang" and don't even realize they use onomonopea. This catchy trick in pop music is prevalent in so many songs.

David Chen from: - posted: October 15, 2019
The onomatopoeia give songs a special sense of excitment and it is effective in getting people involved.

Caroline Lucas from: North Allegheny - posted: October 29, 2019
It interesting how the motive of these songs is to provoke movement, dance, and participate. They don't incorporate deep lyrics but lyrics that will anticipate these movements.

Caroline Lucas from: North Allegheny - posted: October 29, 2019
I think its interesting that the primary motive of these songs is to get listeners to participate and build excitement. Rather than focusing on deep lyrics, they focus on words such as "boom" that initiate a sense of enthusiasm in the audience.

Colin Fitzgerald from: North Allegheny - posted: October 30, 2019

Right not I am playing Mars from the planets and the bass line in that is very similar to this.

Gabrielle Parker from: North Allegheny - posted: October 30, 2019

These songs give special excitement to the listener, wanting them to participate and dance along with it. The onomatopoeia especially does that.

Julia Maletta from: North Allegheny - posted: October 31, 2019
A lot of popular, dance music uses this kind of sound to get people to move to the beat. I personally enjoy music like that when I'm working out or doing something that keeps me moving.