Why do so many modern pop songs use the trap beat (tu ti ta ti)?
I apologize for the ambiguous “tu ti ta ti”, but that’s the best way I could describe it. I’m not a fan of modern pop in general, but my observation has been that Most modern pop songs are of 4/4 time signature and utilize a “trap beat”. Not sure what it’s called, but it sounds like a synthesized, digital 4-beat pattern that sounds like a drum, but not quite. The beat starts with a heavier sound, before advancing to a cymbal-like noise, then a similar sound to the opening beat but slightly different, then the cymbal. Just today I was subjected to half an hour of pop, and all nine songs (or so) made use of this beat. Is there a reason for this I’m not aware of?
(1)1 Comments
Sorted by latest first Latest Oldest Best
My guess (though I'm not up on pop music), is that it's an emulation of the bongo martello pattern. Much of older pop (from the 50s) uses (explicitly or implicitly) the son clave as an organizing principle (sometimes called the "Bo Diddly Beat"). The martello meshes rather well with a son clave. A 4/4 underlying structure is divided into eighth notes with a 3-3-2 distribution with accents like AuuAuuAuAuuAuuAu repeated. The "dicky-ducky-dicky-docky" sound of a bongo helps keep things aligned.
Terms of Use Privacy policy Contact About Cancellation policy © freshhoot.com2026 All Rights reserved.