Do you LOV
E Doowop?
Doo-wop is a type of vocal group harmony that includes the following musical qualities: group harmony, a wide range of vocal parts, nonsense syllables, a simple beat, light instrumentation, and simple music and lyrics. Above all, the focus is on ensemble singing. The Wide Range Of Vocal Parts.
El Dorados--"Bim Bam Boom"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7hBZ_z82syE
The lead in early doo-wop ballads frequently employed melisma, a gospel-derived vocal technique in which syllables are elongated to fit the meter of the song
"O-o-only You" in the Platters' "Only You"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0mWVVSkYHo
Most song arrangements had a distinctive bass part, frequently it provided the introduction and/or punctuated the song between choruses. In some cases, the bass contributed a talking bridge in the middle of a song
The Diamonds' "Little Darling" [A Canadian group]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VCrpUsLd5kE
Falsetto parts were often used, typically at the end of a song, in conjunction with the lead's dramatic fade-out
"Tell Me Why," by Norman Fox and the Rob Roys;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6GSlozJ1T0
"Since I Don't Have You," by the Skyliners
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngZh6ZSRoYg&list=RDngZh6ZSRoYg
Fred Paris & The Satins "In the Still of the Night"
**Ma's favorite
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fBT3oDMCWpI&list=RDngZh6ZSRoYg&index=2
In ballads, the falsetto part echos the lead voice, is part of the background harmony, or runs above the vocal blend. The lead singer may move in and out of falsetto (e.g., the Channels' "The Closer You Are") or use it throughout (e.g., the Paragons' "Florence").
Nonsense Syllables
Nonsense syllables were derived from bop and jazz styles, traditional West African chants, a cappella street corner singing (in place of the instrumental bass line), and doo-wop-styled r & b songs during the 1950-1951 period (e.g., the Dominoes' "Harbor Lights"). They were commonly used in the bass and harmony parts; their use tends to be more restrained, simple, and somber when employed in ballads ("doh-doh-doh," "doo-wah," etc.).
The Chips' "Rubber Biscuit" (1956) represented a virtuostic application of this technique:
Gow gow hoo-oo,
Gow gow wanna dib-a-doo,
Chick'n hon-a-chick hole-a-hubba,
Hell fried cuck-a-lucka wanna jubba,
Hi-low 'n-ay wanna dubba hubba,
Day down sum wanna jigga-wah,
Dell rown ay wanna lubba hubba,
Mull an a mound chicka lubba hubba,
Fay down ah wanna dip-a-zip-a-dip-a,
Mm-mh, do that again! (bass exclamation)
During the doo-wop revival (1960-1963), nonsense lyrics became more complicated, almost baroque in style. These lyrical contortions sometimes became the main focus;
The Edsels' "Rama Lama Ding Dong" (1961),
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6JbemSdORo
the Marcels' "Blue Moon" (1961) **Ma's favorite
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0fy1HeJv80
Nonsense words are used in poetry too.
By Lewis Carroll 1832–1898 Lewis Carroll
’Twas brillig, and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:
All mimsy were the borogoves,
And the mome raths outgrabe.
“Beware the Jabberwock, my son!
The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun
The frumious Bandersnatch!”
He took his vorpal sword in hand;
Long time the manxome foe he sought—
So rested he by the Tumtum tree
And stood awhile in thought.
The poetic devise/trope of Onomatopoeia gets you close to nonsense words used for the affect of SOUND in poetry.
The Bells by Poe
Hear the sledges with the bells -
Silver bells!
What a world of merriment their melody foretells!
How they tinkle, tinkle, tinkle,
In the icy air of night!
While the stars that oversprinkle
All the heavens seem to twinkle
With a crystalline delight;
Keeping time, time, time,
In a sort of Runic rhyme,
To the tintinnabulation that so musically wells
From the bells, bells, bells, bells,
Bells, bells, bells -
From the jingling and the tinkling of the bells.
*The purpose of the poem is to create an effect, an effect created through sound devices, including onomatopoeia. Even the repetition of the word "bells" is onomatopoeic. The hurried rhythm, internal rhyme, frequent repetition, alliteration, assonance, and consonance create the illusion of bedlam, a similar feeling to that created by ringing bells.
DO you use any or all of these TROPES in your poetry?