# Musical scores to TV and Movies: that "pulse" thing **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 16, 2010, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-scores-to-tv-and-movies-that-pulse-thing/536367 "2010-04-16T17:11:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2010, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-scores-to-tv-and-movies-that-pulse-thing/536367/1 "2010-04-16T17:11:00Z")
Using [David Holmes Rodney Yates](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yub2LyIGeso) theme as a starting point (heard on _Ocean’s Eleven_ and elsewhere) – and even though this is NOT what I’m trying to describe – I’m curious about an even more one-note pulsing underscoring technique in thrillers and action movies (and their TV counterparts) where there’s just a continual throbbing sound that doesn’t change much in intensity or volume, but stays there to heighten tension. It’s not so much a heartbeat sound or a rhythmic pattern so much as a vibration or rumble of sorts. I’m sorry to lack better words for it, but my main question is how long that sound has been around and perhaps who introduced it and in what movie or show. If you have other guesses or examples you can provide links for, that may help narrow down what that gimmick is called. Or at least what it really sounds like. And even though there’s a lot more music going on here, that pulse thing is underneath it all in [THE ORIGINAL & BEST CAR CHASE - COMPLETE](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lcW-T-thdoE) ---
**Author:** ![athelas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5e9695/32.png) [@athelas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/athelas)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2010, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-scores-to-tv-and-movies-that-pulse-thing/536367/2 "2010-04-17T00:47:26Z")
Do you mean something like what starts at 1:10 [here](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-QjuEWsdgEc)? ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2010, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-scores-to-tv-and-movies-that-pulse-thing/536367/3 "2010-04-17T03:44:37Z")
> [@athelas](#): > > Do you mean something like what starts at 1:10 [here](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-QjuEWsdgEc)? Well, something like that in the sense of the regularity of the sound, but a much lower pitched and more subtle thing. The Bullitt example is much closer than the Rodney Yates and the Dark Knight one. There’s a scene I’ve seen recently but can’t place now where that pulse is very apparent and it runs for minutes with no let up. Thanks for another example to talk about. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2010, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-scores-to-tv-and-movies-that-pulse-thing/536367/4 "2010-04-17T13:23:19Z")
There’s another aspect to this sound that’s very hard to pin down with words. It’s not so much “music” as “sound” even though it’s obviously produced on some musical instrument(s) as opposed to some sound generator, or at least the ones I’ve noticed have been that sort of thing. The best example I’ve found so far starts at 0:16 [here](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lcW-T-thdoE), is joined by more “musical additional elements” at 0:22, and continues with further accents and musical touches until 1:01 when it’s obviously more orchestral and complex, but that same low-pitched pulsing sound continues until 3:20 when the chase really cranks up with squealing tires and engine roars and all that. The remainder of the clip is some exciting car chase footage but the “pulse” thing has gone. The difficulty in locating good examples on YouTube probably comes from the fact that the types of scenes where this device is used are usually more visual and action-free except for a growing tension that the “pulse” helps to create. Not the sort of scene YouTube clips tend to be when they’re selected for some more obvious dramatic effect. Another example of the device, though much more obvious and “musical” is in [The Keep (1983) Intro](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DbGjIQSqpMc) starting almost imperceptibly at 0:30 and growing in intensity and complexity throughout the clip until it fades out completely around 4:15 to be replaced by other subtle musical elements. (Many thanks to \*\*Superfluous Parentheses \*\* for introducing me to this clip in [Favorite Movie Music – with audio](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=510396) at [Post #14](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=10940732&postcount=14). The link in that post is dead now, but it’s the one I linked to just above.) The thing that bugs me most is that just recently I commented to my wife about the effect in some movie we were watching, but I can’t remember which movie or which scene. And it’s driving me nuts! ---
**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2010, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-scores-to-tv-and-movies-that-pulse-thing/536367/5 "2010-04-18T04:36:47Z")
I can’t see much to this; of your three examples, none sounds “one-note” at all, and two of the three just sound like somebody playing bass. The one from _The Keep_, of course, sounds electronic, though more like percussion than bass to my ear. ---
**Author:** ![Nicest\_of\_the\_Damned](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/8baadc/32.png) [@Nicest\_of\_the\_Damned](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nicest_of_the_Damned)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2010, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-scores-to-tv-and-movies-that-pulse-thing/536367/6 "2010-04-18T06:35:51Z")
Possible example: John Carpenter’s The Thing [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/zQIvA8iy9KI/hqdefault.jpg "John Carpenter's Theme Songs Part 2 The Thing Theme & Christine Theme") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQIvA8iy9KI) More instruments join in but the pulse sound is pretty distinct through most of the music. ---
**Author:** ![Flip\_Pancake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f1d935/32.png) [@Flip\_Pancake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flip_Pancake)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2010, 7:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-scores-to-tv-and-movies-that-pulse-thing/536367/7 "2010-04-18T07:56:01Z")
First example that came to mind was “Following”, one of Christopher Nolan’s early films. The ‘pulse’ begins at about 0:30 in [this trailer](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5q8bBAKNSA8) and is followed by another different one. A softer pulse can be heard from the beginning of this [longer clip](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ilYnB9u72yg), but is soon overtaken by slower piano notes. I don’t know what it’s called. Maybe a quick browse through a sound effect library might help? ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2010, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-scores-to-tv-and-movies-that-pulse-thing/536367/8 "2010-04-18T13:30:25Z")
> [@Flip\_Pancake](#): > > I don’t know what it’s called. Maybe a quick browse through a sound effect library might help? That thought occurred to me yesterday and I have spent a fair amount of time at [http://www.omnimusic.com/index.php](http://www.omnimusic.com/index.php) [http://audiosparx.com/sa/links/tv-music.cfm](http://audiosparx.com/sa/links/tv-music.cfm) [http://www.smartsound.com/music/discpreview.php?lib=177](http://www.smartsound.com/music/discpreview.php?lib=177) playing samples to see if there’s some standard name for the effect I’m trying to locate. Thus far, no luck to speak of. Most clips have way too much going on besides the “pulse” or “throbbing” sound I hear in my mind’s ear, and most of them are much more “in your face” obvious. > [@Flip Pancake](#): > > First example that came to mind was “Following”, one of Christopher Nolan’s early films. The ‘pulse’ begins at about 0:30 in [this trailer](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5q8bBAKNSA8) and is followed by another different one. A softer pulse can be heard from the beginning of this [longer clip](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ilYnB9u72yg), but is soon overtaken by slower piano notes. The subtlety is there, all right, but the effect itself is too electronic, I think. Too “scratchy” or “gurgly” sounding. The pace is close, as is the volume level, so this clip is a good departure for describing those pace and volume elements. It just needs more of a “musical” tone than what’s there. > [@Nametag](#): > > I can’t see much to this; of your three examples, none sounds “one-note” at all, and two of the three just sound like somebody playing bass. The one from The Keep, of course, sounds electronic, though more like percussion than bass to my ear. I’m not arguing with what you say, and it’s the fact that I can’t do a better description of what I really heard that has me selecting things that I have found that are “sort of like” the sound I’m after. It may very well be a bass line that’s involved, but, if so, it’s very subtle and staccato bass. And it’s possibly electronic, but without that telltale synth signature usually in electronic sounds. The regularity of the actual effect is such that if some human is playing it, they are certainly getting tired after a while! > [@Nicest of the Damned](#): > > Possible example: John Carpenter’s The Thing > [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQIvA8iy9KI](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQIvA8iy9KI) > > More instruments join in but the pulse sound is pretty distinct through most of the music. If there were less pausing between “throbs” and less of a heartbeat effect going on, this one would be the closest so far. The _The Thing_ sound has the isolation of the effect, before those added elements join in, but it’s too slow paced. Speed it up and replace the “ta-tum–pause–ta-tum” idea with more of a regular “tum-tum-tum-tum” idea and it’s much closer. The _Christine_ theme at about 4:30 has the same insistent pulse going on, but it’s still more obvious and dramatic than the one I’m after. The extra musical elements in _Christine_ would also be missing in the one I mean. Take away everything but that throbbing and speed it up a little, and take away the heavy accent on the first beat in the pulse and we’d be getting close. You have to “get” the effect quickly in the first 5 seconds of [PETER GUNN THEME 1958 - 1961](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dcflCzZlLcQ) but if you could imagine that same pattern going on more or less indefinitely as the only “music” in the scene, that’s about as close as I can get it in words. ++++ I do appreciate the input! Perhaps further examples can zero in on it even better. Just to indicate some things I’ve looked up in trying to find a name for the device, it’s not > **[Obbligato](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obbligato)** > > In Western classical music, obbligato (.mw-parser-output .IPA-label-small{font-size:85%}.mw-parser-output .references .IPA-label-small,.mw-parser-output .infobox .IPA-label-small,.mw-parser-output .navbox .IPA-label-small{font-size:100%}Italian pronunciation: \[obbliˈɡaːto\], also spelled obligato) usually describes a musical line that is in some way indispensable in performance. Its opposite is the marking ad libitum. It can also be used, more specifically, to indicate that a passage of music w Th... or > **[Ostinato](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ostinato)** > > In music, an ostinato (.mw-parser-output .IPA-label-small{font-size:85%}.mw-parser-output .references .IPA-label-small,.mw-parser-output .infobox .IPA-label-small,.mw-parser-output .navbox .IPA-label-small{font-size:100%}Italian: \[ostiˈnaːto\]; from Italian 'stubborn', compare English obstinate) is a motif or phrase that persistently repeats in the same musical voice, frequently in the same pitch. Well-known ostinato-based pieces include classical compositions such as Ravel's Boléro and the Caro... although it does have elements of both those ideas, I believe. Both articles mention all sorts of devices and figures that may be closer then either “obbligato” or “ostinato,” but without concrete examples it’s hard to say from just decriptions. Just to add to the confusion more, and admitting that this sound is much further away from what I’m after than any so far, what I’m hearing has elements in common with the underlying pulse in [Blade Runner end titles](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9kzF2nQsTG4&feature=related) without any of the other orchestral doo-dads going on. Maybe the tempo is what’s common to the two. Maybe it’s just the “feel” of the Vangelis. Something, anyway. If you can hear a similarity between the Vangelis and the first 40 seconds of [Bullitt car chase](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-7IEPTAoTg), then you’re probably as hampered by a lack of ways to describe that similarity as I am. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2010, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/musical-scores-to-tv-and-movies-that-pulse-thing/536367/9 "2010-04-18T14:11:07Z")
Please let me add that I’m not meaning to argue against the various examples of “pulse” effects that have been presented in this thread. Thay all fit the overall description. I had been focusing on the specific example I heard not long ago and on trying to find it in a YouTube clip to serve as “The Example” for others to say where they had heard it before, and perhaps to provide an official name for the device. But I certainly don’t mean to be exclusive in the example itself. The more the merrier. Maybe the more diverse the examples, the quicker we can determine if the device actually has an agreed on term to describe it. So I don’t mean to quibble over fine points as I did in the previous post. Just having others willing to discuss the idea and to provide examples is why I started the thread.