what is that sound

November 22, 2007 1:11 AM

what do you call that sad-sack whomp-whomp sound? come on, you know the one. .....sigh. fine, i'll record an example.

so you're telling a story that ends on a 'woe is me' note.

"man, i left my house 20 minutes early to grab a coffee, but
the line at the coffee place actually made me LATE to work!"

and then you make that sound.

"whomp-whomp!"

the second whomp is a couple notes down the scale.

so WHAT do you call that? what is its origin?

on a related note, what is that little melody you might here when a bad performer is yanked from the stage with a giant cane? you know, like a quick lil' ending to the tune?

this one is rather difficult to provide an example for, so listen to both here.

http://bmulvey.com/nahtnahtnaht.wav

that sound file is SO NOT offered to the creative commons. i don't wanna hear that in any mash ups.

but what's it called and where does it come from?

i have NO clue how to search for any of the above.

posted by tremspeed to grab bag (7 comments total)

Hah. Asked, answered
posted by aubilenon at 1:18 AM on November 22, 2007

That's amazing; I've never heard anyone say "whomp-whomp". Are you sure you don't mean Nelson's "HA ha!"?
posted by Brocktoon at 1:19 AM on November 22, 2007

For what it's worth, I've always heard (and utilized) the "whomp" in groups of three:

whomp, whomp, whooooomp.

But yeah, no idea.
posted by Brittanie at 1:21 AM on November 22, 2007

From a friend:
Generally, the whomp whomp is made using a trombone (or any brass instrument) with a plunger mute.

the second one is from vaudeville shows from the early 1900s... that was usually done with a marching band.

They were popularized by cartoons such as looney tunes as onomatopoeia for sounds that accentuate embarrassing moments
posted by amethysts at 1:22 AM on November 22, 2007

amazingly concise on that previous question! thanks!
posted by tremspeed at 1:36 AM on November 22, 2007

For what it's worth, I've always heard (and utilized) the "whomp" in groups of three:

whomp, whomp, whooooomp.

But yeah, no idea.

I've heard that is called a "descending chromatic wah".
posted by bifter at 4:54 AM on November 22, 2007 [1 favorite]

I'm getting a 404 on that wav, friend. I clicked up in here so I could hear a MeFite whomp-whomp into a microphone, and now you deny me this?
posted by wemayfreeze at 11:13 AM on November 22, 2007 [2 favorites]