Beatbay guide
City pop beat
City pop is the bright, smooth pop of 1980s Japan: crisp drum-machine or studio drums with sixteenth-note hi-hats and a snare on 2 and 4, a busy slap or fingered bass, and lush seventh and ninth chords, often on the “royal road” progression, IV–V–iii–vi, at about 95 to 115 BPM.
The pattern
The kick lands on the one and the “and” of 2, again on 3 and on the “and” of 4, so it bounces rather than marches. The snare cracks on 2 and 4 with a short plate behind it. The hi-hat runs sixteenths with a gap or two to breathe, and a tambourine plays the off-beat sixteenths.
| Drum | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tight kick | X | · | · | · | · | · | x | · | X | · | · | · | · | · | x | · | X | · | · | · | · | · | x | · | X | · | · | · | · | · | x | · |
| Bright snare | · | · | · | · | X | · | · | · | · | · | · | · | X | · | · | · | · | · | · | · | X | · | · | · | · | · | · | · | X | · | · | · |
| Crisp hat | x | · | x | x | x | · | x | x | x | · | x | x | x | · | x | x | x | · | x | x | x | · | x | x | x | · | x | x | x | · | x | x |
| Conga | · | · | · | · | · | · | · | · | · | · | · | · | · | · | · | x | · | · | · | · | · | · | · | · | · | · | · | · | · | · | · | x |
| Tambourine | · | · | x | · | · | · | x | · | · | · | x | · | · | · | x | · | · | · | x | · | · | · | x | · | · | · | x | · | · | · | x | · |
Read across: each column is a sixteenth note, numbered on the beats. X is an accent, x a hit, r a quick roll, ? a hit that plays only some of the time round.
Tempo and feel
A light swing (around 53%) and a tempo just over 100 BPM give the lift. The chords carry the sound: major sevenths and ninths, played on an electric piano, climbing IV–V–iii–vi over two bars. A little tape wobble makes it sound like a cassette from 1984.
The beat above is Beatbay’s “City pop” starter: 104 BPM, swing 53%. Tap any step to change it while it plays.
Make it your own
The starter uses Beatbay’s Poolside kit. In Pro, change the chords’ colour between Plain, Sevenths and Lush to hear how much the ninths do, swap the Slap bass for the FM bass, or let the vocal track’s high voice sing soft “ooh”s on each chord.
When you like it, “Open in Beatbay” takes your version into the app, where you can save it, add patterns and share it as a link, a video or a WAV.
Questions
What chords does city pop use?
Mostly major seventh and ninth chords and minor sevenths. The IV–V–iii–vi progression, the “royal road”, is a favourite in Japanese pop.
What BPM is city pop?
Usually about 95 to 115 BPM.