The Oriental riff, also known as the East Asian riff and the Chinaman lick, is a musical riff or phrase that has often been used in Western culture as a trope to represent the idea of East or Southeast Asia. The riff is sometimes accompanied by the sound of a gong at the end.
History
The Oriental riff is a Western creation. The first known example of a precursor, showing similar rhythm if not yet melody,[2] is the "Aladdin Quick Step", composed around 1847 and used in an Aladdin stage show named The Grand Chinese Spectacle of Aladdin or The Wonderful Lamp.[3][4][5] Later related tunes included "Mama's China Twins (Oriental Lullaby)" from 1900. In the 1930s, a couple of cartoons used a version of the tune specifically to accompany animated stereotypes of East Asians.[3]
The notes used in the riff are part of a pentatonic scale and often harmonized with parallel open fourths, which makes the riff sound like East Asian music to the casual Western listener.[citation needed]
The Oriental riff has also come to be used in many Japanese compositions as well, particularly in video games; these include Yie Ar Kung-Fu's main theme, the Chai Kingdom theme in Super Mario Land, Dragon Chan and Hoy Quarlow’s theme in Super Punch-Out!!, Min Min's theme in ARMS, the Team China stage in Super Dodge Ball, the song "Shao Pai Long" in The Super Dimension Fortress Macross, the fighting theme of the Kung-Fu chapter in Live A Live, the Wabi Sabi Wall theme in Ape Escape, and the track "Enter The Tiger" in Yakuza: Like a Dragon. Unlike the Western use of it seen in cases such as "Turning Japanese", works produced in Japan often use it to give an impression of China.[citation needed]
^S. S. Steele and T. Comer [songwriters] (1847). "Aladdin Quick Step". Favorite Melodies from the Grand Chinese Spectacle of Aladdin or The Wonderful Lamp. Boston: Prentiss and Clark. Retrieved 22 December 2021.