Ambient music

Ambient / Space music
Stylistic origins	20th century classical music, Electronic art music, Krautrock
Cultural origins	1970s
Typical instruments	Electronic musical instruments, some ambient artists use traditional instrumentation of almost any variety
Derivative forms	Ambient house - Ambient techno - Drum and bass - New Age
Subgenres
Dark ambient - Dronology - Lowercase (complete list)
Fusion genres
Ambient house - Illbient - Psybient - Ambient industrial
Other topics
Ambient music artists

Ambient music is a loosely defined musical genre that incorporates elements of a number of different styles - including jazz, electronic music, new age, rock and roll, modern classical music, reggae, traditional, world and even noise.

" Ambient Music must be able to accommodate many levels of listening attention without enforcing one in particular; it must be as ignorable as it is interesting. "

— Brian Eno (Music for Airports liner notes [1], September 1978)

History

The earliest electronic soundscape music and theories come from the work of Pierre Schaeffer who followed the futurists in classifying music into categories such as man made, natural, short and long. He made some of the first electronic music using record players and natural sounds, and cutting up tape, making the first experimental music use of recording and magnetic tape. Even his work can be seen as preempted by Shopenhauer's ideas of 'soundworlds', literally worlds made up entirely of sounds. Karlheinz Stockhausen created pioneering electronic musical experiments later in 1955, and these two (amongst others) lay the groundwork for ambient music to appear decades later when music technology had developed.

The term ambient music was first coined by Brian Eno in the late 1970s to refer to music that would envelop the listener without drawing attention to itself, that can be either "actively listened to with attention or as easily ignored, depending on the choice of the listener" (Eno, who describes himself as a "non-musician" termed his experiments in sound as "treatments" rather than as traditional performances). Hence, Brian Eno is considered the father of ambient music: his 1978 release Ambient 1: Music for Airports includes a manifesto describing this music. Although having coined the word "ambient", he is also quick to reference the works and influence of Erik Satie. Eno coined the term in an essay to distance his work from elevator music and Muzak, it is more often similar to mood music or an ambient background in movie and radio sound effects. Often listeners will forget they are listening to ambient music, which is one of the biggest attractions of the genre. It can be any musical style, including jazz, electronic music and modern classical music.

Some of the works of the 20th century French composer Erik Satie, today best known for his Trois Gymnopédies suite, can be regarded as predecessors of modern ambient music. He referred to some of his music as "Musique d'ameublement" ('furniture music' ,or more literally, 'music for the furniture' and 'music to mingle with knives and forks', referring to something that could be played during dinner and would simply create an atmosphere for that activity rather than be the focus of attention. Similarly some of the works of the French composer Edgard Varèse, who used the theremin extensively in his compositions as well as atonal techniques and non-standard time signatures, can also be viewed as predecessors of ambient music. John Cage created the ultimate ambient work with his 4'33", three periods of silence first played on the piano, which make the audience listen to the ambient sound surrounding them. Cage inspired minimalist composers such as La Monte Young, Morton Feldman, Terry Riley, Steve Reich and Philip Glass also influenced Eno's groundbreaking style, and ambient music can be seen as a kind of minimalism.

Early albums from the 1960s & 1970s by Pink Floyd (such as A Saucerful of Secrets, Atom Heart Mother and Meddle), and by "softer" krautrock bands like Tangerine Dream (such as Alpha Centauri, Zeit & Phaedra (1971-1974)) and Popol Vuh have greatly influenced the genre. Among the first electronic ambient albums were Affenstunde (1970) and In Den Garten Pharaos (1971) by Popol Vuh. Also, the album Sonic Seasonings (1972) by Wendy Carlos has been important. Other early artists such as Klaus Schulze (a former member of Tangerine Dream and Ash Ra Tempel), Jean-Michel Jarre, Kraftwerk, and Vangelis in the 1970s and 1980s became important. In the 1970s, some ambient, krautrock, and other musicians who were influenced by new age spirituality created the eclectic genre known as New Age music, selling millions independent from the mainstream music industry by direct order or new age shops. By the 1980s, New Age music had become so much better known than ambient music, that ambient was taken as a synonym for "New Age", and many ambient musicians deliberately took on new age themes to market themselves to this audience.

After the Second Summer of Love in 1988 ambient music underwent a resurgence with the combination of rhythmic electronic dance music with the dreamy, meandering sound of Eno-style ambient music. Under the guise of various styles, ambient electronic music (sometimes referred to as ambient techno or ambient dub) saw the birth of a new wave of electronic music in the works of artists like The Orb, Aphex Twin, the Irresistible Force, and Geir Jenssen's Biosphere.

Ambient music evolved into forms of IDM, trance, synthpop and electronica. Early Warp records artists, (as well as later ones such as Aphex Twin), FSOL Future Sound of London (Lifeforms, ISDN) Autechre, (Incunabula, Amber), Boards of Canada, Massive Attack, Portishead and KLF all took a part in popularising and diversifying ambient music. There are now a dizzying array of different sub-genres, festivals, websites, discussion lists, clubs, labels and artists making new, interesting, original music.

Styles of ambient music

Organic ambient music

Organic ambient music is characterised by integration of electronic, electric, and acoustic musical instruments. Aside from the usual electronic music influences, organic ambient tends to incorporate influences from world music, especially drone instruments and hand percussion. Organic ambient is intended to be more harmonious with nature than with the disco. Some of the artists in this sub-genre include Robert Rich, Steve Roach, Vidna Obmana, O Yuki Conjugate, James Johnson, Numina, and Tuu.

Some works by ambient pioneers such as Brian Eno, which use a combination of traditional (such as piano) and electronic instruments, would be considered organic ambient music in this sense. In the 70's and 80's Klaus Schulze often recorded string ensembles and performances by solo cellists to go along with his extended Moog synthesizer workouts.

Nature inspired ambient music

The music is composed from samples and recordings of naturally occurring sounds. Sometimes these samples can be treated to make them more instrument-like. The samples may be arranged in repetitive ways to form a conventional musical structure or may be random and unfocused. Sometimes the sound is mixed with urban or "found" sounds. Examples include much of Biosphere's Substrata, Mira Calix's insect music and Chris Watson's Weather Report. Some overlap occurs between organic ambient and nature inspired ambient. One of the first albums in the genre, Wendy Carlos' Sonic Seasonings, combines sampled and synthesized nature sounds with ambient melodies and drones for a particularly relaxing effect.

Dark ambient

Main article: Dark ambient

Dark ambient is a general term for any kind of ambient music with a "dark" or dissonant feel, but often involves extensive use of digital reverb to create vast sonic spaces for frightening, bottom-heavy sounds such as deep drones, gloomy male chorus, echoing thunder, and distant artillery. It has a relentlessly gothic feel. Lustmord's collaboration with Robert Rich Stalker epitomizes this sub-genre. Related styles include ambient industrial and isloationist ambient.

Ambient industrial

Main article: Ambient industrial

Ambient industrial is a hybrid genre of ambient and industrial music; the term industrial being used in the original experimental sense, rather than in the sense of industrial metal or EBM. A "typical" ambient industrial work (if there is a such thing) might consist of evolving dissonant harmonies of metallic drones and resonances, extreme low frequency rumbles and machine noises, perhaps supplemented by gongs, percussive rhythms, bullroarers, distorted voices and/or anything else the artist might care to sample (often processed to the point where the original sample is no longer recognizable). Entire works may be based on radio telescope recordings, the babbling of newborn babies, or sounds recorded through contact microphones on telegraph wires.

Among the many artists who work in this area are Coil, CTI, Lustmord, Hafler Trio, Nocturnal Emissions, Zoviet France, PGR, Thomas Koner, Controlled Bleeding, and Deutsch Nepal. It is important to note, however, that many of these artists are very eclectic in their output, with much of it falling outside of ambient industrial per se.

Isolationist ambient music

Also known as isolationism. The term was popularized in the mid-1990s by the British magazine The Wire and the Ambient 4: Isolationism compilation from Virgin, this began as more or less a synonym for ambient industrial, but also inclusive of certain post-techno streams of ambient, such as Autechre and Aphex Twin.[2] The Sombient label is now the primary purveyor of isolationist ambient, in particular with the "drones" compilation series. Some of the artists known for this style of ambient music include Robert Fripp.

Other 'less ambient' ambient styles

There are many other styles which identify themselves as ambient music. There is information on these styles on other pages, but many artists who are not in the new age world of music making produce albums which mix beatless ambient music with downtempo electronica, so the categories have blured edges. Chill out (music) is generally linked to club culture and is sometimes used as a term which includes ambient music as a subset of itself. UK techno developed in particular at Warp Records in Sheffield, where previous electronic pioneers such as Cabaret Voltaire and Autechre laid the groundwork for ambient techno to develop, and for Aphex Twin and Boards of Canada to develop later. From this scene developed ambient dub and ambient techno. Intelligent Dance Music is another term synonymous with this scene. Electroacoustic and acousmatic music are 'classical' art music forms that use electronic sound creation instead of or alongside acoustic instruments. Glitch music is a subset of this work. Some club groups have made live ambient music, mixing dub techniques and styles with ambient textures and dance grooves, for example artists such as Sonic State, Junkielover, the Orb, Chillage People, H.U.V.A. Network, Solar Fields, The Starsound Orchestra, and the Kuma Mela Project.

Notable musicians and works in chronological order

Main article: List of ambient artists

Artist name	Influential works
Erik Satie	1917 - Furniture music (1) 1920 - Furniture music (2) 1923 - Furniture music (3)
Edgard Varèse	1934 - Ecuatorial
Pierre Schaeffer	1948 - Etude aux Chemins de Fer
Miles Davis	1969 - In A Silent Way 1974 - Big Fun for "Orange Lady" 1974 - Get Up With It for "He Loved Him Madly"
Popol Vuh	1970 - Affenstunde 1971 - In Den Garten Pharaos
Pink Floyd	1971 - Meddle 1973 - The Dark Side of the Moon 1975 - Wish You Were Here
Deuter	1971 - D 1978 - Haleakala 1978 - Land of Enchantment 1979 - Ecstasy 1981 - Silence Is the Answer
Tangerine Dream	1971 - Alpha Centauri 1972 - Zeit 1974 - Phaedra 1975 - Rubycon 1975 - Ricochet 1976 - Stratosfear — 1999 - Mars Polaris 2000 - The Seven Letters from Tibet
Wendy Carlos	1972 - Sonic Seasonings
Yes	1972 - Close to the Edge for "I Get Up I Get Down"
Klaus Schulze	1972 - Irrlicht 1973 - Cyborg 1975 - Timewind 1976 - Moondawn 1977 - Mirage 1977 - Body Love Vol. 2 1978 - X 1979 - Dune 1995 - In Blue — With Pete Namlook: 1994 - Dark Side of the Moog I - Wish you were there 1994 - Dark Side of the Moog II - A saucerful of ambience 2002 - Dark Side of the Moog IX - Set the controls for the heart of the mother 2005 - Dark Side of the Moog X - Astro know me domina
Can	1973 - Future Days 1974 - Soon Over Babaluma
Gong	1973 - Flying Teapot for "The Octave Doctors and the Crystal Machine" 1974 - You for "A Sprinkling of Clouds"
Fripp & Eno	1973 - No Pussyfooting 1975 - Evening Star
Kraftwerk	1975 - Radio-Activity
Brian Eno	1975 - Another Green World 1975 - Discreet Music 1978 - Ambient 1 / Music For Airports 1980 - Fourth World 1 / Possible Musics (with Jon Hassell) 1982 - Ambient 4 / On Land 1983 - Apollo: Atmospheres and Soundtracks
David Bowie	1977 - Low (with Brian Eno) 1977 - "Heroes" (with Brian Eno)
Steve Reich	1976-1978 - Music for 18 Musicians
Steve Roach	1984 - Structures from Silence 1988 - Quiet Music 1996 - The Magnificent Void
Coil	1984 - How to Destroy Angels 1995 - Worship the Glitch 1998 - Moon's Milk 1998 - Time Machines 1999 - Music to Play in the Dark Volume I 2000 - Music to Play in the Dark Volume II 2004 - ANS
Constance Demby	1986 - Novus Magnificat
The KLF	1990 - Chill Out
The Orb	1991 - The Orb's Adventures Beyond the Ultraworld 1992 - U.F.Orb
Biosphere	1991 - Microgravity 1994 - Patashnik 1997 - Substrata 2002 - Shenzhou 2006 - Dropsonde
Aphex Twin	1992 - Selected Ambient Works 85-92 1994 - Selected Ambient Works Volume II
Pete Namlook	1992 - Silence I 1993 - Air I 1994 - Air II 1996 - Outland 2 (with Bill Laswell)
Moby aka Voodoo Child	1993 - Ambient 1996 - The End of Everything (as Voodoo Child)
Global Communication	1994 - 76:14
Autechre	1994 - Amber
Future Sound of London	1994 - Lifeforms 1994 - ISDN 1996 - Dead Cities
William Basinski	2002 - The River 2003 - Disintegration Loops III

Notable filmmakers and works in chronological order

Main article: Film director

Filmmaker name	Influential works
Frank Capra	1934 - It Happened One Night Cricket sounds in the background were dubbed in later - reportedly the first time that ambient sounds were added in after a shot.
Stanley Kubrick	1968 - 2001: A Space Odyssey (film) "A cutting edge ambient, multimedia accomplishment...the ambient revolution, now and for the past couple of decades, owes much of its impetus to the achievement of 2001." -- D.B. Spalding (http://www.korova.com/kmr95/kmr5025.htm)
George Lucas	1969 - THX 1138
David Lynch	1980 - The Elephant Man (film)
Ridley Scott	1982 - Blade Runner
Carroll Ballard	1983 - Never Cry Wolf
Francis Ford Coppola	1983 - Rumble Fish

See also

• List of ambient artists
• Intelligent dance music (IDM)
• glitch

External links and references

• Ambient.us (Positive Energy Ambient Music Guide) cd reviews, radio stream, forum and music download site.
• Ambient Music Guide Comprehensive ambient music resource site.
• Ambient Reviews - Morpheus Music Ambient review, news and interviews.
• Mp3blog Ambient Mp3blog
• Ambient Music Guide to ambient music style, including reviews of important ambient works.
• 25 Years of Ambient Music Retrospective on ambient music.
• The International Society for Creative Guitar and String Music
• Calmscape, the Chillout Lounge Portal for chillout, ambient and downbeat music.
• FARFIELD Records Extensive ambient music directory, mail-order and reviews.
• Properlychilled.com Dedicated to down tempo music & culture (ambient, glitch, idm, ...)

Major FM and satellite radio shows

• Echoes US public radio show produced by music critic John Diliberto.
• Hearts of Space ambient music programme broadcast in the US since the 1970s.
• Starstreams US-based commercial radio show on air since 1981.
• Ultima Thule Ambient Music Radio popular programme on Australian public radio since 1989.

Online streaming audio

• Chill Zone One Radio IAC'S Chill & Ambient Authority. chillout, ambient, downtempo, soundscapes, atmosphere
• SomaFM Listener-supported, commercial-free, underground/alternative internet radio.
• AmbientMusic-Radio Artist/label promo, streamed 24/7, ambient music internet radio.
• StillStream streamed 24/7, regular live DJs playing only ambient music all day and night
• Augustine Leudar Ambient and often highly experimental electronica, described as "holographic surrealist ambient soundscapes"
• Party Radio - Internet radio station which streams Ambient.

Software

• Native InstrumentsComputer based music software, ambient as well as many other styles of music.
• SSEYO Generative MusicBrian Eno used Koan software on Another Day on Earth
• Synapse Audio Software: Orion Platinum, Pro, Hydra, Poly-850, Scorpion, Plucked string. more information at: http://www.synapse-audio.com/demo.php