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Ambient music

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Ambient musicis agenre of musicthat emphasizestoneand atmosphere over traditionalmusical structureorrhythm.It is often "peaceful" sounding and lackscomposition,beat, and/or structuredmelody.[5]It uses textural layers of sound that can reward both passive and active listening[6]and encourage a sense of calm or contemplation.[7][8]The genre is said to evoke an "atmospheric", "visual",[9]or "unobtrusive" quality.[10]Naturesoundscapesmay be included, and the sounds ofacousticinstruments such as thepiano,stringsandflutemay be emulated through asynthesizer.[11]

The genre originated in the 1960s and 1970s, when new musical instruments were being introduced to a wider market, such as the synthesizer.[12]It was presaged byErik Satie'sfurniture musicand styles such asmusique concrète,minimal music,Jamaicandub reggaeand Germanelectronic music,but was prominently named and popularized by British musicianBrian Enoin 1978 with his albumAmbient 1: Music for Airports;Eno opined that ambient music "must be as ignorable as it is interesting".[13]It saw a revival towards the late 1980s with the prominence of house andtechno music,growing acult followingby the 1990s.[14]Ambient music may have elements ofnew-age musicanddrone music,as some works may usesustainedorrepeatednotes.[15]

Minimoog Voyager XL, owned by Brian Eno

Ambient music did not achieve large commercial success, being criticized as everything from "dolled-up new age, [..] to boring and irrelevant technical noodling".[16]Nevertheless, it has attained a certain degree of acclaim throughout the years, especially in theInternet age.Due to its relatively open style, ambient music often takes influences from many other genres, ranging fromclassic,avant-garde music,experimental music,folk,jazz,andworld music,amongst others.[17][18]

History

[edit]

Origins

[edit]
Erik Satieis acknowledged as an important precursor to modern ambient music and an influence on Brian Eno.

As an early 20th-century French composer,Erik Satieused suchDadaist-inspired explorations to create an early form of ambient/background music that he labeled "furniture music"(Musique d'ameublement). This he described as being the sort of music that could be played during a dinner to create a background atmosphere for that activity, rather than serving as the focus of attention.[19]

In his own words, Satie sought to create "a music...which will be part of the noises of the environment, will take them into consideration. I think of it as melodious, softening the noises of the knives and forks at dinner, not dominating them, not imposing itself. It would fill up those heavy silences that sometime fall between friends dining together. It would spare them the trouble of paying attention to their own banal remarks. And at the same time it would neutralize thestreet noiseswhich so indiscreetly enter into the play of conversation. To make such music would be to respond to a need. "[20][21]

In 1948, French composer & engineer, Pierre Schaeffer coined the termmusique concrète.This experimental style of music used recordings of natural sounds that were then modified, manipulated or effected to create a composition.[22]Shaeffer's techniques of usingtape loopsand splicing are considered to be the precursor to modern daysampling.

In 1952,John Cagereleased his famous three-movementcomposition[23]4'33which is a performance of complete silence for four minutes and thirty-three seconds. The piece is intended to capture the ambient sounds of the venue/location of the performance and have that be the music played.[24]Cage has been cited by seminal artists such as Brian Eno as influence.[24]

1960s

[edit]

In the 1960s, many music groups experimented with unusual methods, with some of them creating what would later be called ambient music.

In the summer of 1962, composersRamon SenderandMorton SubotnickfoundedThe San Francisco Tape Music Centerwhich functioned both as an electronic music studio and concert venue.[25]Other composers working with tape recorders became members and collaborators includingPauline Oliveros,Terry RileyandSteve Reich.Their compositions, among others, contributed to the development ofminimal music(also called minimalism), which shares many similar concepts to ambient music such as repetitive patterns or pulses, steady drones, and consonant harmony.[26]

Many records were released in Europe and the United States of America between the mid-1960s and the mid-1990s that established the conventions of the ambient genre in the anglophone popular music market.[27]Some 1960s records with ambient elements includeMusic for Yoga Meditation and Other JoysandMusic for Zen MeditationbyTony Scott,Soothing Sounds for BabybyRaymond Scott,and the first record of theEnvironmentsalbum seriesbyIrv Teibel.

In the late 1960s, French composerÉliane Radiguecomposed several pieces by processing tape loops from the feedback between two tape recorders and a microphone.[28]In the 1970s, she then went on to compose similar music almost exclusively with anARP 2500 synthesiser,and her long, slow compositions have often been compared todrone music.[29][30]In 1969, the groupCOUM Transmissionswere performing sonic experiments in British art schools.[31]Pearls Before Swine's 1968 albumBalaklavafeatures the sounds ofbirdsongand ocean noise, which were to become tropes of ambient music. "[32]

1970s

[edit]

Developing in the 1970s, ambient music stemmed from theexperimentalandsynthesizer-oriented styles of the period.

Between 1974 and 1976, American composerLaurie Spiegelcreated her seminal workThe Expanding Universe,created on a computer-analog hybrid system called GROOVE.[33]In 1977, her composition,Music of the Sphereswas included on Voyager 1 and 2'sGolden Record.[34]

In April 1975,Suzanne Cianigave two performances on herBuchla synthesizer– one at the WBAI Free music store and one atPhil Niblock'sloft.[35]These performances were released on an archival album in 2016 entitledBuchla Concerts 1975.According to the record label, these concerts were part live presentation, part grant application and part educational demonstration.[36]

However, it was not until Brian Eno coined the term in the mid-70s that ambient music was defined as a genre. Eno went on to record 1975'sDiscreet Musicwith this in mind, suggesting that it be listened to at "comparatively low levels, even to the extent that it frequently falls below the threshold of audibility",[20]referring to Satie's quote about his musique d'ameublement.[37]

Other contemporaneous musicians creating ambient-style music at the time included Jamaicandub musicianssuch asKing Tubby,[2]Japaneseelectronic musiccomposers such asIsao Tomita[3][4]andRyuichi Sakamotoas well as thepsychoacousticsoundscapes ofIrv Teibel'sEnvironmentsseries, and German experimental bands such asPopol Vuh,Cluster,Kraftwerk,Harmonia,Ash Ra TempelandTangerine Dream.Mike Orme ofStylus Magazinedescribes the work ofBerlin schoolmusicians as "laying the groundwork" for ambient.[38]

The impact the rise of the synthesizer in modern music had on ambient as a genre cannot be overstated; as Ralf Hutter of early electronic pioneersKraftwerksaid in a 1977Billboardinterview: "Electronics is beyond nations and colors...with electronics everything is possible. The only limit is with the composer".[39]TheYellow Magic Orchestradeveloped a distinct style of ambientelectronic musicthat would later be developed intoambient housemusic.[40]

Brian Eno

[edit]
Brian Eno (pictured in 1974) is credited with coining the term "ambient music".

The English producerBrian Enois credited with coining the term "ambient music" in the mid-1970s. He said other artists had been creating similar music, but that "I just gave it a name. Which is exactly what it needed... By naming something you create a difference. You say that this is now real. Names are very important."[41]He used the term to describe music that is different from forms of canned music likeMuzak.[42]

In the liner notes for his 1978 albumAmbient 1:Music for Airports,Eno wrote:[43]

Whereas the extant canned music companies proceed from the basis of regularizing environments by blanketing their acoustic and atmospheric idiosyncrasies, Ambient Music is intended to enhance these. Whereas conventional background music is produced by stripping away all sense of doubt and uncertainty (and thus all genuine interest) from the music, Ambient Music retains these qualities. And whereas their intention is to "brighten" the environment by adding stimulus to it (thus supposedly alleviating the tedium of routine tasks and leveling out the natural ups and downs of the body rhythms) Ambient Music is intended to induce calm and a space to think. 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.

Eno, who describes himself as a "non-musician", termed his experiments "treatments" rather than traditional performances.[43][44]

1980s

[edit]

In the late 70s, new-age musicianLaraajibegan busking in New York parks and sidewalks, including Washington Square Park. It was there that Brian Eno heard Laraaji playing and asked him if he'd like to record an album.Day of Radiancereleased in 1980, was the third album in Eno's Ambient series. Although Laraaji had already recorded a number of albums, this one gave him international recognition.[45]Unlike other albums in the series,Day of Radiancefeatured mostly acoustic instruments instead of electronics.

In the mid-1980s, the possibilities to create a sonic landscape increased through the use ofsampling.By the late 1980s, there was a steep increase in the incorporation of the computer in the writing and recording process of records. The sixteen-bit Macintosh platform with built-in sound and comparable IBM models would find themselves in studios and homes of musicians and record makers.[46]

However, many artists were still working with analogue synthesizers and acoustic instruments to produce ambient works.

In 1983,Midori Takadarecorded her first solo LPThrough the Looking Glassin two days. She performed all parts on the album, with diverse instrumentation including percussion, marimba, gong, reed organ, bells, ocarina, vibraphone, piano and glass Coca-Cola bottles.[47]

Between 1988 and 1993,Éliane Radigueproduced three hour-long works on theARP 2500which were subsequently issued together asLa Trilogie De La Mort.[48]

Also in 1988, founding member and director of theSan Francisco Tape Music Centre,Pauline Oliveroscoined the term "deep listening"after she recorded an album inside a huge underground cistern in Washington which has a 45-second reverberation time. The concept of Deep Listening then went on to become" an aesthetic based upon principles of improvisation, electronic music, ritual, teaching and meditation ".[49]

1990s

[edit]

By the early 1990s, artists such asthe Orb,Aphex Twin,Seefeel,theIrresistible Force,Biosphere,and theHigher Intelligence Agencygained commercial success and were being referred to by thepopular musicpress asambient house,ambient techno,IDMor simply "ambient". The termchilloutemerged from Britishecstasyculture which was originally applied in relaxed downtempo "chillout rooms" outside of the main dance floor where ambient, dub and downtempo beats were played to ease thetrippingmind.[50][51]

British artists such as Aphex Twin (specifically:Selected Ambient Works Volume II,1994),Global Communication(76:14,1994),The Future Sound of London(Lifeforms,1994,ISDN,1994),the Black Dog(Temple of Transparent Balls,1993),Autechre(Incunabula,1993,Amber,1994),Boards of Canada,andThe KLF'sChill Out,(1990), all took a part in popularising and diversifying ambient music where it was used as a calming respite from the intensity of thehardcoreandtechnopopular at that time.[50]

Other global ambient artists from the 1990s include American composersStars of the Lid(who released 5 albums during this decade), and Japanese artistSusumu Yokotawhose albumSakura(1999) featured what Pitchfork magazine called "dreamy, processed guitar as a distinctive sound tool".[52]

2000s–present

[edit]
Sounds ofnatural habitatsare common in YouTube uploads, with theirthumbnailstypically having images of naturallandscapesto attract listeners.

By the late 2000s to present, ambient music also gained widespread recognition onYouTube,with uploaded pieces, usually ranging from one to eight hours long, getting over millions of hits. Such videos are usually titled, or are generally known as, "relaxing music", and may be influenced by othermusic genres.Ambient videos assist online listeners withyoga,study,sleep(seemusic and sleep),massage,meditationand gainingoptimism,inspiration, and creating peaceful atmosphere in their rooms or other environments.[53] Many uploaded ambient videos tend to be influenced bybiomusicwhere they featuresounds of nature,though the sounds would be modified withreverbsanddelay unitsto make spacey versions of the sounds as part of the ambience. Such natural sounds oftentimes include those of abeach,rainforest,thunderstormandrainfall,among others, withvocalizations of animalssuch asbird songsbeing used as well. Pieces containingbinaural beatsare common and popular uploads as well, which providemusic therapyandstress managementfor the listener.[54][55][a]

iTunesandSpotifyhavedigital radiostations that feature ambient music, which are mostly produced byindependent labels.[5]

Acclaimed ambient music of this era (according toPitchforkmagazine) include works byMax Richter,Julianna Barwick,Grouper,William Basinski,Oneohtrix Point Never,andthe Caretaker.[59][60][61][62]In 2011, American composer Liz Harris recording asGrouperreleased the albumAIA: Alien Observer,listed by Pitchfork at number 21 on their "50 Best Ambient Albums of All Time".[63]In 2011, Julianna Barwick released her first full-length albumThe Magic Place.Heavily influenced by her childhood experiences in a church choir, Barwick loops her wordless vocals into ethereal soundscapes.[64]It was listed at number 30 on Pitchfork's 50 Best Ambient Albums of All Time.[63]After several self-released albums, Buchla composer, producer and performerKaitlyn Aurelia Smithwas signed to independent record label Western Vinyl in 2015.[65]In 2016, she released her second official albumEARS.It paired theBuchla synthesizerwith traditional instruments and her compositions were compared toLaurie SpiegelandAlice Coltrane.[66]Kaitlyn has also collaborated with other well-known Buchla performer,Suzanne Ciani.[67]Iggy Pop's 2019 albumFreefeatures ambient soundscapes.[68]Mallsoft,a subgenre ofvaporwave,features various ambient influences, with artists such asCat System Corp.and Groceries exploring ambient sounds typical of malls and grocery stores.[69]

[edit]

Ambient dub

[edit]

Ambient dub is a fusion of ambient music withdub.The term was first coined byBirmingham's now defunct label "Beyond Records" in early 1990s. The label released series of albums Ambient Dub Volume 1 to 4 that inspired many artists, includingBill Laswell,who used the same phrase in his music project Divination, where he collaborated with other artists in the genre. Ambient dub adopts dub styles made famous byKing Tubbyand other Jamaican sound artists from the 1960s to the early 1970s, using DJ-inspired ambient electronica, complete with all the inherent drop-outs, echo, equalization and psychedelic electronic effects. It often features layering techniques and incorporates elements of world music, deep bass lines and harmonic sounds.[2]According toDavid Toop,"Dub music is like a long echo delay, looping through time...turning the rational order of musical sequences into an ocean of sensation."[70]Notable artists within the genre includeDreadzone,Higher Intelligence Agency,the Orb,Gaudi,[71]Ott,Loop Guru,WoobandTransglobal Underground[72]as well asBanco de GaiaandLeyland Kirby

Ambient house

[edit]

Ambient house is a musical category founded in the late 1980s that is used to describeacid housefeaturing ambient music elements and atmospheres.[73]Tracks in the ambient house genre typically featurefour-on-the-floorbeats,synth pads,and vocal samples integrated in an atmospheric style.[73]Ambient house tracks generally lack adiatoniccenter and feature muchatonalityalong with synthesized chords. The DutchBrainvoyageris an example of this genre.Illbientis another form of ambient house music.

Ambient techno

[edit]

Ambient techno is a music category emerging in the late 1980s that is used to describe ambient music atmospheres with the rhythmic and melodic elements oftechno.[74]Notable artists includeAphex Twin,B12,Autechre,andthe Black Dog.

Ambient industrial

[edit]

Ambient industrial is a hybrid genre ofindustrialand ambient music.[75]A "typical" ambient industrial work (if there is such a thing) might consist of evolving dissonant harmonies of metallic drones and resonances, extreme low frequency rumbles and machine noises, perhaps supplemented bygongs,percussive rhythms,bullroarers,distorted voices or anything else the artist might care to sample (often processed to the point where the original sample is no longer recognizable).[75]Entire works may be based onradio telescoperecordings, the babbling of newborn babies, or sounds recorded through contact microphones on telegraph wires.[75]

Ambient pop

[edit]

Ambient popis a style that developed in the 1980s and 1990s contemporaneously withpost-rock;it has also been regarded as an extension of thedream popmovement and the atmospheric style ofshoegaze.It incorporates structures that are common toindie music,but extensively explores "electronic textures and atmospheres that mirror the hypnotic, meditative qualities of ambient music", which is also central toindie electronicmusic.[76]Ambient pop utilizes the musical experimentation ofpsychedeliaand the repetitive traits ofminimalism,krautrockandtechnoas prevalent influences. Despite being an extension of dream pop, it is distinguished by its adoption of "contemporary electronic idioms, includingsampling,although for the most part live instruments continue to define the sound. "[76]

David Bowie'sBerlin Trilogywith ambient music pioneerBrian Eno,both of whom were inspired during the production of the albums in the trilogy by Germankosmische Musikbands and minimalist composers,[77]was regarded as influential on ambient pop. The track "Red Sails" from the trilogy's third album,Lodger(1979), was retroactively described as a "piece of ambient-pop" by the music journalist David Buckley inDavid Bowie: The Music and The Changes,as it prominently incorporates amotorikdrum rhythm, electronically processed guitars and a simplistic melody.[78]

Dream pop bandSlowdive's 1995 albumPygmalionwas a major departure from the band's usual sound, heavily incorporating elements of ambientelectronicaand psychedelia with hypnotic, repetitive rhythms,[79]influencing many ambient pop bands and subsequently being regarded as a landmark album in the genre;[80]Pitchforkcritic Nitsuh Abebe described the album's songs as "ambient pop dreams that have more in common with post-rock [bands] likeDisco Infernothan shoegazers likeRide".[81]The genre continued to stylistically progress in the 2000s with bands includingSweet Trip,Múm,Broadcast,Dnteland his projectthe Postal Service.[82]

Dark ambient

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Brian Eno's original vision of ambient music as unobtrusive musical wallpaper, later fused with warm house rhythms and given playful qualities by the Orb in the 1990s, found its opposite in the style known as dark ambient. Populated by a wide assortment of personalities—ranging from older industrial and metal experimentalists (Scorn'sMick Harris,Current 93'sDavid Tibet,Nurse with Wound'sSteven Stapleton) to electronic boffins (Kim Cascone/PGR,Psychick Warriors Ov Gaia),Japanese noiseartists (K.K. Null,Merzbow), and latter-day indie rockers (Main,Bark Psychosis) – dark ambient features toned-down or entirely missing beats with unsettling passages of keyboards, eerie samples, and treated guitar effects. Like most styles related in some way to electronic/dance music of the '90s, it's a very nebulous term; many artists enter or leave the style with each successive release.[83]Related styles includeambient industrial(see below) and isolationist ambient.

Space music

[edit]

Space music, also spelled "Spacemusic", includes music from the ambient genre as well as a broad range of other genres with certain characteristics in common to create the experience of contemplative spaciousness.[84][85][86]

Space music ranges from simple to complex sonic textures sometimes lacking conventional melodic, rhythmic, or vocal components,[87][88]generally evoking a sense of "continuum of spatial imagery and emotion",[89]beneficial introspection, deep listening[90]and sensations of floating, cruising or flying.[91][92]

Space music is used by individuals for both background enhancement and foreground listening, often with headphones, to stimulate relaxation, contemplation, inspiration and generally peaceful expansive moods[93]andsoundscapes.Space music is also a component of many filmsoundtracksand is commonly used inplanetariums,as arelaxation aidand formeditation.[94]

Film soundtracks

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Examples of films withsoundtracksthat feature some, or extensive, usage of ambient music include,Forbidden Planet(1956),THX 1138(1971),[95]Solaris(1972),[96]Blade Runner(1982),[96]The Thing(1982),[95]Dune(1984),[96]Heathers(1988),[96]Akira(1988),[96]Ghost in the Shell(1995),[95]Titanic(1997),[97]Traffic(2000),Donnie Darko(2001),Solaris(2002),The Passion of the Christ(2004),[98]Pride & Prejudice(2005),[96]Moon(2009),[95]The Social Network(2010),[96]Cosmopolis(2012),[95]Her(2013),Enemy(2013),Drive(2011),[99]Interstellar(2014),Gone Girl(2014),[96]The Revenant(2015),Columbus(2017),Mandy(2018),[100]Annihilation(2018),Ad Astra(2019),Chernobyl(2019)[101]andDune(2021),[102]among many others.

Notable ambient-music shows

[edit]
  • Sirius XM Chillplays ambient, chillout and downtempo electronica.
  • Sirius XM Spablends ambient and new age instrumental music on channel XM 68.
  • Echoes,a daily two-hour music radio program hosted by John Diliberto featuring a soundscape of ambient, spacemusic, electronica, new acoustic and new music directions – founded in 1989 and syndicated on 130 radio stations in the US.
  • BBC Radio 1 Relaxis a radio station offered by theBritish Broadcasting Corporation(BBC) that broadcasts ambient music. The channel features a variety of ambient genres, including electronic and instrumental compositions.
  • Hearts of Space,a program hosted byStephen Hilland broadcast onNPRin the US since 1973.[103][104]
  • Musical Starstreams,a US-based commercial radio station and Internet program produced, programmed and hosted by Forest since 1981.
  • Star's End,a radio show on88.5 WXPN,inPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania.Founded in 1976, it is the second longest-running ambient music radio show in the world.[105]
  • Ultima Thule Ambient Music,a weekly 90-minute show broadcast since 1989 on community radio across Australia.
  • Avaruusromua,the name meaning "space debris", is a 60-minute ambient and avant-garde radio program broadcast since 1990 on Finnish public broadcasterYLE'svarious stations.[106]

See also

[edit]

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^One notable exception isthe Caretaker'sEverywhere at the End of Time,an ambient series of albums featuring over 22 millions views as of 31 August 2024. It is widely considered to evoke strong negative emotions due to its musical representation ofAlzheimer's disease.[56][57][58]

References

[edit]
  1. ^abDrone is now classified as a subgenre of ambient music, but early drone music influenced the origin of ambient. See the other note fromCambridge History of Twentieth-Century Music(Cook & Pople 2004, p. 502), and the note fromFour Musical Minimalists(Potter 2002, p. 91).
  2. ^abcHolmes, Thom (2008).Electronic and Experimental Music: Technology, Music, and Culture.Routledge. p. 403.ISBN978-0203929599.Retrieved1 April2013.
  3. ^abQ&A with Isao TomitaArchived2017-04-24 at theWayback Machine,Tokyo Weekender
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  105. ^"Star's End" is (with the exception of "Music from the Hearts of Space" ) the longest running radio program of ambient music in the world. Since 1976, Star's End has been providing the Philadelphia broadcast area with music to sleep and dream to. ""Star's End" website background information pageArchived2007-08-14 at theWayback Machine
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