Ambient Music - Definition

.::Ambient music::.

== History ==

Early 20th century French composer [[Erik Satie]] created an early form of ambient music that he referred to as "[[furniture music]]" (''Musique d'ameublement''), in reference to something that could be played during a dinner whose sound would simply create an atmosphere for that activity rather than be the specific focus of attention.
[[Brian Eno]] is generally credited with coining the term "ambient music" in the mid-1970s to refer to music that, as he stated, can be either "actively listened to with attention or as easily ignored, depending on the choice of the listener", and that exists on the "cusp between melody and texture. Eno, who describes himself as a "non-musician", termed his experiments in sound as "treatments" rather than as traditional performances. Eno used the word "ambient" to describe music that creates an atmosphere that puts the listener into a different state of mind; having chosen the word based on the Latin term "ambire", "to surround".



The liner notes of Eno's 1978 release ''[[Music for Airports|Ambient 1: Music for Airports]]'' includes a manifesto describing his philosophy of ambient music:

"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]], [http://music.hyperreal.org/artists/brian_eno/MFA-txt.html ''Music for Airports'' liner notes], September 1978

Eno has acknowledged the influence of [[Erik Satie]] and [[John Cage]], in particular Cage's use of chance such as throwing the [[I Ching]] to direct a musical composition; and [[minimalist music]] in general. This influence was manifested in [[Oblique Strategies]], a set of cards devised by Eno and Peter Schmidt and intended to direct the musician or artist when a dilemma occurred in a working situation. Eno used the term "ambient music" to distance his work from [[elevator music]] and [[Muzak]]. Eno also acknowledged influences of the [[mood music]] of [[Miles Davis]] and [[Teo Macero]], especially their 1974 epic piece, "He Loved Him Madly", about which Eno wrote, "that piece seemed to have the 'spacious' quality that I was after...it became a touchstone to which I returned frequently."{{cite book|title=Miles Beyond: The Electric Explorations of Miles Davis, 1967-1991|last=Tingen|first=Paul|year=2001|publisher=Watson-Guptill..



Early albums such as ''[[Ummagumma]]'' by Pink Floyd and by the "''kosmische Musik''"-oriented [[krautrock]] artists, like [[Tangerine Dream]], [[Popol Vuh (German band)|Popol Vuh]], and [[Cluster (band)|Cluster]] have greatly influenced the genre {{Fact|date=November 2008}}. Among the first [[electronic music|electronic]] ambient albums were ''Affenstunde'' (1970) and ''In Den Garten Pharaos'' (1971) by [[Popol Vuh (German band)|Popol Vuh]]. Other notable albums include ''Sonic Seasonings'' (1972) by [[Wendy Carlos]] and
''L'apocalypse des Animaux'' (1973; recorded in 1970) by [[Vangelis]]. Additional early artists, such as [[Klaus Schulze]] (a former member of [[Tangerine Dream]] and [[Ash Ra Tempel]]), [[Jean Michel Jarre]], and [[Kraftwerk]] in the 1970s and 1980s, were influential {{Fact|date=November 2008}}...






==Soundtracks==

Ambient music has been used in many video games, television shows and motion pictures and is notable for contributing to their atmosphere, or soundscapes. David Lynch's 1984 film Dune, for example, forgoes the epic sci-fi adventure style theme music popularized by Star Wars in favor of a more atmospheric music score by Toto and Brian Eno. Electronic musician Paddy Kingsland is noted for the music style he brought to several serials of the television series Doctor Who which had until then relied mostly on stock music cues or minimal music for much of its history. The video game trilogy Fallout and its spinoffs use ambient music that sometimes contains gentle rumblings to portray the bleakness of the post-apocalyptic world which the games are set in.






=== Ambient dub ===

Ambient Dub was a phrase first coined by the now defunct [[Beyond]] record label from early 1990s in Birmingham, England. Their defining series of albums "Ambient Dub 1, 2, through to 4" inspired many, including sound engineer and producer [[Bill Laswell]], who used the same phrase in his music project [[Divination]], where he collaborates with different musicians on each album (though sometimes the same ones are on more than one of the albums such as [[Tetsu Inoue]] and others). Laswell also presented Ambient dub and [[Ambient house]] music on albums by his collaboration project [[Axiom Dub]], featuring recording artists [[the Orb]], [[Jah Wobble]], [[Jaki Liebezeit]] and [[DJ Spooky]].
Ambient dub involves the genre melding of dub styles made famous by [[King Tubby]] and other Jamaican sound artists with DJ inspired ambient electronica, complete with all the inherent drop-outs, echo, equalization and psychedelic electronic effects. As writer and performer [[David Toop]] explains in an early Beyond Records newsletter, "Dub music is like a long echo delay, looping through time...turning the rational order of musical sequences into an ocean of sensation."





=== Organic ambient music ===

Organic ambient music is characterised by integration of [[electronic music|electronic]], [[electric]], and [[Wiktionary:acoustic|acoustic]] musical instruments. Aside from the usual electronic music influences, organic ambient tends to incorporate influences from [[world music]], especially [[drone (music)|drone]] instruments and hand [[percussion instrument|percussion]]. Organic ambient is intended to be more harmonious with [[nature]] than with the [[disco]]. Some of the artists in this sub-genre include [[musician Robert Rich|Robert Rich]], [[Steve Roach (musician)|Steve Roach]], [[Vidna Obmana]], [[O Yuki Conjugate]], [[Ma Ja Le]], [[Neal Merrick Blackwood]], [[Vir Unis]], [[James Johnson]], [[Loren Nerell]], [[Tuu music group|Tuu]] and [[Robert Scott Thompson]]
Some works by ambient pioneers such as [[Brian Eno]], [[Laraaji]] or [[Popul Vuh]] who use a combination of traditional instruments (such as piano or hammered dulcimer or hand percussion, though usually processed through tape loops or other devices) and electronic instruments, would be considered organic ambient music in this sense. In the 70s and 80s [[Klaus Schulze]] often recorded string ensembles and performances by solo [[cello|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 (band)|Biosphere's]] ''[[Substrata (album)|Substrata]]'', [[Mira Calix]]'s insect music and [[Chris Watson (musician)|Chris Watson]]'s ''[[Weather Report (album)|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. The album ''Second Nature'' by [[Bill Laswell]], [[Tetsu Inoue]], and [[Atom Heart]] is an ambient album that uses processed nature sounds, with reverb and echo to create a hypnotic environment. [[Aquatemple]] has contributed to the hybridization of these genres with their debut album Opulent Oceanic Odyssey. Aquatemple has been credited for birthing "Aquatica" as a new sub genre within ambient music.




=== Dark ambient ===
{{main|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 an eerie feel; the term "Isolationist Ambient" could be used interchangeably with it according to the listener or artists perspective. Some artists and releases that epitomize the style could include [[Yen Pox]], [[Randy Grief]], [[Archon Satani]], [[Lull]]'s [[Cold Summer]], [[Controlled Bleeding]]'s [[The Poisoner]], and the [[Robert Rich]]/[[Lustmord]] collaboration album [[Stalker (album)|''Stalker'']]. Related styles include '''ambient industrial''' and '''isolationist ambient'''. ''(See also [[List of dark ambient artists]])''
There are also a few [[black metal]] bands, such as [[Burzum]] and [[Beherit (band)|Beherit]], who produce ambient music, albeit not always with such a dark atmosphere. [[Illbient]] is another kind of dark ambient music that has more of a beat but still creates the spooky disturbing feelings.




=== Ambient techno ===

A rarefied, more specific re-orientation of ambient house, ambient techno is usually applied to artists such as B12, early Aphex Twin, the Black Dog, Higher Intelligence Agency, and Biosphere. It distinguished artists who combined the melodic and rhythmic approaches of techno and electro—use of drum machines; well-produced, thin-sounding electronics; minor-key melodies and alien-sounding samples and sounds—with the soaring, layered, aquatic atmospheres of beatless and experimental ambient music. Most often associated with labels such as Apollo, GPR, Warp, and Beyond, the terminology morphed into "[[Techno#Intelligent techno|intelligent techno]]" after Warp released its ''[[Artificial Intelligence (album)|Artificial Intelligence]]'' series, although the music's stylistic references remained largely unchanged.



=== Ambient house ===
{{main|Ambient house}}

''Ambient house'' is a musical category founded in the late 1980s that is used to describe [[acid house]] featuring [[ambient music]] elements and atmospheres. Tracks in the ambient house genre typically feature [[four-on-the-floor]] beats, [[synthesiser|synth pads]], and vocal samples integrated in an atmospheric style."Ambient House", ''[[Allmusic]]'' (Retrieved October 4, 2006). Ambient house tracks generally lack a [[Diatonic scale|diatonic]] center and feature much [[atonality]] along with synthesized chords.




=== Isolationist ambient music ===

Isolationist ambient music is also known as isolationism, which can be differentiated from other forms of ambient music in its use of repetition, dissonance, [[microtonality]], and unresolved harmonies to create a sense of unresolved unease and desolation.Reynolds, Simon; [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0268/is_n5_v33/ai_16462111 ''Chill: the new ambient''], ArtForum,
Jan, 1995 The term was popularized in the mid-1990s by the British magazine [[The Wire (magazine)|The Wire]] and the Ambient 4: Isolationism compilation from [[Virgin Records|Virgin]], this began as more or less a synonym for ambient industrial, but also inclusive of certain post-metal streams of ambient, such as [[Final]], [[Lull]], [[Main]], [[Sleep Research Facility]], or post-techno artists such as [[Autechre]] and [[Aphex Twin]]. It may be less appropriate to call Isolationist Ambient a genre than than using it to describe the style or "feel" of particular works by an artist working in an ambient mode. This is because many artists better known for other styles of work can occasionally create pieces that "sound" Isolationist. (For example; Labradford, Seefeel, Techno Animal, Voice Of Eye, KK Null, etc.)http://music.hyperreal.org/epsilon/info/isolationism.html There are many labels releasing work that could be termed Isolationist Ambient, among these are [[Malignant Records]], [[Cold Spring]], [[Manifold Records]], [[Soleilmoon]], [[Dark Vinyl]], and The Sombient label with the "drones" compilation series. Some of the artists known for this style of ambient music include [[Lull]], [[Final]], [[Deutsch Nepal]], [[Inanna]], [[Negru Voda]], [[Sleep Research Facility]], [[Thomas Koner]], [[Robert Fripp]] and [[Chuck Hammer]] [[Guitarchitecture]].


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