What defines an "Ambient" sounding song to you?

[guitarfan85]

It seems the craze over the past few years is to make "prog" and "ambient" music. Be it instrumental or not. It also seems that there are two really popular themes that people claim their music sounds. Either an "ocean" or "outer-space" theme.

But the one thing I see common with anything labeled "Ambient" is that the guitar has the reverb cranked up on the amp all the way to ten, as if that's what defines it as ambient.

Sure I suppose the meaning of something sounding ambient or spacey is that it goes on forever so it would make sense that the sounds would ring on for a long time, hence the reverb cranked.

So what is the definition of ambient music?

You can post examples of songs if you want

 

[darren]

Brian Eno (the father of ambient music) defined it as "music with no centre", i.e. there's no focal point in the music itself, allowing the listener to be at the centre.

 

[TheKindred]

ambient music

Ambient music includes forms of music that put an emphasis on tone and atmosphere over traditional musical structure or rhythm. Ambient music is said to evoke an "atmospheric", "visual"[2] or "unobtrusive" quality.[3] To quote one pioneer, Brian Eno, "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."[4]

As a genre it originated in the United Kingdom at a time when new sound-making devices such as the synthesizer, were being introduced to a wider market. Ambient developed in the 1970s from the experimental and synthesizer-oriented styles of the period. Mike Oldfield, Jean Michel Jarre and Vangelis were all influences on the emergence of ambient. Robert Fripp and Brian Eno popularized ambient music in 1972 while experimenting with tape loop techniques. The Orb and Aphex Twin gained commercial success with ambient tracks in the early 1990s. Ambient compositions are often quite lengthy, much longer than more popular, commercial forms of music. Some pieces can reach a half an hour or more in length

Ambient had a revival towards the late-1980s with the prominence of house and techno music. Eventually, ambient grew a cult following in the 1990s.[5] By the early 1990s artists such as Aphex Twin were being called ambient house, ambient techno, IDM or "ambient" by the media. Genre offshoots include dark ambient, ambient house, ambient industrial, ambient dub, psybient and ambient trance.

 

[MrSleepwalker]

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[guitarfan85]

Maybe I should have specified ambient "metal" music. Sorry.

I have never heard of this Brian eno. I have to dig on this subject more.

Does his definition of ambient apply the same way to metal too?

 

[DXL]

 

[Xarn]

]

I would probably list these tracks as downtempo/glitch or even IDM/experimental.

Imo, there can't be drums in a "real" ambient track. There has to be this feel that you're just floating freely while listening to the music.

 

[MerlinTKD]

I have never heard of this Brian Eno. I have to dig on this subject more.

Yes. Yes, you do need to dig on this subject more. If you like music, you need to know about Brian Eno.

Does his definition of ambient apply the same way to metal too?

I would say so, but then, so does your own take... I mean, every time there's a new genre, it's because someone(s) has taken what they hear from over here, and over there, and mash it together, regardless of what the original artists meant when they did their thing. Grunge combined various elements of 70's rock with various elements of 80's punk, but were motivated by their own things, not the things that motivated the artists in the 70's or 80's, so it ended up sounding reminiscent of, but different from, both of them.

Same thing with the various flavors of modern metal. Bands like Periphery, Tesseract, The Contortionist, I hear not just fusion jazz (some of which has ambient elements of it's own) but also a variety of electronic musical styles. For example, this past weekend I saw Bonobo do a DJ set on Saturday, and Intervals/Contortionist/Periphery on Sunday, and the similarities (especially with the new Contortionist) were remarkable. Guys like Bonobo were influenced by the artists before them (Aphex Twin, maybe? ), who were influenced by the guys before them... and this particular influence can be shot right back to Brian Eno. And the guys in The Contortionist were probably influenced by Bonobo or someone with a similar ambient style.

But the important part is that none of these artists are going out and emulating the philosophy of their influences, but what they hear. And doing it their own way, figuring out how it works for them.

Which, in some lazy cases, may involve nothing more than cranking the reverb to 10 and saying "we used to djent, but djent suxxorz, we're ambient now!"

 

[celticelk]

Maybe I should have specified ambient "metal" music. Sorry.

I have never heard of this Brian eno. I have to dig on this subject more.

Does his definition of ambient apply the same way to metal too?

If you want metal that's more in line with Eno's definition of ambient, you probably need to look at the drone end of the genre. In my experience, "ambient" in the context of "progressive" bands usually means that they use musical sections featuring clean-tone arpeggios with lots of "atmospheric" delay and reverb. Much like "jazz" when used in the metal context, it generally signifies to me that whoever's using the term hasn't bothered to educate themselves on its historical usage, and is only familiar with the genre's superficial sonic characteristics, but that may just be my curmudgeonly tendencies talking.

 

[ghost2II2]

No need for explanations.

 

[Maggai]

Brian Eno is awesome. And Benn Jordan - Pale blue dot is amazing. I hadn't heard Hammock, but I love it.

If you like ambient stuff, check out Fill - Scenes by the russian electronic artist bulb. Not to be confused with Misha. This is not "pure" ambient, but if you are into ambient I think you'll like this. You can get the album here for whatever price you want.

Fill - Scenes | Bulb

 

[guitarfan85]

No need for explanations.

Its not bad I suppose. I was waiting for something slightly different to happen but it didn't. I was waiting for Morgan freeman to start talking about the birth of a baby whale or something of that nature.

To me, it sounds like a track that would enhance the effects of marijuana

 

[Maggai]

I guess you're sort of missing the point maybe? To me it's about the journey it takes me on. It creates so many images in my head, like drifting through space.

There's not supposed to happen that much. But the stuff that you do like that have ambient elements have taken inspiration from this and blended it with metal music where stuff happens all the time.

Both are great, in different ways.

 

[darren]

If you're "waiting for something to happen," then you're fully and completely missing the point of ambient music.

 

[Defi]

If it makes me feel like I'm somewhere I'm not

 

[guitarfan85]

If you're "waiting for something to happen," then you're fully and completely missing the point of ambient music.

Ambient "sounds" are sounds, but to me this is not music. Its more like a track. Video games have ambient sound tracks, and this is exactly what that sounds like. Just my opinion i don't mean to dis anyone.

I like ambient sounds but I wouldn't strictly listen to ambient sounds for the sake of it. Also I'm not really a fan of electronic music.

I do think though, that the keyboard/synth can create a great and distinguished atmosphere in a lot of music. For example (Im using my phone so I can't post links of examples), but bands like soilwork, any song of theirs from the predators portrait or natural born chaos album has alot of atmosphere created by the keyboard, to me, the keyboard is ambient sound. And Soilwork would be nowhere near considered an "ambient" band.

Mozart himself defined that "music is melody, melody is music". So to me, strictly ambient and atmospheric sounds is not music. Again, I'm not bashing anyone here, I just can't get into it. I can get into ambient metal though

 

[DXL]

I'm really digging this thread. I used to not be into ambient music (had the "there's not enough going on" mentality) but I'm really feeling the stuff in this thread. The music kind of just picks you up and takes you away. I've been a huge fan of post rock for a while now and when i would be looking for new bands I would come a cross a lot of ambient stuff and immediately disregard it. Now I'm kicking myself that I don't remember what those bands were

 

[mikernaut]

Not sure what the original poster is after, seems maybe more spacey instrumental guitar stuff... But Ambient to me is really dreamy sounding and a lot of times with a build up and even sonic climax. Brain Eno has been mentioned and Hammock. I recently discovered Hammock via this video which is also visually moving ( to me)



I would also suggest Vangelis's Blade Runner Soundtrack, it is also a prime example.


Moby and Aphex Twin also have some ambient works I rather enjoy as well as Solar Field's "Mirrors Edge" soundtrack... and possibly some songs by Tycho.

 

[Alex Kenivel]

Is ambience music?

Or is music ambient?

 

[teamSKDM]

Then theres vildhjarta which is like evil toned ambient. they kinda describe their sound as being lost in a dark forest.