HAPPY & HEALTHY FEBRUARY 2024 GUITAR MUSIC AFICIONADOS. Despite the world collapsing into increasingly dire crises at the behest of inept megalomaniac despots, I will endeavour to deliver some (hopefully) light entertainment as a non‑addictive antidote to the agonising anguish of day‑to‑day survival. As woeful soothsayers may predict, ‘the end of the world is nigh’. For once, they might just be right, at least for human civilisation. Time to repent and plead for redemption at the end of days? I think not. At least not yet. In the meantime… rock till you drop, I say. I digress, as usual. Apologies to one and all.
“Better than a thousand hollow words, is one word that brings peace” Buddha (Siddhārtha Gautama – c.480-400BCE)
Back to the business at hand. Pretentious pedantic prose. OK. Up front, forgive me, for there is an underlying understanding in, and a focus on, the simplicity of the here and now that runs through this article, hence the title. It is a contemplative and reflective narrative that draws on the creative essence of CRAVE Guitars over time.
A little while ago, I was doing some file management on my laptop and I came across a number of old documents that caught my attention. They were basically some very crude design ideas created in a transitional period of CRAVE Guitars’ history between 2007 and 2014.
‘Aha’. Lightbulb moment. The discovery might make a different and, perhaps (?), interesting basis for a matter‑of‑factual monthly musing, I thought. So, without further ado, let’s fire up the metaphorical DeLorean and drift back to 2007 to track the evolution of design elements that developed over a period of seven years and which have been a mainstay of CRAVE Guitars for the last nine years or so. A much shorter missive for you this month, you will probably be pleased to know. Some images too, to brighten up the virtual page.
The dawn of CRAVE Guitars: a reminder – 2007
A quick recap may be in order to provide context. I covered the birth and early years progression of CRAVE Guitars back on its 10th anniversary article in July 2017. There is some inevitable overlap with this article. For those that wish to go into a bit more background detail (opens in a new tab)…
There is, though, a bit more to the design components than I covered at the time. The catalyst for establishing CRAVE Guitars as ‘a thing’ goes back to 2007 and the acquisition of a gorgeous 1989 Gibson Les Paul Custom. While this wasn’t actually a vintage guitar at the time, it had many of the beguiling characteristics that are present on many vintage guitars, including minor bumps, nicks, play wear yellowed binding, and a fading lustre resulting in a fine satin patina. The point of mentioning this here is that this event was the germination of an idea and a facilitator for what would become the CRAVE (Cool & Rare American Vintage Electric) Guitars ‘project’.
“An idea that is developed and put into action is more important than an idea that exists only as an idea.” Buddha (Siddhārtha Gautama – c.480-400BCE)
The original concept is stated on the home page of the web site, “The name ‘CRAVE’ is a play on words; as an acronym, it stands for ‘Cool & Rare American Vintage Electric’ guitars, while its literal meaning is ‘to yearn for’ or ‘to want greatly’. It may also be taken as a ‘call to action’.”
In addition, the six individual constituent words – cool, rare, American, vintage, electric and guitars – became the core criteria for identifying and acquiring instruments (and associated equipment) for the CRAVE Guitars ‘collection’.
Thus… CRAVE Guitars became more than just a vague notion. Sort of. It was shaping up into being ‘a thing’, although I’m still not quite sure what ‘thing’ it has become. However, it exists, whatever ‘it’ is. It struck me as notable how some things come from nowhere and then somehow develop a life of their own, becoming well‑established over time with no or little subsequent change. While the name stuck, the graphic design to support it did not appear fully formed at the time; the current brand image came along much later.
After the summer of 2007, the odd assortment of random guitar gear acquired over many years came under scrutiny and I quickly realised it needed radical rationalisation if it was to comply with the six core criteria of the project. Firstly my non‑American guitars were sold off, then my acoustic guitars and, finally, guitars newer than 1989 were also sold (bar two). What remained formed the basis of CRAVE Guitars as it is now. What was left were about 6‑8 guitars and 2 basses. Since 2007‑ish, all essential acquisitions have complied with the principle mission and entry criteria to create a rationally thought‑through, clearly defined ‘collection’. I don’t like the word ‘collection’ for all its negative connotations but for this exercise, I can’t think of a better one.
From 2007 to about 2010, the focus was on buying familiar classic guitars solely from Gibson and Fender. This reinforced the baseline from which to proceed. It turned out not to be a good time for buying, as it was just before the global financial meltdown of 2008, so vintage guitar prices were sky high. By 2010, the proverbial bubble had well and truly burst. Sigh. It is a good job that CRAVE Guitars is not financially motivated.
2010 to 2014 was a catastrophic period during which I lost almost everything, including my home, so we’ll bypass that quickly without further reference. What’s gone has gone. The subsequent recovery was painful, slow and laborious.
“Do not pray for an easy life, pray for the strength to endure a difficult one” Bruce Lee (1940-1973)
Since 2014, CRAVE Guitars has focussed more and more on quirky, unusual and interesting ‘affordable’ vintage guitars from other American manufacturers as well as the Big ‘G’ and ‘F’. It wasn’t until early 2019 that a significant proportion of the pre‑loss ‘collection’ was reunited with newer acquisitions after a friend had kept them safe for several years. Since 2019, CRAVE Guitars has been ‘a thing’ again.
The initial CRAVE Guitars designs – 2008‑2014
At this point, I must state that I am not a graphic designer and have no professional training in the craft, although my family does have artistic roots. I do, however, think I have a reasonably good eye for aesthetics. I might have liked to pursue an education and career in art, photography and design (as well as music) but, like most good citizens, I realised that I had to make a living, so my cultural aspirations were sacrificed at the altar of responsibility and any artistic credentials remain entirely amateur.
As the project grew, I proceeded to develop a Microsoft Access database to record each instrument in some detail. The database has been updated a number of times over the years (see below) and is still in use today.
Photographs of each instrument were taken to add to the database and were used in the early activities. Admittedly, the original photos were limited and not high definition by today’s standard so, from 2014, the guitars were re‑photographed in greater detail and quality.
Using the information from the database, a ‘brochure’ of the ‘collection’ was concocted, such as it was, using the early photographs and a basic narrative. The original Arabic‑style ‘logo’ text was a font used by the CorelDRAW graphics package at the time; unfortunately, I can’t recall the font’s name. The marron and yellow colour scheme was intended (arguably) to convey a sense of classy opulence (!?). I know, I know, the approach was very basic and hardly anything to be proud of now but at least it was a start.
“There are only two mistakes one can make along the road to truth; not going all the way, and not starting” Buddha (Siddhārtha Gautama – c.480-400BCE)
However, that is all it was back then; a start. A primitive and very limited run printed pamphlet of some vintage Gibson and Fender guitars from the 1960s to the 1980s inclusive. It was not widely ‘visible/available’ to anyone else who might share my interest, so it was essentially a creative dead end and only of interest in hindsight. It was also a learning exercise. CRAVE Guitars had come a long way, although the evidence may not seem like it.
I suspect that regular readers (if there are any!) will know that I have a principled anathema towards the heinous capitalist practice of accumulating vintage guitars for profit and hoarding them away. This benefits no‑one except the owner’s bank account. I didn’t want to fall foul of that accusation, so I had to find a way of sharing the results of the project with others who have similar interests. It is the sharing element that I feel is important and beneficial.
One way of sharing might have been to become a vintage guitar dealer, like many existing established retail outlets. However, I simply don’t have the ‘killer instinct’ (or the funds) to become a successful hard‑nosed commercial trader, so that option was quickly ruled out. I guess I’m just too nice. Besides, I didn’t have any desire to be like any other businesses. It would be rewarding if I could, in some way, monetize CRAVE Guitars, so that any proceeds could be invested back into the enterprise. However I can’t envisage how that end could be achieved without compromising the principal mission and my own values.
CRAVE Guitars doesn’t have any business premises, so creating some sort of physical curated heritage ‘museum’ (for want of a better word) with only a few average guitars was also out of the question. While I quite like the idea of some sort of unique exhibition, it wasn’t, and still isn’t, feasible. Preliminary research indicated that a gallery or heritage centre wouldn’t attract sufficient visitors to make it worthwhile, so it didn’t even make it to a draft business plan stage.
So, I decided to take the plunge and venture into online sharing. As far as I can tell, there doesn’t seem to be anything quite like CRAVE Guitars out there anywhere. Perhaps it is unique, although I wouldn’t be so arrogant as to assert that particular proposition. It might be exciting to develop some sort of virtual online ‘gallery museum’. However, the technology, for instance pro‑level design software, studio photography, photogrammetry, 3D animation, augmented reality and studio recording, to make it genuinely innovative, immersive and impressive are currently beyond CRAVE Guitars’ modest means. More thought required.
“Design is thinking made visual.” Saul Bass (1920‑1996)
CRAVE Guitars online presence – 2014‑date
In 2014, I had no experience of web site development or running any social media accounts. The emergence of what is recognisably CRAVE Guitars today started in late 2014 culminating with the advent of the CRAVE Guitars web site and social media channels. I was basically starting from scratch but, for me, that was quite ambitious, exciting and frustrating in equal measure.
I had the basic structure of, and a design concept for, a WordPress web site planned out. I went about acquiring the relevant URLs and identifying an ISP (Internet Service Provider) to host the results. A web site without any cohesive design theme would be pretty rubbish, so I had to think of a way of conveying what the entity was and turning that into coherent graphic designs that would become familiar to online visitors.
In addition to the web site, I felt that there would have to be a parallel social media presence, consistent with the aesthetics of the web site where possible. The two leading platforms at the time, Twitter (now Elon Musk’s diabolical ‘X’) and Facebook were priorities. In addition, I had a LinkedIn account, so that also seemed a logical extension. YouTube and Instagram were also popular, so they were other channels to consider. There were/are other social media platforms including Flickr, Pinterest and Tumblr, so I set about making sure that CRAVE Guitars had a presence on all of these (and thereby preventing others from appropriating the name!).
There are some gaps, however. Does anyone remember the social media platform called Google+? I actually liked it but due to inherent security weaknesses, Google shut it down in 2019 and it has become all but forgotten nowadays. I evaluated Snapchat and felt it was irrelevant for CRAVE Guitars. I refuse to use TikTok due to its Chinese ownership, so CRAVE Guitars is not present for ethical geopolitical, environmental, technological and human rights reasons.
Accordingly, the work began in earnest to cultivate the broader CRAVE Guitars ‘brand’ image. Activity on this front was quite significant up until the tempestuous 3‑year hiatus, which took place from November 2020 to September 2023.
“Know well what leads you forward and what holds you back, and choose the path that leads to wisdom” Buddha (Siddhārtha Gautama – c.480-400BCE)
The CRAVE Guitars signature image
Determining a signature image for CRAVE Guitars was kinda easy. The sunburst 1975 Gibson Les Paul Standard was one of my original guitars that I bought second hand in c.1978 and have had ever since. It was already a bit battered when I got it, with buckle rash and some parts removed (pickup covers and scratchplate) but it was all I could afford at the time. People pay good money for fake wear and tear like that nowadays and the Les Paul’s attrition was genuine! NB. Relic is not a verb! Ggrr!
Not thinking anything of it at the time, I had the Les Paul refinished from its original tobacco sunburst, which I didn’t really like back then, to a shiny natural finish, which was very popular during the late 1970s. By the 1990s, I was tired of the somewhat bland natural finish, so it was refinished again in a lovely deep cherry sunburst and the missing parts were restored. That is the condition of the Les Paul at the time of writing. Below is the original CRAVE Guitars photograph.
[Image: 1975 Gibson Les Paul Standard]
Although the Les Paul’s finish isn’t original, it has been a long‑time favourite axe, so it became CRAVE Guitars’ signature instrument, despite rather than because of its chequered history. I don’t give a hoot that self‑opinionated critics pour scorn on Gibson’s 1970s Norlin‑era guitars.
That Les Paul is the only instrument in the ‘collection’ that has been refinished. I don’t do regrets but, if I did, I would feel guilty for messing with that Les Paul like I did. In my defence, I was young and it was only a couple of years old at the time. It was intended to be a working guitar rather than a collectable. Who would have thought that I’d still have it 46 years later and it would be a figurehead for a vintage guitar enterprise! The Les Paul has, though, endured over the years through the few ups and many downs, so it has become appropriately symbolic for both me and for CRAVE Guitars.
The CRAVE Guitars logo and avatar
I couldn’t afford to appoint a professional designer to come up with a ‘corporate’ logo, so I had to attempt something myself. It was these work‑in‑progress attempts that I came across recently and which prompted this article.
The very early efforts comprised a brainstorming‑type design process with some never‑before‑seen aborted concepts. Some of these early rough draft ideas are shown here.
I had an epiphany to combine the signature Gibson Les Paul outline and the word CRAVE into a unified logo. Genius, I thought. The very first attempt at the integrated logo was a rough hand‑drawn scrawl made with a marker pen on a small scrap of (white) paper!
I tested out some of these early ‘sketch’ ideas and the CRAVE acronym with a professional graphic designer friend who I respect. He didn’t like it at all, which was a bit disappointing. However, I persevered, as I thought I was onto something that I could live with.
Once the overall Les Paul shape of the logo was firmed up, I had to choose a colour scheme. It was important to me not to try and be too clever, so it was imperative to Keep It Simple Stupid (KISS). For clarity at different resolutions and sizes, I selected a bright/deep blue for high contrast over a pristine white background. A graphics package was used to scan in and then refine the originally hand‑drawn initial outline.
The ‘bobbly’ lines are intended to give the impression of kinetic resonant vibrations of the instrument. Clever tie‑in huh? OK. Maybe not but that’s what I thought and it seemed eminently logical, so I stuck with it.
Most importantly, the graphic design, narrative and photographic imagery must complement, enhance and not distract from the core subject matter – the vintage guitars, basses, amps and effects – which should be able to shine in their own right. The intention was/is that the various components should all work together in an integrated way, creating a whole that is more than the sum of its parts.
“Simplicity is not the goal. It is the by-product of a good idea and modest expectations.” Paul Rand (1914‑1996)
The admittedly very crude, irregular first attempts were then finessed through about 8‑10 incremental, increasingly subtle, iterations. Eventually, it became what you see on the website, social media, business cards, merchandise, etc. today.
The guitar‑shaped CRAVE logo image was embellished with the word ‘Guitars’ in a clean, modern and minimalist sans serif Segoe UI Light font, which appealed to my eye. With the recent brand update, the logo’s text was selectively extended to read ‘Vintage Guitars’. This approach could also apply to CRAVE Basses, CRAVE Amps and CRAVE Effects. With or without ‘Vintage’ depending on the circumstance.
The full logo, however, wasn’t suitable for social media and Internet browsers, which generally uses round or square‑ish ‘icons’ or ‘avatars’ to represent the image of a relevant account so, once the main logo was firmed up, I set about addressing that particular task. The very first draft avatar was a basic black/red silhouette based on a Gibson ES‑335 body outline but it bore very little resemblance to the rest of the brand, so it didn’t last long.
The logical answer was to reduce the full logo to fit the avatar’s specification. The result of that exercise was to use only the ‘CR’ from the full logo, intended to represent the shape of the Les Paul body (minus neck/headstock).
Recently someone not into guitars asked me what the ‘squiggle’ on Facebook was meant to be and I had to explain it. Never a good sign. I had become so used to it that I thought it was obvious. Obviously not! Once again, there was some disappointment but I can live with it. The ‘CR’ Les Paul body shaped avatar for social media has been retained unchanged.
“Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works.” Steve Jobs (1955‑2011)
CRAVE Guitars merchandise
The aim behind the CRAVE Guitars graphic design is that it can be used beyond the online presence for instance, printed materials and merchandise. CRAVE merch is there for fun, not money. Routine merch items include T‑shirts, mugs, guitar picks, etc. As CRAVE Guitars is not a business or even a physical entity, there is no pre‑prepared merch stock. It’s all made to order as and when needed. Here are a few examples.
[Image: Business Card]
CRAVE Guitars future design
Continuity of image is as important as coherence. There are no immediate intentions to change or improve the logo and graphic design. I still believe it to be effective, even though my designer friend still doesn’t like it. The overall aesthetic has been around for ten years now and I think it still looks fresh, clean and modern.
I do review the visuals regularly and think of different ways in which it could be embellished or enhanced but I keep coming back to the basic, simple brand image. Less is more and all that. If it ain’t broke…
At some point, I might want to redesign the brand but not yet. I still like it as it is and it remains visually coherent to my inexpert eye. To change the style radically would, I believe, be counter‑productive and disrupt continuity. Evolution, rather than revolution is likely to be the order of the day, if and when it comes around.
I don’t envisage separate designs for the sub‑brands, CRAVE Basses, CRAVE Amps and CRAVE Effects. They are essentially all under the umbrella of the main brand identity, rather than discrete entities in their own right. They would not exist were it not for CRAVE Guitars. Nor do I envisage any more vintage sub‑brands joining the family any time soon (e.g. drums, keyboards, studio gear, etc.). To diversify further would be to dilute too much.
In the unlikely event that both mankind and I survive until 2027, it will be time to celebrate two decades of CRAVE Guitars. I believe that the design will still be familiar for visitors. Could the CRAVE Vintage Guitars brand design be better? Of course it could.
“Have no fear of perfection. You’ll never reach it.” Salvador Dali (1904‑1989)
I am reluctant to pose the question, ‘what do you think?’, as that would open up a whole can of worms. I see so many logos that are unclear, ambiguous, unrelated to the core business, indistinct, outdated, too detailed, irrelevant, conflicting, poor choice of colours/contrast, overblown, illegible, generic, confusing, ugly, or just plain dull. Simple doesn’t have to be boring. I didn’t set out to create the world’s best logo but, in hindsight, I don’t think it’s too bad. For a rank amateur.
Tantalising snippet… I will return to the subject of the CRAVE Guitars logo in a planned future article. Why? Wait and see!
Final thoughts
One fundamental question for CRAVE Guitars is, ‘Is it worth it?’ I have been doing all of this to share my passion with others but does anyone else actually care or give a damn? It’s also nearly met its demise more than once along the way, so it isn’t a ‘sure thing’. The truth is, I really don’t know what the future holds. I like to think it is a worthwhile adventure but, then again, I am not the one to judge. It is worth it to me.
The website currently gets over 4,000 visitors a month and CRAVE Guitars has over 6,750 followers on X (about 1,000 down from its pre‑hiatus peak) but is that good or not? Again, I have absolutely no idea; they are just numbers. I would hate to think that the last 17 years have been in vain.
A further question is, ‘Why do I do it?’ I have been fascinated by guitars since I got my first nylon‑strung acoustic as a teenager. That fascination prevails to this day. Therefore, I feel quite strongly that CRAVE Vintage Guitars is my ikigai; my purpose in life (from an ancient Japanese philosophy, with ‘iki’ meaning ‘to live’ and ‘gai’ meaning ‘reason’, in rough translation). I have poured my soul into guitars, music and CRAVE Guitars over quite a prolonged period (overall, longer than my entire professional working career, so the effort has been considerable, even though it feels like there is much more to be done before I’m finished (if I live that long!). Is CRAVE Guitars my fate, my destiny? Nah. I wouldn’t go that far; I feel that some decisions are still under my control.
Another profound question is, ‘Where to go from here?’ What is the end game? Well, for that, we’ll just have to wait and see. A great deal depends on currently non‑existent funds. I do not want or intend to give up any time soon; I have become too invested in the project to ‘throw the towel into the ring’ now. I have some thoughts about adding content to the website and some narrative has already been drafted but it is hardly Earth‑shattering. Perhaps a degree of reinvention may be needed after all. I look forward to future developments.
“I never see what has been done; I only see what remains to be done” Buddha (Siddhārtha Gautama – c.480-400BCE)
CRAVE Guitars’ ‘Album of the Month’
This month, I tried to think of something relevant to the article’s theme. If I had to come up with an album that hints at what CRAVE Vintage Guitars stands for, what on Earth could it possibly be? HHhhmm. Tricky one. Sadly, I no longer have any recordings of my own music, lost in the mists of time, so it has to be an established artist. It has to be predominantly guitar music and it should (?) be a recognisable classic (and from the time of many vintage guitars). HHhhmm. Still tricky. So, so many and yet so few! More HHhhmm. This is hard. Gotta pick something. OK, then, here goes; I wouldn’t call it CRAVE Guitars’ theme tune but I like it anyway…
The Doors – L.A. Woman (1971) No ten‑minute self‑indulgent virtuoso guitar wizard solos here, just solid song writing and shed loads of charisma with guitar playing that serves the songs, rather than vice versa. Guitarist Robby Krieger and his trusty Gibson SG Standard along with Ray Manzarek on keyboards, John Densmore on drums and the tragically mercurial Jim Morrison on vocal chords. The Doors didn’t have a resident bass player but that didn’t hold them back – Jerry Scheff played bass on this album. ‘L.A. Woman’ was the band’s last studio album before Morrison’s untimely death in Paris, France in July 1971, at the age of 27. The recording won’t appear in any ‘top 100 guitar albums’ lists but that’s not really the point. I am personally not a huge fan of The Doors but this record stands out for me. Neither is it universally admired. However, it survived my honing down process until it remained on the shortlist of one at the end.
“Where’s your will to be weird?” Jim Morrison (1943-1971)
HHhhmm. Other worthy (in my view) contenders included, Deep Purple – Made In Japan (1972), Genesis – Selling England By The Pound (1973), Black Sabbath – Black Sabbath (1970), Lynyrd Skynyrd – Second Helping (1974), Pink Floyd – Meddle (1971), Led Zeppelin – Physical Graffiti (1975), T.Rex – Electric Warrior (1971), The Cure – Disintegration (1989), Bob Marley & The Wailers – Live! (1975), Steve Hillage – L (1976), Rory Gallagher – Against The Grain (1975), and David Bowie – Let’s Dance (1983).
One interesting observation; all of the above albums emanated from the 1970s and 1980s. Nothing older and nothing newer. Was it really some sort of ‘golden age’ for guitar music or just the music that impacted an impressionable post‑hippie youth?
Tailpiece
So, there you have it; a much shorter discursive diversion (I had to get at least one alliteration in!) this month and a bit different from most other recent articles. I like to mix things up a bit, so a diversity of subject matter keeps things lively and unpredictable. I’m conjuring up something even more offbeat for next month, if it works! There is, though, a lot to do before we get to that point. Watch this space, folks…
In the meantime, if you get any opportunity at all to help bring common sense to the fore and pre‑empt the impending global apocalypse, just do it!
Truth, peace, love, and guitar music be with you always. Until next time…
CRAVE Guitars’ ‘Quote of the Month’: “Since when did the truth become a conspiracy theory?”
In the last article (August 2023), I explored the alluring realm of dub reggae, as one of my musical passions. This month, as we race headlong into autumn with its cooler, darker evenings, I’d like to explore another musical genre close to my heart, ambient electronica. There seems to be a great deal of consensus about where ambient came from while, at the same time, a great deal of disagreement about what it is today, let alone where it is going. While this may sound inherently contradictory, the convoluted world of ambient music is quite fascinating, at least to me. Unlike reggae, which had a defined geographical origin – the small island of Jamaica in the Caribbean – ambient has a completely different set of roots. Also, while dub reggae and ambient seem entirely discrete, there are some crossovers.
Once again, like dub reggae, the ambient musical landscape is not really guitar‑based. It is essentially one of three things, acoustic – mainly classical – instruments, the sounds of the natural and built world all around us, and electronic sounds, primarily but not exclusively synthesizers.
As with all previous articles, this is not intended to present any sort of definitive academic analysis, it is purely my interpretation of ambient music, past and current, as I see (or rather hear) it. There are a lot of blurred overlaps and permeable boundaries here, so I am certain that some readers will disagree vehemently with my version of the story. That is their prerogative and this is my article, so I’m sticking to my biased version. This is also only the proverbial ‘tip of the iceberg’ with lots more to discover.
No AI has been used in researching and writing this article. All images used are royalty free courtesy of Pixaby and Wikimedia Commons.
So, get comfy, chill and absorb yourself into the mesmerising universe of ambient music for a while.
Defining ambient
Perhaps a good starting point is to understand what the solitary word ‘ambient’ actually means, both in non‑musical and musical contexts.
Literally, ambient is an adjective meaning ‘of the surrounding area or environment’, ‘existing or present on all sides’ or ‘enveloping or completely surrounding’. As a noun, it means ‘an encompassing environment or atmosphere’. In this article we are not talking about ambient temperatures or ambient pressures, although these may affect sound vibrations in the environment. We are also not talking ambient light, although this may affect mood and temperament.
Defining ambient sound
Ambient sound is the total of all background or surrounding noises that exist in every direction, in any immediate surroundings, as measured by sound pressure level (SPL – expressed in decibels). Decibel levels are important because they provide information to the brain on how quiet or loud a sound is in relative terms. Human ears and brains are designed to detect slight variations in SPL in stereo (binaural hearing), which help us determine from which direction a sound originates. Basically, ambient sound is the total of what you can hear in the present moment, wherever you are.
Ambient sound is always present, even if it is at very low levels. Humans cannot tolerate near‑0dB for long. 0dB is unobtainable under normal conditions. Experiments have shown that people who are deprived of ambient sound can quickly become unsettled or disoriented because humans rely on ambient sound to locate themselves within their environment. The dissociation of sight and sound is inherently problematic for us. The quietest place on Earth is an anechoic chamber at Orfield Laboratories in Minnesota, USA. It is so quiet that the longest anybody has been able to experience it is just 45 minutes.
The simple fact is that there is always some ambient sound present in our lives. These ever‑present characteristics play a part in ambient music compositions.
Defining ambient music
Ambient music is a term that means, ‘a genre of instrumental music that focuses on patterns of sound rather than typical melodic form and is used to promote a certain atmosphere or state of mind’. Another definition is ‘incidental music intended to serve as an unobtrusive accompaniment to other activities and characterised by quiet and repetitive instrumental phrases’.
So far, so what? Useful background info but it doesn’t really mean much on its own. So let’s delve a bit deeper.
A brief pre‑history of ambient music
There is a significant amount of information on the hinterwebby thingummy about the history of the genre, so this is a brief retelling of the essential elements, starting in France, then Germany before crossing the Atlantic to America and then back to the UK. These unfolding events were probably all ahead‑of‑their‑time and in the vanguard of experimental art.
Let us begin by going all the way back to 1917. French composer Erik Satie (1866‑1925) used Dadaist‑inspired explorations to invent what he called musique d’ameublement (‘furniture music’ or, more literally, ‘furnishing music’), music played by live musicians and designed to be unconsciously experienced rather than consciously listened to. Satie described his compositions as music that could be performed at a function to create a background atmosphere for the function, rather than being the prime focus of it. In Satie’s words, his music would, “… be part of the noises of the environment”.
Satie’s use of repeated short compositions is said to have influenced ‘minimal music’ from 1960s onwards, particularly the experimental avant‑garde music of composer John Cage. Satie is also regarded as an essential forerunner to modern ambient music and a key influence on British artist, Brian Eno.
During the 1940s, Frenchman Pierre Schaeffer (1910‑1995) who was, amongst other things, a composer, engineer and musicologist took a different approach. Schaeffer experimented with recording sound, then processing the signals to create an abstract sound collage. The resulting sounds and tones were unrecognisable from the originating source material. Schaeffer used musical instruments, vocals, recorded environmental ‘sound objects’ and electronic sound synthesis. This type of music composition became known as musique concrète (concrete music).
Prolific and controversial German composer Karlheinz Stockhausen (1928‑2007) was a pioneer in electronic music. Stockhausen’s electronic music compositions comprised abstract noise collages created through the use of tape loops, oscillators and recorded sounds. He also specialised in ground breaking ‘spatial music’, using multiple sources to locate sounds within a three dimensional space (an early form of surround sound). Stockhausen created one of the first examples of purely electronic music using sine wave generators and filters, called ‘Studie I’ (1953). In 1954, he pushed the boundaries of classical music using acoustic instruments augmented by electronic sounds. The same year, he published the first fully electronic music score. Stockhausen, the so‑called ‘father of electronic music’, was an important figure who rejected conventions and heavily influenced multiple genres outside classical music, including jazz, pop and rock decades later.
Muzak is a type of background music created by American inventor George Owen Squier in 1934. Known commonly as elevator music (or lift music in the UK), it became used predominantly in public spaces, retail stores and other venues. The word muzak has become embedded in the public consciousness as synonymous with all types of generic and inconspicuous background music. Muzak was particularly prominent during the 1960s and 1970s. Muzak has been a registered trademark of Muzak LLC since 1954. Ambient by stealth?
From the 1950s, particularly in Germany, elektronische musik (electronic music) took precedence over previous forms such as musique concrète. The term ‘elektronische musik’ was first used by German composer and musicologist Herbert Eimert in 1952 to describe music created only by the use of electronic instruments and technology. As the genre developed, elements of musique concrète were incorporated into electronic music. Natural environmental recordings combined with music resurfaced later as a popular element of new age music. German electronic music heavily influenced krautrock, an experimental rock genre that emerged out of West Germany in the late 1960s and early 1970s with bands like Can and Neu!.
American composer John Cage was another influential figure in post‑war avant‑garde music including electroacoustic music. He had been experimenting with studio electronics since the late 1930s. In 1952, Cage ‘performed’ his now‑famous composition, 4′33″. The piece is not, as many believe, silence; it is the intentional ‘absence of deliberate sound’. The musicians do nothing but be on the stage with instruments. For the aforementioned duration of the piece, the audience is encouraged simply to listen to and experience the ambient sounds in the auditorium around them.
Minimal music is a form of art music that, as its name suggests, uses a very limited array of components to produce a composition. Minimal can apply to the instruments used, the sounds/tones produced, as well as the studio processes employed. Minimalism may comprise continuous drones, pulses or repetitive phrases. Minimalism emerged in New York in the late 1960s with American composers such as Philip Glass, Terry Riley, Steve Reich and La Monte Young. It has been suggested that minimalism was one influence behind experimental rock band The Velvet Underground during the 1960s and, much later, on electronic dance music (EDM) sub‑genres such as minimal techno. In 1990, British electronica duo The Orb used a sample from Steve Reich’s work on their hit single, ‘Little Fluffy Clouds’.
At this point, it is worth making quick mention of cinematic music, a.k.a. film scores or original soundtracks (OSTs). The first music to accompany film goes back to the earliest part of the 20th Century if not further, although its use really came into its own, ironically, with the advent of talking pictures in 1927. Cinematic music is composed specifically as a background to fit well with what is happening on screen by creating a certain atmosphere. Many classic theme music pieces would simply not exist without the films for which they were created. Some of the best cinematic music is an integral part of the audio‑visual experience, rather than the music being consciously listened to in isolation. The best soundtracks are equally good pieces of music in their own right and the art form has become highly respected (and profitable). John Williams, Ennio Morricone, Jerry Goldsmith, John Barry, Bernard Herrmann, Lalo Schifrin, Vangelis, Jóhann Jóhannsson and Hans Zimmer are some of the principal cinematic music composers.
In the field of television, the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, set up in 1958, stands out for its experimental work in electronic incidental sound design and music for radio and TV. Key members of the unit included Delia Derbyshire, Daphne Oram and David Cain.
A brief history of electronic sound synthesis
It is probably true to say that synthesizers changed the world of music forever. Here’s a short resume of how that change came about. Warning! This is the techy bit.
Analogue synthesizers – The word synthesizer was first used by RCA in 1956, although it has widely been used to refer to electronic musical instruments from the early 20th Century onwards. Early electronic analogue sound synthesizers were developed in the 1920s and included the Theremin, invented by Leon Theremin in Russia in 1920, the Ondes Martenot, invented by Maurice Martenot in France in 1928 and the Trautnium, invented by Friedrich Trautwein in Germany in 1929.
There are basically only three parts to an analogue synthesizer; one or more oscillators to produce the sound, filters to change the sound, and voltage‑controlled amplifiers to adjust the volume of the sound. In addition, envelope generators are frequently used to change the behaviour of the sound (commonly referred to as ADSR – attack, sustain, delay, release).
Another major development in electronic sound synthesis was by American engineer Robert Moog (1934‑2005) who invented the first commercially available analogue synthesizer, the Moog Modular in 1964. The first fully integrated synthesizer, including the keyboard, was the Minimoog released in 1970. Moog developed his products in response to demand for more practical and affordable electronic musical instruments.
Samplers – A sampler is an electronic device that captures, records and plays back sections of the recordings. The first example was the Chamberlin, invented by American Harry Chamberlin in 1946. The British Mellotron, introduced in 1963, was perhaps the first famous electro‑mechanical instrument used to play back tape recorded sound samples.
Sequencers – A key factor in making music synthesizers usable was the introduction of the programmable sequencer to program and play back multi‑part arrangements. The first example was probably the analogue Buchla 100 synthesizer in 1964. More importantly, Moog introduced the Moog Modular Sequencer Module – the 960 Sequential Controller in 1968.
As synthesizers became more complex, additional features were added, such as arpeggiators that automatically play a sequence of notes based on a chord or scale, and a range of effects used to process the sound even further.
Digital synthesizers – The first digital synthesizer was made by Synclavier in 1977, while the first commercially successful model was made by Yamaha in 1983. The first production polyphonic synthesizer, able to play chords, was the analogue Oberheim Polyphonic Synthesizer, designed by Tom Oberheim, produced from 1975 to 1979. Yamaha, however, may disagree, citing their GX‑1 ‘Dream Machine’. These were followed shortly thereafter by the Polymoog. Another first was the programmable analogue Prophet 5 made by Sequential circuits in 1978. The culmination of these inventions was the introduction of the Fairlight CMI (standing for ‘Computer Musical Instrument’) in 1979, the first polyphonic digital synthesizer, sampler and sequencer.
Finally, polyphonic digital sound synthesis was here to stay, as was the studio recording technology able to exploit it. Miles away from ambient while owing a debt to it, Donna Summer’s massive disco hit single, ‘I Feel Love’ (1977), written and produced by Giorgio Moroder, was seen as a milestone and “a rejection of the intellectualization of the synthesizer in favour of pure pleasure”. It did, however, herald sound synthesis to the popular market. The phenomenal boom in synthpop during the 1980s, leading to the EDM boom of the 1990s, was the tangible result of lengthy electronic music development.
MIDI – MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) is a powerful industry standard protocol introduced in 1983 that enables wide variety of electronic musical instruments, computers, and audio devices to communicate. MIDI has become essential for synchronizing, playing, editing, and recording music.
These, and many other tools, were a valuable resource for the new generation of experimental composers and musicians. Everything was pretty much now in place.
A brief history of ambient music
Up to this point it is probably fair to say that elements of ambient music’s predecessors existed, and indeed thrived, on the periphery of the popular music of their time, rather than being front and centre of the mainstream. During the 1960s, that was about to change, albeit relatively slowly.
One interpretation of ambient music is that it is a style of calm, often electronic instrumental music with no discernible rhythm or beat, used to create or enhance mood or atmosphere. Ambient music emphasises tone and textural layers of sound that focus on the actual sounds being produced rather than the traditional musical form in which those sounds would normally reside. As such, ambient music may well intentionally eschew formal structured composition, harmony, melody and metre.
While now commonplace, ambient music, at least in the past, broke the rules of what we understand as familiar music or song content. Ambient music is not limited by accepted tropes of how it is produced, making use of acoustic and electronic musical instruments, unorthodox implements used as instruments, environmental sound recordings and sometimes vocals. A large proportion of ambient music is instrumental, not requiring narrative arrangement through either sung lyrics or spoken words.
One characteristic of ambient music since the 1990s has been the ubiquitous use of looping, creating repeated sections of sound, initially using tape and most commonly through digital effects. Another key trait has been the use of modern digital reverb and delay techniques to provide a sense of space, disconnection and otherworldliness.
One key element of ambient music is the way it can reward equally both passive and active listening. The listener can either focus on the content or allow ‘cognitive drift’ to occur, which can encourage a sense of calm, introspection or contemplation, meditation or as an aid to sleep.
While ambient music is a self‑contained genre, it does not stand alone; it has been incorporated into, or fused with, many other musical genres. This fact, in part, contributes to the debate about what ambient music actually means today and why it has become successful both artistically and commercially.
At last, getting to the point now… Ambient music as we now (think) we know it emerged in various forms during the 1960s and 1970s, largely thanks to the commercial availability of synthesizers. The album that is widely regarded as the watershed that brought ambient music to wider attention was, ‘Ambient 1: Music For Airports’ (1978) by British musician, producer and artist Brian Eno. This studio album also established the term ‘ambient music’ in the public mind set. Eno, either solo or in collaboration with other artists, released many subsequent ambient works, further defining the genre. By the early 1980s, the ‘new’ genre had become recognised and widely accepted. Eno has been oft‑quoted that “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”.
In 1995, Brian Eno used the term ‘generative music’ to describe any music created by a computer system that is ever‑different, non‑repeating and always changing. Eno has frequently used generative ambient music as a background for visual art installations, thereby creating an immersive audio visual experience. There are now a number of autonomous ambient music generators available on the Internet, such as Generative.fm, that provide completely unique compositions that never end, never repeat and last as long as the listener wants them to. The introduction of Artificial Intelligence (AI) into music is likely to expand the scope of generative music considerably.
A discrete subset of the genre is Japanese ambient pioneered by artists such as Hiroshi Yoshimura, Haruomi Hosono, Midori Takada, Osamu Sato and Susumu Yokota during the 1980s. The offshoot aligned with the Japanese concept of ‘wa’, meaning harmony and serenity. Japanese ambient was an expression of the deep cultural appreciation for nature, an aesthetic preference towards minimalism, and traditional values of maintaining peace.
Ambient has heavily influenced many sub‑genres of downtempo dance music, including ambient house, ambient techno, ambient dub, trip‑hop, nu‑jazz, new age, chillwave and deep house. Ambient has undoubtedly come a very long way from its avant‑garde artsy origins. Ambient was now cool and it was here to stay.
In recent years, ambient music has continued to evolve and expand. Some contemporary artists have incorporated elements of jazz, classical music, and other genres into their work, while others have experimented with new digital technologies such as AI and virtual or augmented reality to create new experiences. Improvisation and extemporisation have become integral elements of many ambient compositions.
Overall, ambient music has remained a vibrant and innovative genre that continues to explore the limits of what is possible in music. Perhaps, the essence of ambient music continues to flourish at the margins, requiring some effort to discover as the means of dissemination moves away from traditional record companies, labels, distributors and physical media. The Internet and streaming services may become the only means to access these esoteric future forms.
Ambient music’s experimental aspirations, though, have been an on‑going thorn in its side, which seems particularly hard to expunge. Partly because of its eclectic roots, many regard the lofty art & culture baggage of ambient as self‑absorbed, arrogant, sanctimonious, pompous and pretentious – or just plain dull and boring. Brian Eno in particular has attracted considerable scorn for refusing to conform to populist ideals and short‑term fads. The fact that he is not fazed by such clichéd criticisms and follows his own path regardless, encourages his opinionated detractors even further.
A predilection for ambient music is a choice, not a requisite and it doesn’t carry any cache amongst some imaginary elitist intellectual cultural community. It is, though, not for everyone, with many seeing ambient as a tedious interminable din. Indeed, if anything has been learned through the decades about ambient music is that its appeal is, at least partially, subliminal, nurturing our subconscious need for enlightened contemplation and therefore beyond our ability to control whether we appreciate it or not. Discuss…
Influential artists that have dabbled in ambient music either in part or whole include (in no particular order) Brian Eno, Aphex Twin, William Basinski, Steve Roach, Robert Rich, Pauline Oliveros, Cluster, Biosphere, Harold Budd, John Hassell, Max Richter, Tim Hecker, Terry Riley, William Orbit, Four Tet, Steve Hillage, Stars Of The Lid, Bonobo, Mark McGuire, Ash Ra Tempel, Alice Coltrane, Jon Hopkins, Edgar Froese, Oneohtrix Point Never, The Caretaker, Laurie Speigel, Tycho, GAS, Boards Of Canada, Burial, Fripp & Eno, Slowdive, Air, Julianna Barwick, A Winged Victory For The Sullen, Ben Chatwin, Richard Norris, Luke Abbott, The Cinematic Orchestra, Daniel Avery, Darshan Ambient, The Gentleman Losers, Ibizarre, A.M.P. Studio, Orbient, Nacho Sotomayor, Sigur Rós, Johnny Jewel, Bicep, Marconi Union, Memory Tapes, Neon Indian, Com Truise, The Orb, The KLF, Divination, Lawrence English and The Irresistible Force.
A brief history of other music genres related to (but not) ambient music
New age music –New age music emerged in the 1970s and 1980s, influenced by a variety of styles including classical music, jazz, world music, religious music, folk and rock. New age music often explores arcane folklore, ancient traditions, ethnic groupings, astrology, mythology, mysticism, spiritualism, fantasy and even the occult. Lacking any precise definition, it is often seen as an umbrella for many different and often divergent styles. Ambient and new‑age music are two distinct genres albeit with some overlap between them.
Starting with the similarities… New age music is a genre of music characterised by its soothing and relaxing qualities. It often features acoustic instruments such as flutes, harps, guitars and pianos, traditional Asian or African instruments as well as nature recordings and synthesizers. New‑age music is often used for relaxation, contemplation, yoga, massage, stress relief and anxiety management. As background music, it is used to create a calm, serene, peaceful atmosphere for other activities.
… and some key differences… Ambient music tends to be more experimental and abstract than new‑age music, with a greater emphasis on soundscapes and textures rather than rhythm, melody or harmony. New age music tends to be more melodic, structured and more easily accessible than ambient music.
Overall, both ambient and new age music are genres designed to create a sense of serenity in the listener (the ends). However, they go about achieving this goal in different ways (the means).
New age music has habitually been ridiculed (erroneously) for being part of hippie culture, with acolytes that embraced new age beliefs being called ‘zippies’. From the 1990s. Zippies were in favour of new age principles such as social change, environmentalism, and alternative lifestyles while also being influenced by rave culture, cyberculture, and psychedelic drugs.
New Age Travellers are a loose grouping of people primarily in the United Kingdom generally adopting new age beliefs along with the counter culture movement of the late 1960s. Their nomadic lifestyle often brought them into conflict with static communities and the authorities.
Prominent new age artists include Enigma, Enya, Deep Forest, Clannad, Gregorian, Phil Thornton, Patrick Kelly, Peter Gabriel, Bernward Koch, Paul Winter, Grouper, All About Eve and William Ackerman.
Nature recordings – Ambient nature sounds or, technically, field recordings are a popular sub‑genre of ambient music that feature environmental recordings such as the sounds of water, animals, thunderstorms, wind and even fire. The origins of combining natural sounds with musical compositions can be traced back to the early 20th century. Field recording is regarded by many as a genre in its own right, with or without music.
The use of field recordings in music became more widespread in the 1950s and 1960s with the advent of portable recording equipment and with digital recording from the 1980s. Musicians such as John Cage and Dan Gibson began using natural or built environmental sounds into their compositions.
The use of field recording in ambient music can be traced back to Brian Eno’s ‘Ambient 1: Music for Airports’, which featured recordings of airport terminal announcements and other environmental sounds. Since then, many ambient artists have incorporated field recordings to create captivating soundscapes that blur the line between music and environmental sound.
Some popular ambient nature sound artists include David Dunn, Chris Watson, Dan Gibson, Diane Hope, Lawrence English, Biosphere and Francisco López.
Downtempo and chillout music – Ambient music did not burst onto the scene overnight and, at least initially, it did not attract significant commercial success. With the popularity of EDM and the domination of house and techno in nightclubs, ambient experienced a mini‑revival towards the late 1980s with sub‑genres including ambient house, ambient trance, ambient techno and ambient dub. During the dance‑dominated 1990s, ambient music became trendy as an after‑party ‘comedown’ with the advent of ‘chillout rooms’; spaces within clubs that served as venues for a relaxing alternative to the high‑energy ‘rave rooms’.
Chillout is a form of downtempo music (or vice versa) characterised by relaxed rhythms, mellow beats, laid back grooves and atmospheric soundscapes intended to induce a tranquil mood – fertile ground for ambient music to proliferate. Chillout is heavily derived from EDM, but typically at slower tempos and with sonic palettes often reminiscent of ambient, electronic‑styled new age, progressive electronic and even elements of instrumental hip hop, dub, deep house and breakbeat.
However, neither chillout nor downtempo come under the definition of ambient, due to their prominent use of structure and rhythm. Sunset beach bars, restaurant venues and cult dance clubs in Ibiza in the 1990s jumped onto the ambient/downtempo/chillout bandwagon as an escape from the more intense side of life and a counterpoint to the hectic rave and acid house scenes of the time. In the UK, the Bristol trip hop scene also capitalised on the chillout boom.
The chillout zeitgeist during the late 1990s was partly due to a proliferation of commercial chillout compilation albums from record labels such as Ministry of Sound, Café del Mar, Café Mambo, Beyond Records, Kompakt Records and Mercury Records. Mainstreaming ultimately motivated underground producers to move away from chillout into other more adventurous leftfield ventures. By the early‑mid 2000s, popularity of chillout music faded heavily. However, it would see a revival in the 2010s and 2020s (so far), which aimed to recapture the spirit of earlier forms of the genre.
Ambient and downtempo/chillout and are not interchangeable, although the boundaries between them are often unclear. Downtempo and chillout would go on a different path to influence subsequent genres like psybient, psychedelic trance, chillwave, lounge, post rock, lo‑fi hip hop, hypnagogic pop and nu‑jazz.
Prominent downtempo and chillout artists include The KLF, The Orb, Thievery Corporation, Deep Dive Corp, East India Youth, The Album Leaf, Nightmares on Wax, Falco, Robert Miles, Morcheeba, Bowery Electric, Mr. Scruff, Tosca, Hallucinogen and Ultramarine.
Trip Hop – Trip hop is a genre of electronic music that emerged from downtempo/chillout in the early 1990s. Trip hop is characterized by its use of hip hop beats, samples, and dense atmospheric soundscapes, fusing influences from jazz, soul, funk, reggae, dub and R&B. Like other forms of electronic music, trip hop uses structure, melody and beats, differentiating it from ambient. The term trip hop was first used in an article in Mixmag magazine in 1994 about American artist and producer DJ Shadow. Trip hop music was popularised mainly by artists from Bristol in the UK such as Portishead, Massive Attack and Tricky. Trip hop further influenced genres like instrumental hip hop and UK garage.
Other artists that have made use of trip hop leanings include Sneaker Pimps, Aim, Howie B, The Dining Rooms, FKA Twigs, Glass Animals, Kosheen, Martina Topley‑Bird, Poliça, Smoke City, 9Lazy9, Bomb The Bass, Coldcut, Morcheeba, Pretty Lights, DJ Shadow, DJ Food, DJ Vadim, Funki Porcini, Gorillaz and London Grammar.
Electronica – Electronica is a massively broad term for music that uses electronic instrumentation and sound manipulation technology as the primary means of production. As such, it is a catch‑all for music that doesn’t slot easily into existing sub‑genres. In its widest sense, electronica is pervasive, directly or indirectly, in much of modern contemporary music. There is, therefore no point in defining it or attempting to establish its scope here.
Since the 1960s, electronica artists have both influenced and taken influence from many other music genres. The commercial breakthrough of electronic music occurred with the advent and subsequent domination of synthpop, Europop and Eurodance in the 1970s. This was followed by EDM sub‑genres such as house, techno and electro from the 1980s onward. The burst in electronic creativity was fuelled by a self‑perpetuating feedback loop, pushing things further in the popular mainstream as well as in the margins that continues to this day.
Some prominent artists under the diverse panoply of electronica include (again in no particular order) Clara Rockmore, Kraftwerk, Aphex Twin, Depeche Mode, Daft Punk, Kraftwerk, Röyksopp, Gary Numan, Japan, David Sylvian, Natural Snow Buildings, Global Communication, Moby, The Chemical Brothers, Orbital, Underworld, The Human League, Visage, Thomas Dolby, Howard Jones, Ultravox, Rick Wakeman, Jean‑Michel Jarre, Skrillex, Leftfield, Herbie Hancock, Electronic, Deadmau5, Fred Again.., Sven Väth, Major Lazer, Armin van Buuren, Sasha, Thom Yorke, Emerson Lake & Palmer (ELP), Daft Punk, Four Tet, Floating Points, Flying Lotus, Hot Chip, Pet Shop Boys, Fatboy Slim, The Prodigy, Giorgio Moroder, M83, Goldfrapp, Amon Tobin, Carl Cox, Crystal Castles, Infected Mushroom, Groove Armada, Eat Static, LCD Soundsystem, Faithless, Disclosure, System 7, 777, Erasure, Yazoo, Paul van Dyk, Eric Prydz, Heaven 17, Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark (OMD), Tears For Fears, Monaco, Bronski Beat, Vince Clarke, Eurhythmics, Thompson Twins, Yello, Squarepusher, Machinedrum, Pendulum, Romare, Calvin Harris, Apollo 440, Ladytron, MØ, Flume, Public Service Broadcasting, Solar Fields, The Grid, X‑Press 2, Arms And Sleepers, Caribou and ATB.
A brief history of ambient electronica (and related) artists
OK, so we’ve looked at some of the genres that have led up to the current day and the prevailing view of ambient music in context. Now, it’s time to take a brief look at some key artists involved along the way, whether they could strictly be considered proponents of ambient music or not. Here are some of the most prominent.
Tomita – Isao Tomita (1932‑2016) was a Japanese composer, regarded as one of the pioneers of electronic music and space music, and as one of the most famous producers of analogue synthesizer arrangements. Tomita is known for his electronic versions and adaptations of familiar classical music pieces as well as futuristic science‑fiction themes and trance‑like rhythms. Tomita received four Grammy Award nominations for his studio album based on music by classical composer Claude Debussy, ‘Snowflakes Are Dancing’ (1974). He also famously adapted Gustav Holst’s ‘The Planets’ (1976).
Wendy Carlos – Wendy Carlos (1939‑) is an American musician and composer born as Walter Carlos and transitioning to female gender in 1972. She is known for her pioneering electronic music and film scores. Carlos studied physics and music at Brown University before studying music composition at Columbia University in New York City. She helped in the development of Robert Moog’s first commercially available synthesizer. Carlos’ breakout release was Grammy Award‑winning ‘Switched‑On Bach’ (1968), an album of music by Johann Sebastian Bach performed entirely on synthesizer. Carlos went on to release further synthesized classical music adaptations, as well as experimental and ambient electronic music. She composed film scores for three major studio films, ‘A Clockwork Orange’ (1971), ‘The Shining’ (1980), and ‘Tron’ (1982).
Tangerine Dream – Tangerine Dream is a German band founded in 1967 by Edgar Froese (1944‑2015). The best‑known incarnation of the group was the mid‑1970s trio of Froese, Christopher Franke and Peter Baumann. Tangerine Dream is considered a pioneer in electronic, ambient and space music, a.k.a. kosmische musik (‘cosmic music’). Tangerine Dream were key members of the so‑called Berlin School of electronic music. Despite having released over one hundred albums over the years, they are best known for their use of synthesizers and sequencers, including milestone albums, Phaedra (1974) and Rubycon (1975). Tangerine Dream has also composed over sixty film soundtracks as well as the score for the video game Grand Theft Auto V. However, it is their mid‑1970s material that profoundly influenced the development of electronic music styles such as ambient, new age and EDM.
Klaus Schulze – German electronic music composer and musician Klaus Schulze (1947‑2022) is considered one of the pioneers of electronic music since the late 1960s. Schulze was an early member of the band Tangerine Dream before leaving to pursue a solo career in 1970. Schulze had a prolific career, releasing over sixty studio albums. Schulze’s music is known for its long, repetitive sequences and its use of analogue synthesizers. His early work was influenced by the psychedelic rock of the late 1960s and early 1970s, while his later work was more experimental and ambient. Schulze’s music has been used in films such as ‘The Exorcist’ (1973).
Brian Eno – English musician, composer, producer and artist Brian Eno (1948‑) has become synonymous with contemporary ambient music, pioneering and contributing to the ambient, electronica and minimalist drone genres. He started out in experimental rock, glam rock, art pop and art rock as former keyboard player with Roxy Music. Along with his extensive solo career, Eno has also collaborated on many side projects with other artists including Harold Budd, David Bowie, David Byrne, Fred Again.., Jon Hopkins and Cluster. Many of his collaborations explored beyond the scope of purist ambient music. He has also been prominent behind the studio desk producing many artists including John Cale, David Bowie, Jon Hassell, Laraaji, Talking Heads, Ultravox, Devo, U2, Coldplay, Daniel Lanois, Laurie Anderson, Grace Jones, Slowdive, James, Kevin Shields and Damon Albarn. In addition, Eno has composed a number of film scores. If that wasn’t enough, Eno has also worked prolifically in other media, including audio visual installations, art installations, film and as an author. As mentioned above, Eno pioneered the introduction and growth of generative music. A little known fact is that Eno also composed the six‑second music snip that accompanied the start‑up of the Windows 95 computer operating system, known as ‘The Microsoft Sound’. Love him or loathe him, Eno’s legacy is probably as far reaching as it is incalculable.
Kratwerk – German electronic band Kraftwerk was founded in Düsseldorf in 1970 by Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider. Kraftwerk is widely regarded as an innovator and pioneer of electronic music and was one of the first successful acts to popularise and commercialise the genre. The group began as part of West Germany’s experimental krautrock scene in the early 1970s before adopting electronic instruments for which they are best known, including synthesizers, drum machines, and vocoders. Their massive hit single and album, ‘Autobahn’ (1974) cemented their reputation. Kraftwerk inspired many artists including David Bowie, Joy Division, New Order, Daft Punk and LCD Soundsystem.
Jean‑Michel Jarre – Jean‑Michel Jarre (1948‑) is a French composer, musician and record producer. He is widely regarded as an innovator in electronic, ambient, new age and synthpop music. His breakout studio album, ‘Oxygene’ (1977) has become an electronica classic, selling over 18 million copies worldwide. Jarre’s musical style builds on the work of Tangerine Dream and adds a bit of populist French va‑va‑voom. He is famous for organising extravagant outdoor events involving laser light shows, visual projections and pyrotechnics to accompany his stage music. One of his concerts in Moscow, Russia in 1997 holds the world record for the largest audience for a single outdoor event, estimated at 3.5 million people.
The Orb – The Orb is an English electronic music group founded in 1988 by Alex Paterson and Jimmy Cauty. The duo began as ambient and dub DJs based in London before making the move into music production. The Orb is well known for their psychedelic ambient space sound. Over the years, The Orb has developed a cult following among clubbers ‘coming down’ from drug‑induced highs and, as such, their music became popular in club chillout rooms. Their influential debut studio album ‘The Orb’s Adventures Beyond The Ultraworld’ (1991) established the UK’s underground ambient house trend. The Orb’s second album, ‘U.F.Orb’ (1992) confirmed the band’s popularity and ensured their longevity. The Orb was influenced heavily by predecessors, Brian Eno and Kraftwerk. The Orb has maintained their signature science fiction aesthetic throughout their prolific career.
Amorphous Androgynous – British electronic music duo Amorphous Androgynous and its better known alter ego, The Future Sound of London (FSOL), was founded by Garry Cobain and Brian Dougans in 1988. The duo’s music is characterized by its psychedelic, ambient, and experimental sound. They acted as a bridge between the underground and well‑established electronic artists and has been influential in the development of electronic music genres such as ambient house, ambient dub and trip hop. They have released several albums, including ‘Tales of Ephidrina’ (1993) and ‘Lifeforms’ (1994).
Orbital – Orbital is an English electronic music duo founded by brothers Phil and Paul Hartnoll in 1989. The band has had on‑off periods of activity, breaking up and reforming on more than one occasion through the years. The band’s name is taken from the M25, London’s orbital motorway, which was key to the early (illegal) rave scene and (legal) acid house scene of the late 1980s and early 1990s. Orbital’s involvement with dance music has led to its strong reputation as a live band. They have mixed ambient sounds along with techno, trance, breakbeat and electronic rock styles. They have also been hugely influential in the development of modern electronic sub‑genres such as glitch, wonky and Intelligent Dance Music (IDM), as well as EDM.
The Chemical Brothers ‑ English electronic music duo The Chemical Brothers, originally known as The Dust Brothers, was formed in 1989 by Tom Rowlands and Ed Simons in Manchester, UK. Along with peers, The Prodigy and Fatboy Slim, they were pioneers in bringing the big beat, techno, house and EDM to popularity. Their breakout studio album, ‘Dig Your Own Hole’ (1997) rapidly became a rave classic. Like Orbital, they have become regular headliners on the festival and arena circuits. While their music is far from ambient, the origins are still evident and their enduring influence has also been widespread.
Contemporary music genres related to ambient
Here we are now, well into the 3rd decade of the 21st Century, so what position does ambient occupy now? Has it stagnated, frozen in aspic? Is it languishing in some obscure genre limbo? Or is it still evolving either on its own terms or in other ways? Let’s look at where ambient influences have led us and which may give a clue to where it might be going in the future. Here are eight of the most important modern‑day ambient spin‑offs.
Drone – Drone is a music genre that plays on long, sustained tones or repeated single notes. Unlike other genres that use drones as a component, drone music puts drones at the forefront, removing most melody and rhythm. As such, it bears many similarities to ambient. Drone music explores the changing timbre of individual sounds over time. For electronic drone, this is often achieved by slight fluctuations in the drone’s pitch, tone and amplitude.
The origins of drone, whether electronic or classical, are found in traditional music from across the world and date back to the 1940s with ‘Monotone Silence Symphony’ (1949) by Yves Klein. Drone developed through minimal music and through rock. Drone has seen a resurgence in the 2020s. Drone music has expanded to influence countless other genres, including ambient, EDM, drone metal and post‑rock.
Progressive Electronic – Progressive music in its widest sense generally attempts to expand existing stylistic boundaries associated with a specific genre of music. It also places emphasis on creating a sense of progression or development throughout a piece of music. Layered soundscapes, intricate changes in rhythm, a wide range of sound effects and textures are commonly used. Improvisation is also a key characteristic of progressive electronic music, as many musicians use improvisation to create new and inventive sounds rather than relying on pre‑recorded samples or synthesizer presets. Another important aspect is the use of lengthy, extended compositions, with tracks frequently having multiple sections and mood changes. Basically, progressive electronic covers a large proportion of electronic music from the late 1960s to the current day, including post rock. Is it a genre in itself? Make up your own mind.
Vaporwave – Vaporwave emerged in the early 2010s and is characterised by its use of synthesizers, slowed‑down samples and a great deal of studio manipulation including time shifting and cutting up of sound clips, then applying reverb, echo and other studio effects. The advent of computer‑based digital audio workstations (DAWs), such as Pro Tools, Logic Pro, Abelton and Cubase, greatly aided production and the Internet provided the means of distribution through platforms like YouTube, Bandcamp and SoundCloud.
Vaporwave got its name from ‘vaporware’, a term applied to computer hardware or software which is announced by a developer well in advance of release, but which then fails to emerge.
At first, vaporwave was a nostalgic reflection of the sounds of the 1980s and 1990s, drawing from popular music, contemporary R&B, smooth jazz and muzak, as well as from consumer culture, corporate logos, films, radio broadcasts and television commercials. Vaporwave has been described as a form of ‘post‑Internet’ electronic musical movement that reflects the fragmented and disorienting experience of living in the digital age.
The release of ‘Eccojams Vol. 1’ (2010) by Daniel Lopatin, under one of his aliases Chuck Person, is widely regarded as the foundation of vaporwave as a genre. The debut was followed ‘Floral Shoppe’ by Macintosh Plus and ‘Far Side Virtual’ by James Ferraro (both 2011), bringing greater visibility to vaporwave and its associated aesthetics. Despite this, vaporwave remains niche with tracks not readily available on physical media such as CDs or vinyl.
Like ‘pure’ ambient, vaporwave shuns structure and rhythm. The use of looping, glitching, pitch‑bending, panning, and echoing sound samples came to define the sound of vaporwave, giving the patchwork sound a hazy, surreal, dreamy and atmospheric quality with a focus on hyperreality. The vapor movement alludes to a disconnection or separation from reality presented through its original form.
In addition, vaporwave gave birth to a distinct aesthetic based on subcultures like cyberpunk, seapunk, manga and anime. Artist names, album titles and track listings often used uncommon symbols and Japanese script. In conjunction with the heavily manipulated and often intentionally degraded sound of vaporwave music, much of the genre’s artwork featured low‑grade image distortion or digital artefacts, bringing the limitations and flaws of past technology and positioning it within the broader post‑internet artistic landscape. The integration of the visual and the music elements can be interpreted as a criticism of consumer capitalism and hi‑tech culture.
Dreampunk – Dreampunk is an evolution of Vaporwave, also emerging in the mid‑2010s. Dreampunk artists wanting to experiment with more minimal and atmospheric compositions while, at the same time, distancing themselves from the nostalgic restrictions of the 1980s. The Internet record label, Dream Catalogue, helped popularize dreampunk within the vaporwave community as well as further afield.
The abstract, hypnotic, atmospheric soundscapes and repetitive structure of vaporwave is perhaps closer to ambient music, although the presence of rhythm differentiated it from its predecessor. This contributes to the dreamlike ethereal sound for which the genre is known. Dreampunk artists tend to seek anonymity, with many using several Internet aliases to create a sense of mystique around their music, hiding behind the aesthetic, often utilizing abstracted imagery of cityscapes, neon‑lit night scenes and incorporating futuristic dystopian and cyberpunk themes. Like vaporwave, dreampunk also uses Japanese scripts to further mystify their image. Classic dystopian and cyberpunk films such as ‘Blade Runner’ (1982) and ‘Ghost in the Shell’ (1995) also influenced and inspired the music genre. Both vaporwave and dreampunk continue to thrive in the underground.
Ambient, morphed through the lens of vaporwave and dreampunk, heavily influenced other genres such as hypnagogic pop, chillwave, VHS pop, witch house and slushwave.
Some popular vaporwave and dreampunk artists include Blue In Tokio, Fishmans, T e l e p a t h (テレパシー能力者), 2 8 1 4, Windows96, SkyTwoHigh and Lindsheaven Virtual Plaza.
Chillwave – Chillwave, a.k.a. glo‑fi, is an Internet genre that originated predominantly from the United States circa 2009. Chillwave, like vaporwave, looked back to the aesthetics and musical styles of the 1980s and 1990s, intentionally evoking a sense of nostalgic reflection. Chillwave melded analogue instruments with modern recording technologies and techniques to create a hazy dreamlike atmosphere. Chillwave appropriated elements of synthpop, funk, downtempo, EDM and alternative/indie genres like indie pop, neo‑psychedelia and synthwave.
Chillwave, vaporwave and dreampunk led to a great deal of fusion and crossover material, blurring the differences between them. Chillwave declined in popularity by the start of the 2020s but like many other genres, the end of chillwave may have been greatly exaggerated. Expect it to come back to the fore in due course. Chillwave’s influence would go on to play a part in genres such as cloud rap, alternative R&B, future bass, synthwave, ethereal wave and bedroom pop.
Prominent chillwave artists include Toro y Moi, Neon Indian, Washed Out, Memory Tapes, Flume, Com Truise, Tycho, Panda Bear, Lemon Jelly and Nite Jewel.
Intelligent Dance Music and its spin offs, glitch and wonky – Intelligent Dance Music (IDM) is a genre of electronic music that emerged in the early 1990s as a derivative (and rejection) of EDM. It is characterized by complex rhythms, intricate melodies, and a focus on sound design and experimentation. IDM artists often use unconventional time signatures, polyrhythms, glitches and de‑tuned sounds to create a unique listening experience. The genre is also known for its use of ambient textures and atmospheres, which can create a vague or otherworldly feel. IDM has been influential in the development of other electronic music genres such as ambient techno, and intelligent techno.
Some of the most well‑known IDM (and glitch/wonky) artists include Aphex Twin, Four Tet, Daniel Avery, Actress, Floating Points, Machinedrum, Moderat, Oneohtrix Point Never, Boards Of Canada, Mouse On Mars, Flying Lotus, LFO, Clark, Luke Vibert, Autechre and Squarepusher.
Dream pop – Deriving more from structured alternative and indie rock rather than ambient, dream pop uses reverb‑laden guitars, effects‑rich vocals, and dense studio production, to create a psychedelic, spacious, ethereal and surreal sound, albeit with a de‑emphasized beat accompanied by quiet, breathy harmonised vocals to elevate the music from its origins.
Dream pop is commonly fused with other genres such as shoegaze and noise pop, although dream pop does not solely depend on ‘walls of sound’, heavily distorted guitar layers or feedback. Dream pop relies heavily on modulation effects such as chorus, tremolo, vibrato, delay and reverb, to create mesmerising sonic textures. Dream pop bands often employ synthesizer layers to add atmosphere and lush soundscapes. Influences include slow core, post rock and trip hop.
In a similar way to shoegaze, vocals focus on melody and timbre, rather than lyricism. It is not uncommon for dream pop groups to have multiple vocalists to make good use of harmony and ‘instrumental’ vocals.
Prominent dream pop artists include Warpaint, 2:54, Lanterns of the Lake, Beach House, Cigarettes After Sex, The xx, Bat For Lashes, Low, Chromatics, Spiritualized, Julee Cruise, Broadcast, Zero 7, Phantogram, Yo La Tengo, Cocteau Twins, Dévics, Esben And The Witch, Pure Bathing Culture, School Of Seven Bells, His Name Is Alive, How To Dress Well, Lush, London Grammar and Mazzy Star.
Ambient dub – Ambient dub fuses ambient music with dub electronica. Ambient dub is a chillout fusion of ambient, dub reggae and future dub, featuring the atmosphere of the former and the Jamaican‑style basslines, percussion, and psychedelic production techniques of the latter. The name of the genre was coined by record label Beyond Records with a series of compilation albums of the same name, starting with, ‘Ambient Dub Volume 1: The Big Chill’ (1992). Many of the prominent artists within the genre also perform or mix in elements of dub techno, dubstep or ambient techno, which has led to some confusion over ambient dub’s actual sound. While the lines are indistinct between such electronic genres, ambient dub can genuinely be discerned by its denser atmospheres, a heavier use of reverb and/or delay, and an emphasis on bass akin to traditional dub, as well as reggae rhythms.
Notable ambient dub artists include: The Dub Syndicate, Bill Laswell, Dreadzone, Higher Intelligence Agency, The Orb, Ott, Loop Guru, Transglobal Underground, Jon Hopkins, Jah Wobble, Mad Professor, Burnt Friedman, Deadbeat, The Bug, Solar Quest, Ladytron and Banco de Gaia.
Dark ambient – before we leave, it’s worth a quick mention about dark ambient, a.k.a. ambient industrial. While most ambient music creates a peaceful, welcoming and safe place, dark ambient is intended to disturb. Dark ambient emerged as a post‑industrial counterpoint to the wider ambient landscape. It is characterised by an ominous, brooding, eerie, sinister and overbearingly gloomy atmosphere, often with discordant overtones, dissonant timbres and lengthy drones. Dark ambient often crops up in film scores intended to unsettle the audience and create a sense of disorientation or suspense.
Dark ambient artists include Deathprod, Agalloch, David Lynch, Throbbing Gristle, Angelo Badalamenti, Nine Inch Nails, Trent Reznor, William Basinski, Blut Aus Nord, Mortiis, Cabaret Voltaire, Dolorian, NON, Controlled Bleeding, Earth, Jóhann Jóhannsson, Sunn O))) and Steven Wilson.
STOP! Enough already! I hear you cry. We are beginning to go down a bit of a proverbial rabbit hole here, so the short list that follows suggests other sub‑genres heavily influenced by ambient and its derivatives. These sub‑genres include black ambient, ritual ambient, space ambient, space music, ambient Americana, ambient house, ambient techno, ambient trance, psybient, psydub, minimalism, modern classical, ambient industrial, tribal ambient, pop ambient, dubstep and turntable music. Phew!
Key ambient+ albums:
As with my previous article on dub reggae, it would be remiss not to mention some of the key albums that have impressed over the years. Here are some predictable and some very unpredictable selections to showcase the vast expanse of electronic ambient music as it is today. As this article has hopefully shown, ambient isn’t a clearly defined pigeon hole with unbreakable rules but rather a constantly changing complex and diverse approach to experimental soundscapes. Hence this ‘top 20’ collection is more like ‘ambient+’ (as I call it; remember, you read it here first!), intended to demonstrate the ecosystem’s multiplicity. Another ‘desert island disc’ compendium to daydream about. Again, it was a difficult decision‑making process with many excellent works that didn’t make this particular cut. These albums are all classified as contemporary, i.e. 1975 to the current day.
Aphex Twin – Selected Ambient Works 85‑92 (1993) and Vol. II (1994). Two seminal albums in the ambient genre that feature a mix of electronic and acoustic sounds. It is known for its dreamy, otherworldly soundscapes and has been described as ‘a journey through a strange and beautiful world’.
Brian Eno – Ambient 1: Music For Airports (1978). Basically, the one that started it all. Essential listening for devotees of the ambient music genre. A starting point for the many great ambient works that followed and an entrée into Eno’s many other ambient works.
Tangerine Dream – Rubycon (1975). Along with its predecessor, ‘Phaedra’ (1974), the pair stand out from the band’s extensive canon. The band had stopped using traditional instruments in its compositions and focused on analogue synthesizers and sequencers. Truly remarkable.
Max Richter – Sleep (2015). Almost 8½ hours of sweet lilting lullaby, a transcendent, cinematic, post‑minimalist ambient album of gentle music intended to be experienced as much as it is to be listened to, awake or asleep (or, interestingly, in between – a phenomenon known as ‘eyelid movies’; what the mind conjures up when one is in the transitional state of near sleep).
GAS – Pop (2000). A comforting, immersive experience and a lesson in how to make electronica sound organic and engrossing. Transcendent and transformative. A lysergic trip for your ears.
Fripp & Eno – Evening Star (1975). Combining the talents of Brian Eno and Crimson King guitarist Robert Fripp. Good to see guitar making a contribution to ambient music.
Four Tet – Rounds (2003). Not really ambient, more IDM and glitch. However, a disarmingly elegant stripped back intimate album. Perhaps, Kieran Hebdan’s landmark album.
Boards Of Canada – Music Has The Right To Children (1998). Focusing on concepts of childhood nostalgia, created by the use of obscure samples and masterly manipulated layers of sound. The album has become rather essential listening along with ‘The Campfire Headphase’ (2005) and ‘Geogaddi (2002).
Bonobo – Black Sands (2010). Lush, sumptuous and beguiling. Not ambient in a true sense but a great example of downtempo electronica from Simon Green. Also worth a listen is, ‘The North Borders’ (2013). Both also have excellent remix albums.
The KLF – Chill Out (1990). A classic ambient album that features a mix of samples and original music. It’s known for its dreamy, atmospheric soundscapes and has been described as ‘a road movie in music form’.
Stars Of The Lid – Tired Sounds Of Stars Of The Lid (2001). An album that features long, slow‑moving pieces that are built around drones and other ambient textures.
Chromatics – Night Drive (2001) – More ambient pop, dream pop and synthwave than pure ambient. Chromatics’ ethereal style was featured by David Lynch in his surreal TV series, ‘Twin Peaks’.
Burial – Untrue (2007). Enigmatic London‑based dubstep artist burst onto the scene with an album that is stark, blurred, eerie, tender and hauntingly evocative. A breath taking and inimitable event.
William Basinski – The Disintegration Loops I‑IV (2002‑2003). Four albums that feature loops of decaying tape recordings. The music is haunting and melancholic, and has been described as ‘a meditation on loss and decay’. Dedicated to the victims of 9/11. Tape music entropy as it happens, captured for posterity.
Tim Hecker – Radio Amor (2003). An album that features a mix of electronic and acoustic sounds, including guitar and piano. It’s known for its dense, layered soundscapes and has been described as ‘a beautiful, immersive experience’.
Banco de Gaia – Last Train To Lhasa (1995). Along with its predecessor, ‘Maya’ (1994), it shows the approach of Toby Marks to progressive ambient electronica. Again, not really ambient but hugely influenced by it.
Thievery Corporation – The Richest Man In Babylon (2000). Along with its remix EP, ‘Babylon Rewound’ (2004) it takes other influences including reggae and dub and brought it into the downtempo chillout world.
The Higher Intelligence Agency – Freefloater (1995). British artist Bobby Bird started off running experimental electronic music nights in Birmingham. Ambient techno meets ambient dub meets ambient. Also worth a listen is, ‘Colourform’ (2010).
Lindsheaven Virtual Plaza & SkyTwoHigh – Imaginary Pathways (2021). The final Internet album by Brazilian musician and producer, Cesar Alexandre before his untimely death due to covid. More dreampunk, ambient techno and downtempo with a hint of vaporwave rather than ambient. Blissful.
The Gentleman Losers – The Gentleman Losers (2006). Finnish brothers that take a mix of ambient, post rock, lo‑fi, dreamlike slowcore and even a hint of Americana and blend it into a strange place where one isn’t certain of what is light and what is dark.
In addition, referring back to ubiquitous compilation albums of the 1990s, one of the most significant events was ‘Ambient Dub Volumes 1‑4’ by various artists (1992‑1995) – A series of ambient dub compilation albums from Beyond Records that announced ambient dub to the world. The last of the four isn’t quite up to the first three but best seen as a whole. Another name check is for the annual ‘Pop Ambient’ compilations (2001‑) curated by Wolfgang Voigt, the man behind Kompakt Records and his nom de guerre GAS (see #5 above).
The future of ambient and ambient‑related music
The legacy of ambient music in all its facets has had a major impact on pretty much everything we listen to, even if we aren’t always aware of it. The question is, where is it going?
Ambient has exhibited somewhat of a resurgence in the early 2020s. Part of this renewed interest may be because of what is called multi‑sensory branding, where media events attempt to evoke memories through stimulation of all the senses. Another reason may be the rediscovery of obscure Japanese ambient music, as well as an interest in previously experimental, niche or underground music now garnering mainstream recognition. Streaming services make accessing unconventional music much easier. In addition, the growth of interest in mindfulness and mental health & wellbeing as a ‘cure’ for stress and anxiety caused by an increasingly frenetic and unpredictable world has reinforced the search for aids to relaxation, introspection and contemplation.
One thing we’ve learnt from this escapade is that ambient and ambient+ (or whatever else you want to call it) has been pushing the boundaries ever since the start of the 20th Century. If nothing else, it will continue to explore the outer limits while influencing the mainstream.
Probably the most significant tool in the future of ambient electronica won’t even involve human beings or actual instruments! AI will make significant inroads into generative music. Ultimately, though, this is likely to be a bit of a creative dead end. The drawback of AI is that it can only learn from what has come before it, it lacks the imagination and inventiveness of the human mind. At some point, AI generated ambient will become stale and derivative and human creativity will, once again be needed to bring spontaneity and unpredictability back to front and centre of music. Go People!
Given the inherent limitations of traditional musical instruments, electronic music may, arguably, have the greatest potential for innovation and creativity. One can only imagine the possibilities yet to be explored.
While many critics view electronica as soulless, cold and inert, it is sure to develop the ability to elicit more organic, fluid emotional responses. Many artists are looking backwards to analogue instruments and production techniques to add warmth and to create beauty out of its inherent imperfections.
Genre developments can only surprise once before they become part of the historical mosaic. One possible future is that ambient reaches a point where it becomes sterile and disposable. One might envisage it derided in the way that elevator muzak has become. Arguably, a proportion of current‑day throwaway popular music is already demonstrating that bleak possibility with anything new ultimately being short‑lived around the periphery before being subsumed into universal, amorphous homogeneity.
How we will be listening to music is another factor. If music becomes more clichéd, contrived and derivative, it will become more and more dismissible, fading into the background environment. However, isn’t that exactly what Erik Satie intentionally started with back in 1917?
For some, like the author, ambient resonates with the psyche on both a subconscious and conscious level. Others, meanwhile, may find the genre melancholic or even highly irritating. Ultimately, like all music preferences, it is partly a deliberate decision and partly predetermined in some obscure way.
Personally, I have confidence that people who appreciate ‘real’ music and have a passion for creating and performing it that will perpetuate this idiosyncratic form of music into a healthy future. Once again, discuss…
Tailpiece
So… there you have it. Another lengthy (apologies) delve into a relatively narrow niche of the wondrous world of music. Back to the real world, sadly. I cannot write about things that I don’t have some sort of fascination with. Having said that, these ambient+ genres are not exclusive listening. However, they can be just the ticket when one feels like some chillaxing, escaping from reality or as an antidote to insomnia.
Why do I dig ambient and electronic ambient+ music? It just resonates with me, It creates a welcoming oasis of contemplative calm away from a crazily intense ‘real’ world and it is somewhere to go that isn’t, well, here. Nothing profound, transcendent or conceited. See you in The Matrix soon.
I have no idea what’s up next, so it will come as much of a surprise to me as it will to you. Thoughts on a postcard please.
Until next time…
CRAVE Guitars’ ‘Quote of the Month’: “If you could literally have the world, what, exactly, would you do with it?”