Music / Styles A–Z / Electronic and new · 31 of 35
Ambient
Ambient puts tone and atmosphere ahead of structure and rhythm, often with no beat and no set melody. It grew in the 1960s and 1970s and was named by Brian Eno in 1978.
- Where and when
- Japan and the UK, 1960s–70s; named by Brian Eno in 1978
- Tempo
- Often no beat at all
- Played on
- Synthesizers, tape, emulated piano, strings and flute
- Lesson
- Electronic and new →
What it is
Ambient puts tone and atmosphere ahead of structure and rhythm; it often has no beat and no set melody. It grew in the 1960s and 1970s as the synthesizer reached a wider market, drawing on furniture music, musique concrète, minimalism and dub. Brian Eno named and popularised it in 1978 and wrote that it "must be as ignorable as it is interesting".
For the producer. Think in layers and time, not bars: long, slow pieces, often compared to drone music. Piano, strings and flute may be imitated on a synthesizer. Suzanne Ciani and Laurie Spiegel worked on Buchla and computer systems; a soft synth and a long reverb will get you started.
The records that made it
From the lesson Electronic and new, where the sources are listed · links open a search
- 1975Discreet MusicBrian Eno · Meant to be played at very low levels.
- 1978Ambient 1: Music for AirportsBrian Eno
- The Expanding UniverseLaurie Spiegel · Made between 1974 and 1976 on the GROOVE computer system.
- 1994Selected Ambient Works Volume IIAphex Twin
Ambient in this month’s records
New releases the press we read wrote about, tagged ambient on MusicBrainz · updated with every build
Album · 10.16 · ambient · electronicdo you love the color of the sky?Dummy
Album · 10.16 · classical · modern classicalWhile the Flood RagesMax Richter
Album · 10.02 · electronic · ambientRuin: It’s Not Just MusicKaitlyn Aurelia Smith
Album · 09.18 · contemporary folk · dream popThese Killing TimesEmma Ruth Rundle
EP · 12.01 · electronic · idmHi ScoresBoards of Canada