Radio Show Transcript

Ambient Music by Sophie Page

What is ambient music? Ambient music is a genre of music with a purpose to
create an atmosphere. This can include mood enhancers as well as the opposite,
mood decreasers. What I love and find so interesting about ambient music is its
versatility and that love it or loathe it, there is no denying that as a genre it is
very clever. As music generally should provoke an emotion, I think that ambient
music is especially clever in this way for example, youre watching a horror film,
if you were to mute the TV you would find the scene a lot less frightening without
the atmospheric buildup of the music. The infamous music from Jaws composed
by John Williams being an example of how music can make you feel extremely
tense into a state of panic before a big reveal.

The area of ambient music that Im looking into is more about the revolution of
the 70s and modern day ambience. I have researched artists like Brian Eno, The
Orb, Cluster & Burial. I have also looked at the inventions which have developed
the genre such as how we got from the very first synths such as the single note
oscillator invented by accident by Elisha Gray to the very modern loops, samples
and synth pads we have now. The way that the synth has developed into a more
virtual state has had an impact on the way subgenres such as space ambient
and ambient music in cinema have developed with more futuristic sound effects.

Sub Genres of ambient music are: Dark ambient, Ambient house, Ambient
industrial, Space music, Ambient pop (dream pop) & ambient dub. The first
subgenre of ambient music for us to look at is space music. Space music has
many great artists such as Steve Roach, Constance Demby & even famous Jazz
musician the late Miles Davis dabbled in the art in his later years. Elements of
space music include a lot of electronic, futuristic, sounds. There are a lot of
sound effects that usually have a atmospheric related name. They als0 take you
on a space journey. Like most ambient music it is designed to tell a story.
For Example, in the song I have created that is currently playing it should be
clear that there is a journey into space. You, the listener should be able to hear
the lift off into the journey to the arrival on an unknown planet, an event
occurring (perhaps an alien encounter) then to the farewell. That is the main
vibe of a space music track. The music is often described as, hypnotic, tranquil
& moving. A quote from Musicologic Joseph Lanza says that space music is easy
listening with amnesia, sounding like the future but retaining unconcious ties to
the elevator music of the past I love this quote about space music as I think it
truly depicts what space music is. So allow me to break it down for you, the
quote starts off with the phrase space music is easy listening with amnesia
which is a good representitive as easy listening is a genre that is exactly as its
put- easy listening which is what space music is but with amnesia shows that it is
easy listening but its perhaps forgotten its self and developed into a more
futuristic state which takes us to the next part of the quote where he says that it
is sounding like the future but with ties to your classic elevator music which
generally means that it is a state of basically furnature music.

This leads us nicely to the next type of sub genre of ambient music which is
infact furniture music which refers to ambient music in a cinematic form. The
title of furniture music basically means it is in the background but still relevant to
the plot. Main features of furniture music differ between genre of film but usually
include sound effects that are relevant and intime with the plot. For example in a
childrens film a fairy would appear and the music would reveal perhaps a
sparkle which is infact chimes and the music would then develop to fit around
the character and story. This also is used in the horror genre as I spoke about
briefly in the introduction that the music leads up to a key event then follows up
with appropriate feeling and emotion- if a character is dying the music would get
very tense but after they pass it would create an atmosphere of sadness and
woe. The furniture music would be what makes the view feel empathy for the
character and can even make you cry. Ofcourse these emotions are provoked by
other elements of film like the acting and set but I feel like the music is what
really sums it up. I like this genre as it is so flexible to fit around its purpose.

Characteristics include a usual slow beat that varies depending of the drama of
the scene, Relevant background synths, sound effects and some kind of faint
drumbeat. I have chosen to recreate a piece of music you would find in a horror
film, with a tense build up to a dramatic jumpscare to the kind of softer after
sound.

Moving onto our last sub genre- ambient house, I found a quote from one of the
genre's pioneers Brian Eno, that I believe is very relevant to describing ambient
house music. He states 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." The elements of ambient house music that ive picked
up on are that it is very repetitive with a constant same beat throughout the entire
song. Another common practise ive found a lot with ambient house music is that
artists often make remixes of popular music but give it an underground feel. There
is often a slow drumbeat with enough rhythm that if one would chose to dance they
could but at the sametime the songs are incredibly lengthy and the main purpose of
ambient house music is to actually build up an atmosphere, you may find ambient
house music in bars and clubs. Some people choose to have ambient house music
just playing in the background of their own home just to give it a vibe.

Ambient house music has also been proven to help with studying or general work
productivity. Actually, I decided to put this to the test and as ive written this radio
transcript I am listening to an ambient house track called high noon by The Orb.
The track itself has a lot going on from faint shakers in the background to the sound
of synths that are made to sound like someone banging on a metal bin. There is also
some human like sounds that almost sound like an alien conversation, laughter and
crying too as well as some quotes from famous leaders.
For the track I have decided to recreate that you have been listening to, you should
be able to spot some of the elements I have spoken about such as almost alien like
conversation, a constant beat and synth sounds. The song I have created should also
adhere to the Eno quote that I spoke about at the beginning of this section, that you
may not have been concentrating on the song but when you decided to it still is able
to capture your attention.

Opinions of Ambient music vary from everyone you talk to, some people I have
asked say that it is boring, and too long or that its not real music. I disagree with
this personally as I find it very interesting in the way it has developed in the last
40ish years. With the invention of new technologies I have found that the ambient
scene has truly flourished and influenced a lot of modern day pop. Ambient music
definitely has some similarities to Jazz music in that it is to create an atmospheric
approach to music and that it is seen as being in the background to most people.
Infact there is a sub genre we didnt discuss of ambient jazz. It is associated as more
cafe music than club or bar music.

When I look at how ambient music has developed from the classical work of Wendy
Carlos in 1973 to the likes of the 2017 track broken feelings by strizzolo ( a modern
artist) It is clear to see the relations between where it started in about 1969 with the
invention of the first synth the Moog modulator 55, with influencers such as brian
Eno, Pink Floyd and even the late david bowie. To now seeing the modern day synth
pads such as the Roland SPD-SX digital pad and its usage in modern day pop such
as its feature in the 2017 song Rockabye by Clean Bandit using all electronic
instrumentation apart from their live recordings of cellos and violins. It shows that
electronic music is the way of the future and I definitely believe it is because of the
revolution of ambient music.