The term "ambient music" was first coined by Brian Eno in the mid-1970s to
refer to music that can be either "actively listened to with attention or as
easily ignored, depending on the choice of the listener" (Eno, who describes
himself as a "non-musician" termed his experiments in sound as "treatments"
rather than as traditional performances). Hence, Brian Eno is considered the
father of ambient music: his 1978 release Ambient 1: Music for Airports
includes a manifesto describing this music. Although having coined the
phrase "ambient music", he is also quick to reference the works and
influence of Erik Satie and John Cage, in particular Cage's use of chance as
in using the I Ching to influence the contents of a musical composition. Eno
coined the term in an essay to distance his work from elevator music and
Muzak, it is more often similar to mood music or an ambient background in
movie and radio sound effects.
Many of the works of turn of the century French composer Erik Satie are
regarded as predecessors to ambient music. He referred to some of his music
as "Musique d'ameublement" ('furniture music', or more literally, 'music for
the furniture' and 'music to mingle with knives and forks'), in reference to
something that could be played during a dinner whose sound would simply
create an atmosphere for that activity rather than be the specific focus of
attention.
The earliest electronic soundscape music and theories come from the work of
Pierre Schaeffer who followed the futurists in classifying music into
categories such as man made, natural, short and long. He made some of the
first electronic music using record players and natural sounds, and cutting
up tape, making the first experimental music use of recording and magnetic
tape (Musique Concrete). Even his work can be seen as preempted by
Schopenhauer's ideas of 'soundworlds', literally worlds made up entirely of
sounds. Karlheinz Stockhausen created pioneering electronic musical
experiments later in 1955, and these two (amongst others) lay the groundwork
for ambient music to appear decades later when music technology had
developed.
Ambient music can be seen as a kind of minimalism that was an influence on
Eno's groundbreaking style. John Cage created the ultimate minimalist work
with his 4'33", three periods of silence first played on the piano, which
can also be considered ambient music because it causes the audience to
become aware of the ambient sound surrounding them. Cage inspired minimalist
composers such as La Monte Young, Morton Feldman, Terry Riley, Steve Reich
and Philip Glass.
Early albums by Pink Floyd (such as Ummagumma and Meddle) and by the
"kosmische Musik"-oriented krautrock artists, like Tangerine Dream, Popol
Vuh, and Cluster have greatly influenced the genre. Among the first
electronic ambient albums were Affenstunde (1970) and In Den Garten Pharaos
(1971) by Popol Vuh. Another important album was Sonic Seasonings (1972) by
Wendy Carlos. Other early artists such as Klaus Schulze (a former member of
Tangerine Dream and Ash Ra Tempel), Jean Michel Jarre, and Kraftwerk in the
1970s and 1980s were influential. In the 1970s, some ambient, krautrock, and
other musicians who were influenced by new age spirituality created the
eclectic genre known as New Age music, selling millions independent from the
mainstream music industry by direct order or new age shops. By the 1980s,
New Age music had become so much better known than ambient music, that
ambient was taken as a synonym for "New Age", and many ambient musicians
deliberately took on new age themes to market themselves to this audience.
-----Original Message-----
From: Discussion of Welsh language technical terminology and vocabulary
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of John Puw
Sent: 26 February 2008 09:26
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: ambient music
Neu gerddoriaeth creu awyrgylch o bosib?
Sent using BlackBerry® from Orange
-----Original Message-----
From: Post <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Tue, 26 Feb 2008 09:21:02
To:[log in to unmask]
Subject: ambient music
Does dim diffiniad ar y we, heblaw un sy’n ei disgrifio fel “atmospheric
music”.
Cerddoriaeth (‘tinkly’ braidd) sydd i fod i wneud i bobl ymlacio yw hi.
Lle mae sôn am ‘ambient music’ ar wefan Ecodyfi, dim ond ‘cerddoriaeth’ sydd
yn Gymraeg.
Fyddai ‘cerddoriaeth awyrgylch’ yn gwneud y tro?
Diolch.
Claire
