What is ambient music?:
Many of you have heard ambient music before but you may not have known what it's called. Ambient music are subtle instrumentals mostly used as background music but is also meant to be listened to. It focuses more on sound than melodic form. Eno describes ambient music on the liner notes of his album "Music for Airports" as
"'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."When did ambient music emerge?:
The term "ambient music" was coined by Brian Eno after an accident that rendered him bedridden in 1975. His works, especially the release of his album called "Ambient 1: Music for Airports" in 1978, further helped promote ambient music.
Who is Brian Eno?:
His full name is Brian Peter George St. John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno. He was born in England on May 15, 1948. Aside from being a musician and artist, Eno is also a teacher and producer. He is known as the pioneer of ambient music. One of his influences was the American composer
John Cage. Eno was a former member of the band Roxy Music where he played the synthesizer. Eno has collaborated with various artists over the course of his career including David Bowie and U2. His music can also be heard on TV shows and films, including the movie "Trainspotting".
What other terms are used in connection to ambient music?:
Other terms associated to ambient music are discreet music, experimental music, background music, space music, mood music and elevator music. Over the years different subtypes of ambient music have emerged including dark ambient, ambient techno and ambient trance.
Ambient Music Samples:
Listen to clips from Brian Eno's "
Ambient 1: Music for Airports" from Amazon.Com.
