What about other forms of music, they could come under the ambient umbrella but most other music is taken actively. Ambient music in most cases is a passive form of music. It is like a drug being injected slowly over time the effect increases with time. It is almost like taking a journey/trip to some unknown place and having a holiday. When coming back all sense of time is lost.

Ambient music is not just about some soft cheesy keyboard sounds. It ranges from the very easy listening, to hard listening, to minimalist, to experimental and finally sampled sounds/voices and could possible contain some beats.

One category that is included is muzak. This form of ambient music generally is used to pad out an environment/space so people think happy thoughts. Humming and recognising a tune makes people more comfortable because it puts the mind is at rest. Usually popular music turned down low which people recognise.

It is not always the case that electronic music is involved. It may be some samples of natural sound or mechanical sounds. For example I recently heard that some inventive person record the sounds of high-tension power lines and made a record out of it. Another is sampling radio frequencies and mixing it appropriately. A classic that I have not heard yet is the interior of a car on a long journey. Many people are prone to fall asleep or be on the fine line of subconscious thought. A very recognisable one is train travel and the sound it makes. A classic track is Trans-Europe Express by Kraftwerk. Another one is the sound of water flowing; this leaded to a branch of New Age music.

New Age music has many elements one which is of travel music, although many of us stay clear of this form of music because it is so bland and cheesy and has associations with the occult and alternative medicine crowd. There are some very serious artists who have a knack for some really inventive music. I still suggest if you are into ambient music keep out a watch in this category. Even today! Back in the early days there where a few artists dabbling in environments and mood music through electronics that spurned New Age and the move to heavier forms of ambient music of today drone, minimalist, mood and experimental are becoming more into the forefront of music. Chillout and ambient terms are used in club circles to mean no hard beats or less demanding music. There are always exceptions where it can be a compilation of sounds (KLF Chill Out Album) or tracks (Cafe Del Mar).

Drone is one that really covers the hard listening and minimal approaches to ambient music. Hard sounds or one selected sound is played constantly in some sort of pattern or no pattern at all. For example listening to white noise on the TV set or Radio. Mixing white and pink noise in certain ways including tuning/de-tuning, phase shifts and fading in/out are some of the methods used.

Some of the harder forms of ambient music, you have to be in the mood to listen. It is just like all forms of music, there is a time and a place. With ambient music your own mood has a greater part to play in selecting a track to listen. Mood music somehow transforms your thoughts to either look outwardly and positively or inwardly to hidden secrets or takes you on a journey of mystery of inner feelings.

Meditation ambient music aids the meditative process. A lot of progressive ambient music fits in this area. Styles like going from complex to soft or soft to complex in a travel effect way, or a cyclic path where the music leads no where but when you take it away you miss it. This one has an effect of blocking out other external influences.

In summary in most cases you should get an emotional kick out of it. It is one form of escapism without using chemical drugs, just natural hormones in the brain.

Here is a summary of some of the artists that have a following for their ambient music tendencies

Brian Eno - classics in simple ambient tracks
Early - Tangerine Dream - low level hum and flute
Early - Kraftwerk. - rhythmic ambience
Paul Schutze - stylish patterns
The Orb - dub and psychedelic and organic
Robert Schroder -Textures and travel
Autechre - industrial landscapes
Barramudi Compilations - pulsating vibes
Klaus Schulze - additive bursts of sonic sounds, progression and improvisation
Software - environmental evaluations
Beamscape - soft melodic sounds
Vangelis - improvisation
Clan Analogue label - deep beats
Dorobo label - minimal and dark
Pete Namlook - space and a master
Terry Riley - meditation
Harrold Budd - improvisation
Robert Fripp guitar experimentalist
Windham Hill label - easy simple sounds
Steve Hillage - one of the first to use flowing water
David Sylvain - gothic
Thobbing Grissle - industrial
The Future Sound of London - electronics with feeling.
Cafe Dal Mar - good mixes
Lightwave - environment
Psy-Harmonics label - interesting stuff
KLF Chillout album - tangled web of everyday living
OMD - ambient music fading in at the start and out at the end of tracks
Art Of Noise taking mixing to the n-th degree.

Not forgetting that some of these ambient recordings can take your playback system to their limits when played at high levels. It is not all low-level monotonous noise!

Ray B