How Did You Discover Ambient?

[Negative Spectrum]

a friend brought up a copy of Aphex Twin's selected ambient works vol 2 the morning after a particularly heavy night, i loved that right away, i then got into the Orb, i've never really delved into older stuff like Eno, maybe one day

[NoiseTheorem]

I had a girlfriend in my early 20's that introduced me to it. She was a big fan of ambient and sound art music. She introduced me to Robert Rich and Tangerine Dream and a lot of artists who were around at the time. Back then I was a keyboardist in an Industrial band and part owner of a small Industrial Label in Chicago. Ambient became something I listened and that influenced me, but I was always disappointed with my attempts to produce it myself.

Fast forward to about 5 years ago and I was just done with the Industrial bands. Done with those performances and that atmosphere in general. I'd been collecting modular synth gear and effects and had a lot of 'noodles' but no songs. I finally sat down in 2011 to produce an album of my 'industrial influenced ambient' music. Its done. Its out there and I finally feel like I am doing what I really always wanted to.

[global express osc.]

the first time I heard ambient was when I heard a track Under Water from the album DREAMFISH (Mixmaster Morris and Pete Namlook) in my opinion the holly monsters of ambient music

[ambientsketchbook]

My first exposure was the Nine Inch Nails track "A Warm Place", from The Downward Spiral. The first album by a full-time ambient artist I bought was Labradford's A Stable Reference. Both are still regulars on my stereo.

[tonecarver]

For me it was the pre-ambient work of Eno and Fripp&Eno that really drew me in. No Pussyfooting, Evening Star, the B side of Before and Aftter Science ... I listened to those recording many many times over and still find myself trying to recreate that Fripp&Eno vibe in much of my work.

[GaryG]

The first album by a full-time ambient artist I bought was Labradford's A Stable Reference.

They were pretty influential for me too, kind of pulled together the post rock stuff I was into with more 'classical' ambient like Eno. Love Mark Nelsons Pan American stuff too, maybe not strictly ambient but pulling from the same sources.

[Mac of BIOnighT]

I guess the first true ambient record I heard was Tangerine Dreams 'Phaedra' (assuming that's considered ambient..? )

Nope, that's Berlin School ;-)

[Mac of BIOnighT]

I think the first thing I heard that I would consider Ambient (other than TD, if that's Ambient)

It's not, it's Berlin School...

[Mac of BIOnighT]

uuummmmmm....hhhmmmnn...the first time I heard ambient was when I heard TD's Pheadra..still have that as well. :confused::D

really, it's not ambient, it's Berlin School, really! ;-)

[Mac of BIOnighT]

(guys, I'm just kidding, but that really is Berlin School - honest!! Totally different thing!!)

Anyway, I must frankly admit I'm not sure what kind of music the word Ambient defines. I do label some of my music as ambient, but I don't think I could give a clear definition of it. I like the one one of you quoted above (you can listen or ignore it), it's pretty good, but maybe some of you can help me with some other definition?

[BrotherSaturn]

the first time I discovered ambient was when I was given a CDr copy of an Ulrich Schnauss album called "Far Away Trains Passing By" in 9th grade and a copy of "( )" by Sigur Ros. both of which changed the way I think about life and the way I listen to music.

[GaryG]

(you can listen or ignore it)

To quote Our Lord Eno on the subject: Ambient Music must be able to accomodate many levels of listening attention without enforcing one in particular; it must be as ignorable as it is interesting.

I'd categorise an awful lot of different musics as Ambient using that definition (yeah, including a lot of Berlin School stuff ;))

[seismic1]

I really have a problem ignoring music that I find interesting :(

[Mac of BIOnighT]

(you can listen or ignore it)

To quote Our Lord Eno on the subject: Ambient Music must be able to accomodate many levels of listening attention without enforcing one in particular; it must be as ignorable as it is interesting.

I'd categorise an awful lot of different musics as Ambient using that definition (yeah, including a lot of Berlin School stuff ;))

Yes, but if we only stick to that definition, then most music is ambient - classic, jazz, new age, pop... every kind of music, in fact! So there must be something that tells it apart. Berlin School can't be ambient because, among other things, of its peculiar use of sequences, which make it Berlin School. Death metal can't be ambient because, among other things, of growl, which makes it death metal. There must be something in the form that tell a genre from another, it cant be just the fact that you can indifferently listen or ignore (otherwise women would be ambient, as well ;-P ) It is that (maybe indefinable?) something that is not clear to me...

[seismic1]

I find many of these definitions become confusing very quickly. I know ambient music when I hear it (usually). By the same token I am becoming adept at identifying deep-house (don't ask me why), but occasionally get called out over a mis-classification. It's a minefield out there. That's why I resist conventional nomenclature for my own tracks. I'm so unsure of where they sit within the current milieu, and I can live with that.