Hello, my name is Torstein!

[Torstein Slåen]

Hi, my name is Torstein! I am 24 years old from Norway. I study performing jazz/improvised music at the Music Academy in Oslo, where I play the guitar!
I have been into ambient music for a really long time, but when i started to listen to it actively, it was mainly Brian Eno and Aphex Twin (both the ambient and the glitchy stuff). Ambient music like this create moods I rarely hear in other music, so I always try to be conscious of that particular mood when making music, as it is a huge influence to me. I like both the "you should not be distracted" kind of ambient but also the kind that got you on the edge of your seat. Since I study jazz/improvisation, I try to improvise and make things spontaneous and intuitive, and preferably with other musicians. In that way we can push each other to create new music. I'm sorry if this feels a little CV-ish or like a job interview!
If you have the time, please check out this duo I have with a keyboarder I study with! We founded the duo after finding out we both loved "Cendre" by Ryuichi Sakamoto and Fennesz. (I would also love some feedback, anything is allowed! The only way I can be better is by being told what I'm not good at and how to improve it and I sincerely mean that)
https://soundcloud.com/user-459377714

Cheers!

[ian]

just listened to "five". phenomenally trippy and relaxing stuff, i like it a lot.

i would like if your track titles were more interesting though. ambient music is simple art and it tends to lose a lot of its meaning without a given context; titles help provide that context. i would've liked to know what was on your mind while making this stuff but i can't tell that from the track title alone.

[aoVI]

Top-notch stuff on Soundcloud. A nice mix of textures and a variety emotion.

I do wish the levels were a bumped up a bit, but overcame that with a volume knob. :D


Welcome to the forum--I look forward to hearing more.

[Maharg]

Welcome to AO. Excellent work on soundcloud. Very nice sounds indeed.

[synkrotron]

Hi Torstein :D

[havdis]

hi, nice to see other Norwegians here. I'll check out your SC

[Guest]

okay the last postisnot shwong up so

lovely stuff, reallylike the harmonic/spectral progression

[Johnny Mandrake]

Hello Torstein, your music is really nice, I always enjoy good guitar ambient music and I am always jealous cause I can't play guitar ;)

I was in your country couple of times (but never in Oslo), I traveld across from Egersund till Lofoten and then north to reach Svalbard. Beautiful country, really! I wish I will come back again there, but now maybe by car (I used to travel by yacht).

[betadecay]

Nice works on Soundcloud!

just listened to "five". phenomenally trippy and relaxing stuff, i like it a lot.

i would like if your track titles were more interesting though. ambient music is simple art and it tends to lose a lot of its meaning without a given context; titles help provide that context. i would've liked to know what was on your mind while making this stuff but i can't tell that from the track title alone.

Don't worry - my tracks have never names, at least as long as thy are shared only on soundcloud. Compilation tracks get "real" names.

http://www.ambientonline.org/forum/s...-ambient-piece

I start my tracks with a sound, I think "wow, that sounds cool - how can I use that?" I don't start with "we had one week of hevay rain, how can I express that?". And therefore, I never find a nice title...

And: yes, "five" is really good.

[synkrotron]

I start my tracks with a sound, I think "wow, that sounds cool - how can I use that?" I don't start with "we had one week of hevay rain, how can I express that?". And therefore, I never find a nice title...

This is exactly how I work... Sound first, everything else after.

[Torstein Slåen]

Thanks for all the kind words, people, and sorry for the late response from myself!
As for the names, I may agree that they could need some polish, hehe. I know several improv-bands here in Norway who give their improvisations names like this, like for instance one of my favourite bands Supersilent. We may consider better titles in the future, this was just to put some stuff out there in the interweb!
Since this is improvised music, we have no kind of guidelines or feelings/moods we are following before we start playing, but of course, we can name the tunes after the feeling we get from listening to it afterwards. I'll check into the post betadecay posted!
And yes, the levels could have been bumped up, this was just a live recording from a rehearsal room at school with no mixing or mastering involved. We had to make a deadline, haha.
You guys seem really nice and I would love to hear more from your music as well. I will definitely check into your music when I have time!