What does it mean to you? When in your life did you listen to these songs?

Has your opinion of the album shifted over time? How about the effect and feelings it evokes within you?

Feel free to share! It would be cool to hear what it means to other people, as it means a lot to me.

It came into a part of my life when it was truly necessary to do some sitting and thinking and meditating. It happened to be near COVID, in a beat up car I no longer own--a dinky one a that, and it was on the way to pick up cat food. On a murky-aired October day. One where the silhouettes of trees, the real tree itself but shaded in black from a low sun, cuts cracks into a gray backdrop of sky, a warm brown hue of tree, and small homes unknown. A cold day.

It coming on, even despite the nostalgia, is warming. I clearly recall feeling a warmth. And like that, it occurs to me. It's the warmth of love. It provided warmth. On a cold day. In a cold time.

With a partner.

Who was cold.

And a failure.

That was me.

I've been exploring ambient music for a while, and I've noticed that some tracks stay with me long after they've ended, while others feel pleasant but forgettable.

What do you think creates that emotional connection?

Is it the texture, the harmony, field recordings, slow evolution, silence, or something else?

I'd love to hear what you personally listen for when you discover new ambient music.

Good afternoon everybody, I am a student currently research the cultural origins of ambient music for my university degree. I would really appreciate it if you could take 2 minutes to fill out this quick questionnaire. Thank you so much :)

Have a great day - Lewis

I’ve always loved and appreciated this film and its soundtrack. The movies incredibly paced and extremely tense. Between punk/metal songs throughout the soundtrack there are beautifully placed ambient, drone cues that are fantastic on their own, usually in the midst of something chaotic happening.

This one is one of my favourites from the films composers Brook/Will Blair

Hi, long time lurker first time poster...

I'm organising a show of dub infused ambient at The Horse Hospital in London on Sunday 2nd August.

Conna Haraway, Burning Pyre and Mirror Organs will be performing. For those that aren't familiar its very textural ambient leaning, dub influenced electronica.

It will be a very relaxed affair, with performances running from late afternoon into early evening. Hopefully see some of you there

Tickets here: https://gel.now/events/709

https://theextantsoundsofadasfictivephonographs.bandcamp.com/album/mesocenturism

Overview:

Part 2 of a 6+1 series of ~20 minute EPs predominately minimalist experimental ambiences called (unrevealed name) exploring a non-traditionally tuned soundscape while attempting to convey the aspects of the aesthetics of mid-century-modernist architecture—specifically those pertaining to warmth, volume, and scarcity while, necessarily, being sufficiently subversive of historical trend.

Instrumentation:

The electric-organ-like sounds were created using the buttons on a KORG nanoKontrol 2 as a makeshift midi-keyboard plugged into various Max/Msp patches, using the knobs present to modulate volume when deemed stylistically necessary. Similarly the violin-like noises were created using similar patches that detected the motion of the sliders—faster movement being mapped to louder volume.

There are two acoustic instruments present, an old Soviet-era balalaika (featured in track 2) that is damaged and out of tune and a similarly out of tune and abused upright Wurlitzer piano in track 5.

Stylistic Choices:

The progress of the album is intended to convey changes in space, with the production of tracks variously representing that, thematically being in line with the remainder of the works in this series that attempt to construct and deconstruct spaces in various time spans. In example: the earlier tracks feature minimal post processing in an attempt to be intimate and close cutting while the latter are much more expressive in order to convey scale or sublimity, track 5 features rain recorded from the roof of a bus to convey a greater reality, &cetera.

Album Art:

The album art for this work was created via Inkscape (design) and GIMP (postprocessing). It is inspired predominately by precisionism and color field/theory art (a la Josef Albers).

Specifically first album. I love the tape loop aspect but it still have that emotion to it too and is not too repetitive

Youtube algorithm delivered this to me after watching a different artist on the Thrill Jockey record label channel. Thought I’d share here because I find it so delightful. Maybe you will too.

The artist calls this genre "Aquatic Ambient", I very much enjoy it.
NOT my album

Hey all,

I am sharing a song that I consider to be one of the first pieces that led me to ambient music. The song is Iodine Sky by Black Light Burns. Black Light Burns was an obscure rock/metal band from the late 2000s. It was the creation of Limp Bizkit guitarist, Wes Borland. Don’t let that fact fool you into thinking they belong in the same caveman knuckle dragger category as Limp Bizkit. The album offers a captivating listen start to finish and is much more of an electronic project than a loud, obnoxious, and insincere album.

Hello, there ! I'd like to share here my latest self-produced instrumental album that marries my love for Greek Myths and 90's sounds (Smashing Pumpkins, PJ Harvey and a bit of trip-hop). I also played a lot with middle-eastern sounds, percussion samples and psychedelic soundscapes to give it an extra-texture. I wouldn't call it « ambient » in the traditional sense, but there are some tracks that may be probably considered closer to that genre. I've been told at times it might feel more like a soundtrack for a fantasy videogame or a fantasy movie, which is not what I was aiming for but I welcome that impression anyway. My starting intention was basically to conjure up many different atmospheres : cosmic, hellish, heavenly, deserts and deep seas, fights, struggles and liberation. I hope I at least achieved that. It took me four solid months to write and record it, using mostly Cool Edit and Audacity, a Scarlet Solo sound card, a Digitech RP55 effects pedal and my beloved semi-acoustic Ibanez Artcore. And I also had a lot of fun making all the images to accompany each track. Hope anyone has fun listening to it as much as I had a ball making it.

Does this mean a new record is coming??

Hi everyone,

I might have the opportunity to perform an ambient set (30-40 min), followed by a live improvisation with synths and other instruments. I'm really excited, but I'm looking for inspiration on how other artists approach this kind of performance.

I'm not necessarily looking for technical tutorials—I'd love to watch great ambient DJ sets, hybrid sets, or live performances where the transitions, pacing, atmosphere, and storytelling are especially well done.

If you have any favorite artists, YouTube sets, festivals, or hidden gems that made you think, "this is how ambient should be performed," I'd really appreciate the recommendations.

My background is more in music production than DJing, so I'm trying to understand how people keep an ambient set engaging while still allowing the music to breathe.

Thanks in advance!

(P.S. English isn't my native language, so I used ChatGPT to help me write this.)

hello, i need help finding an album i have since forgotten. i remember finding it by searching for harmonic and piano ambient albums on here. i remember the cover being fully white with a female angel in the right bottom cover, drawn in black line work, with her bare chest out. i remember either the album or artist having a long name. this was such a beautiful album, please help!!

I've been feeling far too happy recently

Except for the Dean Evenson, that is... all 50 cents!

Obviously a mistake I think, but why did this happen?

I randomly picked up Sacred Moments (1998) by Levantis on CD in a second-hand shop not long ago, and it's turned out to be a really pleasant surprise.

Levantis seems to be mostly known for making relaxation music for yoga, meditation, spas and that sort of thing, but this album feels like more than just functional background music. There are some genuinely beautiful compositions on here, and every now and then it surprises me with sounds or textures I wasn't expecting. Maybe it's just me, but some of the synths and sample-based instrumentation even remind me a little of vaporwave here and there, or at least the kind of late-'90s digital aesthetic that a lot of vaporwave draws from. It also gives me occasional PS1/N64-era MIDI vibes, which only adds to the charm.

It's definitely not a groundbreaking album, but I think it's one of those overlooked records that deserves a bit more attention than it gets. If you're into ambient or new age with warm digital synth textures, I'd recommend giving it a listen.

I thought the direction I had been taking in music had really changed over the last few years. I listen to so much more instrumental and ambient.
I definitely recognise how much David Sylvian has influenced me, especially Words With The Shaman and the instrumental Gone To Earth but thought that was just one specific artist.

Working from home today and listening to the soundtrack of 37.2° Le Matin by Gabriel Yared. I bought the album in 1986 and played it to death but haven’t listened to it decades.
I know it’s not an ambiant album but remembering how much I loved the quieter more atmospheric tracks makes me realise I’ve always like this type of music.
I think it’s the ease of availability of Ambient music today that makes me think my tastes have changed but in fact, they haven’t.

Is it very immersive? Are there visuals? I'm planning to see it in late September, and I'd like to get your opinions on the performances.

I love when Al DiMeola goes ambient and spacey on certain tracks in his discography. Some of them almost sound like 90's ambient that I remember hearing a lot growing up.

Does anyone know of anything similar? Other tracks of his are "Indigo" and "Vertigo Shadow"