Editing Ambient music (section)

== Related and derivative genres ==
=== Ambient house ===
{{Main|Ambient house}}
Ambient house is a musical category founded in the late 1980s that is used to describe [[acid house]] featuring ambient music elements and atmospheres.<ref name="amg-genre">{{cite web|title=Ambient House|url=http://www.allmusic.com/explore/style/ambient-house-d3257|work=[[AllMusic]]|access-date=October 4, 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110605002817/http://www.allmusic.com/explore/style/ambient-house-d3257|archive-date=June 5, 2011}}</ref> Tracks in the ambient house genre typically feature [[four-on-the-floor]] beats, [[synthesiser|synth pads]], and vocal samples integrated in an atmospheric style.<ref name="amg-genre"/> 

Ambient house tracks generally lack a [[Diatonic scale|diatonic]] center and feature much [[atonality]] along with synthesized chords. The Dutch [[Brainvoyager]] is an example of this genre. [[Illbient]] is another form of ambient house music.

=== Ambient industrial ===
Ambient industrial is a hybrid genre of [[industrial music|industrial]] and ambient music.<ref name=musichyperreal>{{cite web |author=Werner, Peter |title=Epsilon: Ambient Industrial |url=http://music.hyperreal.org/epsilon/info/werner_notes.html |publisher=Music Hyperreal |access-date=December 11, 2011 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120805145930/http://music.hyperreal.org/epsilon/info/werner_notes.html |archive-date=August 5, 2012 }}</ref> A "typical" ambient industrial work (if there is such a thing) might consist of evolving dissonant harmonies of metallic drones and resonances, extreme low frequency rumbles and machine noises, perhaps supplemented by [[gong]]s, percussive rhythms, [[bullroarer (music)|bullroarers]], distorted voices or anything else the artist might care to sample (often processed to the point where the original sample is no longer recognizable).<ref name=musichyperreal/> 

Entire works may be based on [[radio telescope]] recordings, the babbling of newborn babies, or sounds recorded through contact microphones on telegraph wires.<ref name=musichyperreal/>

=== Ambient pop ===
Ambient pop is a style that developed in the 1980s and 1990s contemporaneously with [[post-rock]]; it has also been regarded as an extension of the [[dream pop]] movement and the atmospheric style of [[shoegaze]]. It incorporates structures that are common to [[Indie rock|indie music]], but extensively explores "electronic textures and atmospheres that mirror the hypnotic, meditative qualities of ambient music", which is also central to [[Electronic music#Indie electronic|indie electronic]] music.<ref name="allmusic-ambientpop">{{cite web|url=http://www.allmusic.com/style/ambient-pop-ma0000012263| title= Ambient Pop | work=[[AllMusic]] | access-date=10 July 2017}}</ref> Ambient pop utilizes the musical experimentation of [[Psychedelic music|psychedelia]] and the repetitive traits of [[Minimal music|minimalism]], [[krautrock]] and [[techno]] as prevalent influences. Despite being an extension of dream pop, it is distinguished by its adoption of "contemporary electronic idioms, including [[Sampling (music)|sampling]], although for the most part live instruments continue to define the sound."<ref name="allmusic-ambientpop"/>

[[David Bowie]]'s ''[[Berlin Trilogy]]'' with ambient music pioneer [[Brian Eno]], both of whom were inspired during the production of the albums in the trilogy by German ''kosmische Musik'' bands and minimalist composers,<ref>{{cite magazine |url=http://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/the-invention-of-ambient-music| title=The Invention of Ambient Music| magazine=[[The New Yorker]] | last=Abramovich | first=Alex | date= 20 January 2016 | access-date=10 July 2017}}</ref> was regarded as influential on ambient pop. The track "Red Sails" from the trilogy's third album, ''[[Lodger (album)|Lodger]]'' (1979), was retroactively described as a "piece of ambient-pop" by the music journalist David Buckley in ''David Bowie: The Music and The Changes'', as it prominently incorporates a [[motorik]] drum rhythm, electronically processed guitars and a simplistic melody.<ref>{{cite book|last=Buckley|first=David|title=David Bowie: The Music and The Changes|publisher=[[Omnibus Press]]|year=2015|isbn=9781783236176|page=60}}</ref>

Dream pop band [[Slowdive]]'s 1995 album ''[[Pygmalion (album)|Pygmalion]]'' was a major departure from the band's usual sound, heavily incorporating elements of ambient [[electronica]] and psychedelia with hypnotic, repetitive rhythms,<ref name=AllMusic>{{cite web |url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/pygmalion-mw0000887091 |title=Pygmalion – Slowdive |publisher=[[AllMusic]] |access-date=10 July 2017 |last=Abebe |first=Nitsuh}}</ref> influencing many ambient pop bands and subsequently being regarded as a landmark album in the genre;<ref>{{cite web| url=http://spectrumculture.com/2015/08/06/holy-hell-pygmalion-turns-20/ | title=Holy Hell! Pygmalion Turns 20 | work=Spectrum Culture | author=Korber, Kevin | date=6 August 2015 |access-date=10 July 2017}}</ref> [[Pitchfork (website)|Pitchfork]] critic Nitsuh Abebe described the album's songs as "ambient pop dreams that have more in common with post-rock [bands] like [[Disco Inferno (band)|Disco Inferno]] than shoegazers like [[Ride (band)|Ride]]".<ref name="Pitchfork">{{cite web |url=http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/11841-just-for-a-day-souvlaki-pygmalion |title=Slowdive: Just for a Day / Souvlaki / Pygmalion |publisher=[[Pitchfork (website)|Pitchfork]] |date=28 November 2005 |access-date=10 July 2017|last=Abebe |first=Nitsuh}}</ref> The genre continued to stylistically progress in the 2000s with bands including [[Sweet Trip]], [[Múm]], [[Broadcast (band)|Broadcast]], [[Dntel]] and his project [[the Postal Service]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Indie Electronic Music Genre Overview |url=https://www.allmusic.com/style/indie-electronic-ma0000012275 |website=AllMusic |access-date=9 September 2023}}</ref>

=== Ambient techno ===
{{Main|Ambient techno}}
Ambient techno is a music category emerging in the late 1980s that is used to describe ambient music atmospheres with the rhythmic and melodic elements of [[techno]].<ref name="ambtec">{{cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/style/ambient-techno-ma0000012032|title=Electronic » Techno » Ambient Techno|website=[[AllMusic]]|access-date=January 8, 2010}}</ref> Notable artists include [[Aphex Twin]], [[B12 (band)|B12]], [[Autechre]], and [[The Black Dog (band)|the Black Dog]].

=== Dark ambient ===
{{Main|Dark ambient}}
{{See also|List of dark ambient artists}}
Brian Eno's original vision of ambient music as unobtrusive musical wallpaper, later fused with warm house rhythms and given playful qualities by the Orb in the 1990s, found its opposite in the style known as dark ambient. Populated by a wide assortment of personalities—ranging from older industrial and metal experimentalists ([[Scorn (band)|Scorn]]'s [[Mick Harris]], [[Current 93]]'s [[David Tibet]], [[Nurse with Wound]]'s [[Steven Stapleton]]) to electronic boffins ([[Kim Cascone]]/PGR, [[Psychick Warriors ov Gaia|Psychick Warriors Ov Gaia]]), [[Japanoise|Japanese noise]] artists ([[K.K. Null]], [[Merzbow]]), and latter-day indie rockers ([[Main (band)|Main]], [[Bark Psychosis]]). 

Dark ambient features toned-down or entirely missing beats with unsettling passages of keyboards, eerie samples, and treated guitar effects. Like most styles related in some way to electronic/dance music of the '90s, it's a very nebulous term; many artists enter or leave the style with each successive release.<ref>{{cite web|title=Dark Ambient: Significant Albums, Artists, and Songs|website=[[AllMusic]]|url=http://www.allmusic.com/subgenre/dark-ambient-ma0000011972|access-date=8 July 2013|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140621021943/http://www.allmusic.com/subgenre/dark-ambient-ma0000011972|archive-date=21 June 2014}}</ref> Related styles include [[ambient industrial]] (see below) and isolationist ambient.

===Drone music===
{{main|Drone music}}
Drone music is a [[minimal music|minimalist]]<ref name="coxwarner.301"/> genre of music that emphasizes the use of [[sustain]]ed sounds,<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.britannica.com/art/drone-music|encyclopedia=britannica.com|title=Drone}}</ref> notes, or [[tone cluster]]s called ''[[drone (music)|drone]]s''. It is typically characterized by lengthy compositions featuring relatively slight harmonic variations. [[La Monte Young]], one of its 1960s originators, defined it in 2000 as "the sustained<!--no hyphen in quote--> tone branch of minimalism."<ref name=young2000>Young 2000, p. 27</ref> Elements of drone music have been incorporated in diverse genres such as [[Rock music|rock]], ambient, and [[electronic music]].<ref>{{cite web|last1=Echo|first1=Altstadt|title=Drone Techno Introduction|url=http://dubmonitor.com/drone-techno-an-introduction/|website=www.dubmonitor.com|publisher=Dub Monitor|access-date=18 February 2015|archive-date=18 February 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150218220923/http://dubmonitor.com/drone-techno-an-introduction/|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>"Drone-based music" is used for instance in 1995 (Paul Griffiths, ''Modern music and after: Directions Since 1945'', Oxford University Press, 1995, {{ISBN|0-19-816511-0}}, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=OYQy92PzNgYC&pg=PA209 209]: "Young founded his own performing group, the Theatre of Eternal Music, to give performances of highly repetitive, drone-based music"), or in Cow & Warner 2004 (cf. cited quote of p. 301).</ref><ref name="coxwarner.301">Cox & Warner 2004, p. [https://books.google.com/books?id=FgDgCOSHPysC&pg=PA301 301] (in "Thankless Attempts at a Definition of Minimalism" by [[Kyle Gann]]): "Certainly many of the most famous minimalist pieces relied on a motoric 8th-note beat, although there were also several composers like Young and Niblock interested in drones with no beat at all. [...] Perhaps “steady-beat-minimalism” is a criterion that could divide the minimalist repertoire into two mutually exclusive bodies of music, pulse-based music versus drone-based music."</ref>

===New-age music===
{{main|New age music}}
Ambient music fused with new-age music styles has an explicit purpose of aiding [[meditation music|meditation]] and relaxation, or aiding and enabling various alternative [[spiritual practice]]s, such as [[alternative healing]], yoga practice, [[guided meditation]], or [[chakra]] auditing.<ref>{{citation |title=New Age Music Genre Overview |publisher=[[allmusic]]|url=https://www.allmusic.com/genre/new-age-ma0000002745 |access-date=February 9, 2025}}</ref><ref>{{citation |title=Ambient Music Style Overview |publisher=[[allmusic]]|url=https://www.allmusic.com/style/ambient-ma0000002424 |access-date=February 9, 2025}}</ref> The proponents of new age-ambient music are almost always musicians who create their music expressly for these purposes.<ref name="NAV">Steven Halpern, ''New Age Voice Magazine'', June 1999 issue</ref> To be useful for meditation, the music must have repetitive dynamic and [[texture (music)|texture]] without sudden loud [[Chord (music)|chords]] or improvisation, which could disturb the meditator. It is [[minimalist]] in conception, and musicians in the genre are mostly instrumentalists rather than vocalists.<ref>{{citation |first=Stephen A. |last=Marini |title=Sacred Song in America: Religion, Music, and Public Culture |year=2003 |location=Urbana and Chicago|publisher=University of Illinois Press |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ALHGyUwKuogC |isbn=9780252028007}}</ref> 

[[Subliminal message]]s are also used in new-age music, and the use of instruments along with sounds of animals (like whales, wolves and eagles) and nature (waterfalls, ocean waves, rain) is also popular. Flautist [[Dean Evenson]] was one of the first musicians to combine peaceful music with the sounds of nature, launching a genre that became popular for massage and yoga.<ref>{{citation |first=John P. |last=Newport |title=The New Age Movement and the Biblical Worldview: Conflict and Dialogue |year=1998 |publisher=William B. Eerdmans Publishing |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Rxss1cqHWYIC |isbn=9780802844309}}</ref>

=== Space music ===
{{Main|Space music}}
{{Listen
| type         = music
| filename     = Tamaki Tso - La Silla - 01 Interstellar.flac
| title        = "Interstellar", by Tamaki Tso
| description  = Example of a self-described ambient music song fused with [[experimental music|experimental]] and [[post rock]] elements
}}
Space music, also spelled "Spacemusic", includes music from the ambient genre as well as a broad range of other genres with certain characteristics in common to create the experience of contemplative spaciousness.<ref name="ref1">{{cite web|quote =... Originally a 1970s reference to the conjunction of ambient electronics and our expanding visions of cosmic space ... In fact, almost any music with a slow pace and space-creating sound images could be called spacemusic|first = Stephen|last = Hill|work = Hearts of Space|url-status = live|url = http://hos.com/aboutmusic.html |title =What is spacemusic?|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060325183847/http://www.hos.com/aboutmusic.html |archive-date=2006-03-25 }}</ref><ref name="ref4">"Any music with a generally slow, relaxing pace and space-creating imagery or atmospherics may be considered Space Music, without conventional rhythmic elements, while drawing from any number of traditional, ethnic, or modern styles."  Lloyde Barde, July/August 2004,  {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20070927135155/http://www.backroadsmusic.com/index.php?p=article2 ''Making Sense of the Last 20 Years in New Music'']}}</ref><ref name= "ref46">"When you listen to space and ambient music you are connecting with a tradition of contemplative sound experience whose roots are ancient and diverse. The genre spans historical, ethnic, and contemporary styles. In fact, almost any music with a slow pace and space-creating sound images could be called spacemusic."  Stephen Hill, co-founder, Hearts of Space,  [http://hos.com/aboutmusic.html ''What is spacemusic?''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060325183847/http://www.hos.com/aboutmusic.html |date=2006-03-25 }}</ref>

Space music ranges from simple to complex sonic textures sometimes lacking conventional melodic, rhythmic, or vocal components,<ref name="ref43">"A timeless experience...as ancient as the echoes of a simple bamboo flute or as contemporary as the latest ambient electronica. Any music with a generally slow pace and space-creating sound image can be called spacemusic. Generally quiet, consonant, ethereal, often without conventional rhythmic and dynamic contrasts, spacemusic is found within many historical, ethnic, and contemporary genres."Stephen Hill, co-founder, Hearts of Space, sidebar "What is Spacemusic?" in essay [http://hos.com/history.html ''Contemplative Music, Broadly Defined''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101225224828/http://www.hos.com/history.html |date=2010-12-25 }}</ref><ref name="ref5">"The early innovators in electronic "space music" were mostly located around Berlin. The term has come to refer to music in the style of the early and mid-1970s works of Klaus Schulze, Tangerine Dream, Ash Ra Tempel, Popol Vuh and others in that scene. The music is characterized by long compositions, looping sequencer patterns, and improvised lead melody lines." – John Dilaberto, ''Berlin School'',  [http://www.echoes.org/de.glossary.html#a ''Echoes Radio on-line music glossary''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070614233851/http://www.echoes.org/de.glossary.html |date=2007-06-14 }}</ref> generally evoking a sense of "continuum of spatial imagery and emotion",<ref name="ref47">"This music is experienced primarily as a continuum of spatial imagery and emotion, rather than as thematic musical relationships, compositional ideas, or performance values." Essay by Stephen Hill, co-founder, Hearts of Space, [http://hos.com/n_word.html ''New Age Music Made Simple''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100405222140/http://www.hos.com/n_word.html |date=2010-04-05 }}</ref> beneficial introspection, deep listening<ref name="ref49">"Innerspace, Meditative, and Transcendental... This music promotes a psychological movement inward." Stephen Hill, co-founder, Hearts of Space, essay titled [http://hos.com/n_word.html ''New Age Music Made Simple''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100405222140/http://www.hos.com/n_word.html |date=2010-04-05 }}</ref> and sensations of floating, cruising or flying.<ref name="ref7">"...Spacemusic ... conjures up either outer "space" or "inner space" " – Lloyd Barde, founder of Backroads Music [http://music.hyperreal.org/epsilon/info/barde_notes.html ''Notes on Ambient Music,'' Hyperreal Music Archive] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929091634/http://music.hyperreal.org/epsilon/info/barde_notes.html |date=2007-09-29 }}</ref><ref name="ref42">"Space And Travel Music: Celestial, Cosmic, and Terrestrial... This New Age sub-category has the effect of outward psychological expansion. Celestial or cosmic music removes listeners from their ordinary acoustical surroundings by creating stereo sound images of vast, virtually dimensionless spatial environments. In a word — spacey. Rhythmic or tonal movements animate the experience of flying, floating, cruising, gliding, or hovering within the auditory space."Stephen Hill, co-founder, Hearts of Space, in an essay titled [http://hos.com/n_word.html ''New Age Music Made Simple''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100405222140/http://www.hos.com/n_word.html |date=2010-04-05 }}</ref>

Space music is used by individuals for both background enhancement and foreground listening, often with headphones, to stimulate relaxation, contemplation, inspiration and generally peaceful expansive moods<ref>" Restorative powers are often claimed for it, and at its best it can create an effective environment to balance some of the stress, noise, and complexity of everyday life." – Stephen Hill, Founder, Music from the Hearts of Space [http://hos.com/aboutmusic.html ''What is Spacemusic?''] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060325183847/http://www.hos.com/aboutmusic.html |date=2006-03-25 }}</ref> and [[soundscape]]s. Space music is also a component of many film [[soundtrack]]s and is commonly used in [[planetarium]]s, as a [[Relaxation technique|relaxation aid]] and for [[meditation]].<ref>"This was the soundtrack for countless planetarium shows, on massage tables, and as soundtracks to many videos and movies."- Lloyd Barde [http://music.hyperreal.org/epsilon/info/barde_notes.html ''Notes on Ambient Music,'' Hyperreal Music Archive] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929091634/http://music.hyperreal.org/epsilon/info/barde_notes.html |date=2007-09-29 }}</ref>