Editing Ambient music

{{Short description|Music genre}}

{{Infobox music genre
| name              = Ambient music
| image             = The Apostle (148475115).jpeg
| caption           = Sounds of [[Habitat|natural habitats]] are common in [[YouTube]] uploads of ambient music, with their [[thumbnails]] typically having images of [[landscapes]] and/or [[Outer space|space]], to attract listeners.
| alt               = 
| stylistic_origins = {{hlist|[[Electronic music|Electronic]]|[[beautiful music]]|[[background music]]|[[light music]]|[[easy listening]]|[[Impressionism in music|impressionist]] ([[furniture music|furniture]])|[[minimal music|minimal]]|[[experimental music|experimental]]|[[drone music|drone]]<ref name="drone-both-origin-and-subgenre">Drone is now classified as a subgenre of ambient music, but early drone music influenced the origin of ambient.<!--it's not possible to re-use a ref inside another ref, so we have to refer to other notes by name--> See the other note from ''Cambridge History of Twentieth-Century Music'' (Cook & Pople 2004, p. 502), and the note from ''Four Musical Minimalists'' (Potter 2002, p. 91).</ref>|[[krautrock]]|[[dub music|dub]]}}
| cultural_origins  = 1960s–1970s, United Kingdom, Jamaica ([[dub music]])<ref name="eem"/> and Japan<ref name="weekender"/><ref name="vice"/>
| derivatives       = {{hlist|[[Biomusic]]|[[Chill-out music|chill-out]]|[[downtempo]]|[[Intelligent dance music|IDM]]|[[New-age music|new age]]|[[post-rock]]|[[space music]]|[[Trance music|trance]]|[[trip hop]]}}
| subgenres         = {{hlist|[[Dark ambient]]|[[Drone music|drone]]<ref name="drone-both-origin-and-subgenre"/>|[[Lowercase (music)|lowercase]]}}
| subgenrelist      =
| fusiongenres      = {{hlist|[[Ambient dub]]|[[ambient house]]|[[ambient techno]]|[[ambient pop]]|[[ambient black metal]] |[[illbient]]|[[drum and bass|atmospheric drum and bass]]|[[psybient]]}}
| regional_scenes   =
| other_topics      = {{hlist|[[List of ambient artists|Ambient artists]]|[[list of electronic music genres]]|[[noise music]]}}
}}

'''Ambient music''' is a [[genre of music]] that emphasizes [[Musical tone|tone]] and atmosphere over traditional [[Musical form|musical structure]] or [[rhythm]]. Often "peaceful" sounding and lacking [[Musical composition|composition]], beat, and/or structured [[melody]],<ref name="Mark Prendergast 2003">The Ambient Century by Mark Prendergast, Bloomsbury, London, 2003.</ref> ambient music uses textural layers of sound that can reward both passive and active listening,<ref>Elevator Music: A Surreal History of Muzak, Easy Listening & Other Moodsong by Joseph Lanza, Quartet, London, 1995.</ref> and encourage a sense of calm or contemplation.<ref>Crossfade: A Big Chill Anthology, Serpents Tail, London, 2004.</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Ambient music |url=http://www.dictionary.com/browse/ambient-music |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180212202019/http://www.dictionary.com/browse/ambient-music |archive-date=2018-02-12 |work=Dictionary.com}}</ref> The genre evokes an "atmospheric", "visual",<ref name="Prendergast, M. 2001">Prendergast, M. ''The Ambient Century''. 2001. Bloomsbury, USA</ref> or "unobtrusive" quality.<ref>{{cite web |title=Ambient |url=http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ambient |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150420220219/http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ambient |archive-date=2015-04-20 |work=Dictionary by Merriam-Webster}}</ref> [[Nature]] [[soundscape]]s may be included, and some works use [[sustain]]ed or [[repetition (music)|repeated]] notes, as in [[drone music]]. Bearing elements with [[new-age music]],  [[acoustic music|instruments]] such as the [[piano]], [[string section|strings]] and [[flute]] may be emulated through a [[synthesizer]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Ambient |url=https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/ambient-music |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180212201826/https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/ambient-music |archive-date=2018-02-12 |work=Cambridge Dictionary}}</ref><ref>[[George Grove]], [[Stanley Sadie]], ''[[iarchive:newgrovedictiona0009unse v8g4|The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians]]'', Macmillan Publishers, 1st ed., 1980 ({{ISBN|0-333-23111-2}}), vol. 7 (Fuchs to Gyuzelev), "André-Ernest-Modeste Grétry", p. [https://books.google.com/books?q=isbn%3A0333231112+%22couplet+form%2C+simplicity+of+style%2C+straightforward+rhythm%2C+drone+bass+in+imitation+of+bagpipes%22 708]: "in ''L'épreuve villageoise'', where the various folk elements – couplet form, simplicity of style, straightforward rhythm, drone bass in imitation of bagpipes – combine to express at once ingenuous coquetry and sincerity."</ref>

The genre originated in the 1960s and 1970s, when new musical instruments were being introduced to a wider market, such as the synthesizer.<ref name="elevator185-1">{{cite book |last=Lanza |first=Joseph |url=https://archive.org/details/elevatormusicsur00lanz |title=Elevator Music: A Surreal History of Muzak, Easy-listening, and Other Moodsong |publisher=University of Michigan Press |year=2004 |isbn=0-472-08942-0 |page=185}}</ref> It was presaged by [[Erik Satie]]'s [[furniture music]] and styles such as [[musique concrète]], [[minimal music]], Jamaican [[dub reggae]] and German [[electronic music]], but was prominently named and popularized by British musician [[Brian Eno]] in 1978 with his album ''[[Ambient 1: Music for Airports]]''; Eno opined that ambient music "must be as ignorable as it is interesting", however, in early years, there were artists that were pioneers in this genre, like [[Jean-Michel Jarre]], [[Vangelis]], [[Mike Oldfield]], [[Wendy Carlos]], [[Kraftwerk]], etc.<ref>{{cite web |last=Eno |first=Brian |title=Music for Airports |url=http://music.hyperreal.org/artists/brian_eno/MFA-txt.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130129111834/http://music.hyperreal.org/artists/brian_eno/MFA-txt.html |archive-date=29 January 2013 |access-date=8 July 2013 |website=Hyperreal Music Archive}}</ref> It saw a revival towards the late 1980s with the prominence of house and [[techno music]], growing a [[cult following]] by the 1990s.<ref name="allmusic.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.allmusic.com/explore/style/ambient-d226|title=Music Genres |work=AllMusic|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120213144452/http://allmusic.com/explore/style/ambient-d226|archive-date=2012-02-13}}</ref> 

Ambient music did not achieve large commercial success, being criticized as everything from "dolled-up new age, ... to boring and irrelevant technical noodling".<ref name="ReferenceA">{{cite web|last=Cooper|first=Sean|title=Ambient|url=https://www.allmusic.com/style/ambient-ma0000002424|access-date=February 19, 2025|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111114171219/http://www.allmusic.com/explore/essay/ambient-t714|archive-date=2011-11-14|website=[[AllMusic]]}}</ref> Nevertheless, it has attained a certain degree of acclaim throughout the years, especially in the [[Information Age|Internet age]]. Due to its relatively open style, ambient music often takes influences from many other genres, ranging from [[classical music|classical]], [[avant-garde music]], [[experimental music]], [[folk music|folk]], [[jazz music|jazz]], and [[world music]], amongst others.<ref>New Sounds: The Virgin Guide To New Music by John Schaefer, Virgin Books, London, 1987.</ref><ref>"Each spoke, tracing a thin pie-shape out of the whole, would contribute to the modern or New Ambient movement: new age, neo-classical, space, electronic, ambient, progressive, jazzy, tribal, world, folk, ensemble, acoustic, meditative, and back to new age... "[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>

== History ==
===Etymology===
The English word ''ambient'' is derived from [[Latin]] ''ambientem'' ([[nominative]] ''ambiens'') which means "surrounding, encircling, to go around, go about", which in turn comes from ''amb''- "around" (which ultimately derives from [[PIE root]] ''*ambhi''- "around").<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.etymonline.com/search?q=Ambient+|title=ambient (adj.) |work=[[Online Etymology Dictionary]]|access-date= February 21, 2025}}</ref>

===Origins===
[[File:Erik Satie en 1909.PNG|thumb|150px|[[Erik Satie]] is acknowledged as an important precursor to modern ambient music and an influence on Brian Eno.]]
As an early 20th-century French composer, [[Erik Satie]] used such [[Dadaist]]-inspired explorations to create an early form of ambient/[[background music]] that he labeled "[[furniture music]]" (''Musique d'ameublement''). This he described as being the sort of music that could be played during a dinner to create a background atmosphere for that activity, rather than serving as the focus of attention.<ref name="Jarrett">{{cite book|title=Sound Tracks: A Musical ABC, Volumes 1–3 |url=https://archive.org/details/soundtracksmusic00jarr |url-access=registration |last=Jarrett|first= Michael|year=1998|publisher=Temple University Press|page=1973|isbn=978-1-56639-641-7}}</ref>

In his own words, Satie sought to create "a music...which will be part of the noises of the environment, will take them into consideration. I think of it as melodious, softening the noises of the knives and forks at dinner, not dominating them, not imposing itself. It would fill up those heavy silences that sometime fall between friends dining together. It would spare them the trouble of paying attention to their own banal remarks. And at the same time it would neutralize the [[noise pollution|street noises]] which so indiscreetly enter into the play of conversation. To make such music would be to respond to a need."<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=http://slashseconds.org/issues/001/001/articles/11_psuchin/index.php|title=/seconds.|website=slashseconds.org|access-date=2016-04-05|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304113254/http://www.slashseconds.org/issues/001/001/articles/11_psuchin/index.php|archive-date=2016-03-04}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://music.hyperreal.org/epsilon/info/melchior.html|title=Epsilon: Ambient Music, Beginnings and Implications, by Chris Melchior|website=music.hyperreal.org|access-date=2016-04-05|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305024415/http://music.hyperreal.org/epsilon/info/melchior.html|archive-date=2016-03-05}}</ref>

In 1948, French composer & engineer, Pierre Schaeffer coined the term [[musique concrète]]. This experimental style of music used recordings of natural sounds that were then modified, manipulated or effected to create a composition.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Musique concrète {{!}} musical composition technique|url=https://www.britannica.com/art/musique-concrete|access-date=2020-12-07|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|language=en}}</ref> Shaeffer's techniques of using [[tape loop]]s and splicing are considered to be the precursor to modern day [[Sampling (music)|sampling]].

In 1952, [[John Cage]] released his famous three-[[movement (music)|movement]] composition<ref>Kostelanetz 2003, 69–71,&nbsp;86,&nbsp;105,&nbsp;198,&nbsp;218,&nbsp;231.</ref> ''[[4'33]]'' which is a performance of complete silence for four minutes and thirty-three seconds. The piece is intended to capture the ambient sounds of the venue/location of the performance and have that be the music played.<ref name="npr">{{cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/2000/05/08/1073885/4-33|title=The Story Of '4'33"'
|website=[[Npr]]|last=Hermes|first=Will|date=May 8, 2000|access-date=March 11, 2020}}</ref> Cage has been cited by seminal artists such as Brian Eno as influence.<ref name="npr" />

===1960s===
In the 1960s, many music groups experimented with unusual methods, with some of them creating what would later be called ambient music.

In the summer of 1962, composers [[Ramón Sender (composer)|Ramon Sender]] and [[Morton Subotnick]] founded [[San Francisco Tape Music Center|The San Francisco Tape Music Center]] which functioned both as an electronic music studio and concert venue.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/174500759|title=The San Francisco Tape Music Center : 1960s counterculture and the avant-garde|date=2008|publisher=University of California Press|others=Bernstein, David W., 1951–|isbn=978-0-520-24892-2|location=Berkeley|oclc=174500759}}</ref> Other composers working with tape recorders became members and collaborators including [[Pauline Oliveros]], [[Terry Riley]] and [[Steve Reich]]. Their compositions, among others, contributed to the development of [[minimal music]] (also called minimalism), which shares many similar concepts to ambient music such as repetitive patterns or pulses, steady drones, and consonant harmony.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Johnson|first=Timothy A.|date=1994|title=Minimalism: Aesthetic, Style, or Technique?|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/742508|journal=The Musical Quarterly|volume=78|issue=4|pages=742–773|doi=10.1093/mq/78.4.742|jstor=742508|issn=0027-4631}}</ref>

Many records were released in Europe and the United States of America between the mid-1960s and the mid-1990s that established the conventions of the ambient genre in the anglophone popular music market.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://libraetd.lib.virginia.edu/public_view/td96k274j|title=Ambient Music as Popular Genre: Historiography, Interpretation, Critique|date=2015-04-22|website=University of Virginia Library|last=Szabo|first=Victor|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200210140757/https://libraetd.lib.virginia.edu/public_view/td96k274j|archive-date=2020-02-10}}</ref> Some 1960s records with ambient elements include ''[[Music for Yoga Meditation and Other Joys]]'' and ''[[Music for Zen Meditation]]'' by [[Tony Scott (musician)|Tony Scott]], ''[[Soothing Sounds for Baby]]'' by [[Raymond Scott]], and the first record of the [[Environments (album series)|''environments'' album series]] by [[Irv Teibel]].

In the late 1960s, French composer [[Éliane Radigue]] composed several pieces by processing tape loops from the feedback between two tape recorders and a microphone.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Rodgers|first=Tara|url=http://read.dukeupress.edu/books/book/2189/Pink-NoisesWomen-on-Electronic-Music-and-Sound|title=Pink Noises: Women on Electronic Music and Sound|date=2010|publisher=Duke University Press|isbn=978-0-8223-4661-6|language=en|doi=10.1215/9780822394150}}</ref> In the 1970s, she then went on to compose similar music almost exclusively with an [[ARP 2500|ARP 2500 synthesiser]], and her long, slow compositions have often been compared to [[drone music]].<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1127969966|title=Intermediary spaces = Espaces Intermédiaires|others=Radigue, Eliane, Eckhardt, Julia.|year = 2019|isbn=978-90-826495-5-0|location=Brussels|oclc=1127969966}}</ref><ref>{{Citation|title=A Portrait of Eliane Radigue (2009)|url=https://vimeo.com/8983993|language=en|access-date=2020-12-09}}</ref> In 1969, the group [[COUM Transmissions]] were performing sonic experiments in British art schools.<ref>Eliot Bates, "[https://wesscholar.wesleyan.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1007&context=etd_mas_theses Ambient Music]", MA thesis (Middletown, Connecticut: Wesleyan University, 1997, pg.19)</ref> [[Pearls Before Swine (band)|Pearls Before Swine]]'s 1968 album ''[[Balaklava (album)|Balaklava]]'' features the sounds of [[birdsong in music|birdsong]] and ocean noise, which were to become tropes of ambient music."<ref name="Wire">{{cite magazine |title=100 Records That Set the World on Fire (While No One Was Listening) |magazine=[[The Wire (magazine)|The Wire]] |issue=175 |date=September 1998}}</ref>

===1970s===
Developing in the 1970s, ambient music stemmed from the [[Experimental music|experimental]] and [[synthesizer]]-oriented styles of the period.

Between 1974 and 1976, American composer [[Laurie Spiegel]] created her seminal work ''The Expanding Universe'', created on a computer-analog hybrid system called GROOVE.<ref>{{Cite magazine|last=Walls|first=Seth Colter|title=An Electronic-Music Classic Reborn|url=https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/an-electronic-music-classic-reborn|access-date=2020-12-09|magazine=The New Yorker|date=17 September 2012|language=en-us}}</ref> In 1977, her composition, ''Music of the Spheres'' was included on Voyager 1 and 2's [[Voyager Golden Record|Golden Record]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Voyager – Sounds on the Golden Record|url=https://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/golden-record/whats-on-the-record/sounds/|access-date=2020-12-09|website=voyager.jpl.nasa.gov|language=en}}</ref>

In April 1975, [[Suzanne Ciani]] gave two performances on her [[Buchla Electronic Musical Instruments|Buchla synthesizer]] – one at the WBAI Free music store and one at [[Phill Niblock|Phil Niblock's]] loft.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2014-04-03|title=INTERVIEW: Suzanne Ciani On... Her Buchla Beginnings, Talking Dishwashers and Why No One Got Electronic Music In the '70s|url=http://www.self-titledmag.com/interview-suzanne-ciani-on-her-buchla-beginnings-talking-dishwashers-and-why-no-one-got-electronic-music-in-the-70s/|access-date=2020-12-09|website=self-titled|language=en-US}}</ref> These performances were released on an archival album in 2016 entitled ''Buchla Concerts 1975''. According to the record label, these concerts were part live presentation, part grant application and part educational demonstration.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Buchla Concerts 1975|url=https://www.finderskeepersrecords.com/shop/suzanne-ciani-buchla-concerts-1975/|access-date=2020-12-09|website=Finders Keepers Records|language=en}}</ref>

However, it was not until Brian Eno coined the term in the mid-70s that ambient music was defined as a genre. Eno went on to record 1975's ''[[Discreet Music]]'' with this in mind, suggesting that it be listened to at "comparatively low levels, even to the extent that it frequently falls below the threshold of audibility",<ref name=":0" /> referring to Satie's quote about his ''musique d'ameublement''.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Tamm|first=Eric|title=Brian Eno: His Music and the Vertical Color of Sound.|publisher=Da Capo Press|year=1995|isbn=0-306-80649-5}}</ref>

Other contemporaneous musicians creating ambient-style music at the time included Jamaican [[dub music]]ians such as [[King Tubby]],<ref name="eem">{{cite book |title=Electronic and Experimental Music: Technology, Music, and Culture |last=Holmes |first=Thom |year=2008 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0203929599 |page=403 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hCthQ-bec-QC |access-date=1 April 2013}}</ref> Japanese [[electronic music]] composers such as [[Isao Tomita]]<ref name="weekender">[http://www.tokyoweekender.com/2013/01/isao-tomita-qa/ Q&A with Isao Tomita] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170424002033/http://www.tokyoweekender.com/2013/01/isao-tomita-qa/ |date=2017-04-24 }}, ''[[Tokyo Weekender]]''</ref><ref name="vice">[https://www.vice.com/en/article/isao-tomita-obituary/ Isao Tomita, an Early Major Japanese Electronic Composer, Is Dead] , ''[[Vice (magazine)|Vice]]''</ref> and [[Ryuichi Sakamoto]] as well as the [[psychoacoustics|psychoacoustic]] soundscapes of [[Irv Teibel]]'s ''[[Environments (album series)|Environments]]'' series, and German experimental bands such as [[Popol Vuh (German band)|Popol Vuh]], [[Cluster (band)|Cluster]], [[Kraftwerk]], [[Harmonia (band)|Harmonia]], [[Ash Ra Tempel]] and [[Tangerine Dream]]. Mike Orme of ''[[Stylus Magazine]]'' describes the work of [[Kosmische Musik|Berlin school]] musicians as "laying the groundwork" for ambient.<ref name="Orme">{{cite web |last1=Orme |first1=Mike |title=The Bluffer's Guide: The Berlin School |url=http://stylusmagazine.com/articles/bluffer/the-berlin-school.html |website=Stylus Magazine |access-date=17 June 2022 |date=7 December 2006 |archive-date=16 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220216204735/http://stylusmagazine.com/articles/bluffer/the-berlin-school.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>

The impact the rise of the synthesizer in modern music had on ambient as a genre cannot be overstated; as Ralf Hutter of early electronic pioneers [[Kraftwerk]] said in a 1977 ''Billboard'' interview: "Electronics is beyond nations and colors...with electronics everything is possible. The only limit is with the composer".<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=http://www.ambientmusicguide.com/pages/history.php|title=AmbientMusicGuide.com – A history of ambient|website=Ambientmusicguide.com|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160313104100/http://ambientmusicguide.com/pages/history.php|archive-date=2016-03-13|url-status=dead|access-date=2016-04-05}}</ref>  The [[Yellow Magic Orchestra]] developed a distinct style of ambient [[electronic music]] that would later be developed into [[ambient house]] music.<ref>{{AllMusic |class=artist |id=p5886 |label=Yellow Magic Orchestra |access-date=2011-05-25 }}</ref>

==== Brian Eno ====
[[File:Brian_Eno_-_TopPop_1974_11.png|thumb|Brian Eno (pictured in 1974) is credited with coining the term "ambient music".]]
[[File:Minimoog Voyager XL, owned by Brian Eno.jpg|thumb|Minimoog Voyager XL, owned by Brian Eno]]
The English producer [[Brian Eno]] is credited with coining the term "ambient music" in the mid-1970s. He said other artists had been creating similar music, but that "I just gave it a name. Which is exactly what it needed ... By naming something you create a difference. You say that this is now real. Names are very important."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2010/jan/17/brian-eno-interview-paul-morley|title=On gospel, Abba and the death of the record: an audience with Brian Eno {{!}} Interview|last=Morley|first=Paul|date=2010-01-17|website=The Guardian|language=en|access-date=2018-10-21}}</ref> He used the term to describe music that is different from forms of canned music like [[Muzak]].<ref name=enotvf>{{Cite web|url=https://thevinylfactory.com/features/the-essential-guide-to-brian-eno-in-10-records/|title=The essential guide to Brian Eno in 10 records|first=Chris|last=May|website=Thevinylfactory.com|date=12 April 2016|access-date=5 September 2020}}</ref>

In the liner notes for his 1978 album [[Ambient 1: Music for Airports|''Ambient 1:'' ''Music for Airports'']], Eno wrote:<ref name=":2" />
 
{{Blockquote|text=Whereas the extant canned music companies proceed from the basis of regularizing environments by blanketing their acoustic and atmospheric idiosyncrasies, Ambient Music is intended to enhance these. Whereas conventional background music is produced by stripping away all sense of doubt and uncertainty (and thus all genuine interest) from the music, Ambient Music retains these qualities. And whereas their intention is to "brighten" the environment by adding stimulus to it (thus supposedly alleviating the tedium of routine tasks and leveling out the natural ups and downs of the body rhythms) Ambient Music is intended to induce calm and a space to think. Ambient Music must be able to accommodate many levels of listening attention without enforcing one in particular; it must be as ignorable as it is interesting.|sign=|source=}}

Eno, who describes himself as a "non-musician", termed his experiments "treatments" rather than traditional performances.<ref name=":2">Brian Eno, [ ''Music for Airports'' liner notes], September 1978</ref><ref name="potter2002">{{cite book |title=Four Musical Minimalists: La Monte Young, Terry Riley, Steve Reich, Philip Glass |last=Potter |first=Keith |year=2002 |edition= rev. pbk from 2000 hbk |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-01501-1 |pages=[ 91] }} (Quoting Brian Eno saying "La Monte Young is the daddy of us all" with endnote 113 p. [ 349] referencing it as "Quoted in Palmer, ''A Father Figure for the Avant-Garde'', p. 49".)</ref>

===1980s===
In the late 70s, new-age musician [[Laraaji]] began busking in New York parks and sidewalks, including Washington Square Park. It was there that Brian Eno heard Laraaji playing and asked him if he'd like to record an album. [[Ambient 3: Day of Radiance|''Day of Radiance'']] released in 1980, was the third album in Eno's Ambient series. Although Laraaji had already recorded a number of albums, this one gave him international recognition.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Beaumont-Thomas|first=Ben|date=2014-07-08|title=Laraaji: the Brian Eno of laughter|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/jul/08/laraaji-brian-eno-of-laughter|website=The Guardian}}</ref> Unlike other albums in the series, ''Day of Radiance'' featured mostly acoustic instruments instead of electronics.

In the mid-1980s, the possibilities to create a sonic landscape increased through the use of [[Sampling (music)|sampling]].  By the late 1980s, there was a steep increase in the incorporation of the computer in the writing and recording process of records. The sixteen-bit Macintosh platform with built-in sound and comparable IBM models would find themselves in studios and homes of musicians and record makers.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Webster |first1=Peter |title=Historical Perspectives on Technology and Music |journal=Music Educators Journal |date=September 2002 |volume= 89 |issue= 1 |pages= 38–43, 54|doi=10.2307/3399883 |jstor=3399883 |s2cid=143483610 }}</ref> However, many artists were still working with analogue synthesizers and acoustic instruments to produce ambient works.

In 1983, [[Midori Takada]] recorded her first solo LP ''Through the Looking Glass'' in two days. She performed all parts on the album, with diverse instrumentation including percussion, marimba, gong, reed organ, bells, ocarina, vibraphone, piano and glass Coca-Cola bottles.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2017-03-24|title=Ambient pioneer Midori Takada: 'Everything on this earth has a sound'|url=http://www.theguardian.com/music/2017/mar/24/midori-takada-interview-through-the-looking-glass-reissue|access-date=2020-12-12|website=The Guardian|language=en}}</ref> Between 1988 and 1993, [[Éliane Radigue]] produced three hour-long works on the [[ARP 2500]] which were subsequently issued together as ''La Trilogie De La Mort''.<ref>{{Cite journal|title=Éliane Radigue|url=https://www.thewire.co.uk/issues/260|journal=The Wire|volume=260|pages=26|first = Dan|last = Warburton|date = October 2005}}</ref>

Also in 1988, founding member and director of the [[San Francisco Tape Music Center|San Francisco Tape Music Centre]], [[Pauline Oliveros]] coined the term "''deep listening''" after she recorded an album inside a huge underground cistern in Washington which has a 45-second reverberation time. The concept of Deep Listening then went on to become "an aesthetic based upon principles of improvisation, electronic music, ritual, teaching and meditation".<ref>{{Cite web|last=Ankeny|first=Jason|title=Pauline Oliveros Artist Biography|url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/pauline-oliveros-mn0000522041/biography|website=All Music}}</ref>

===1990s===
By the early 1990s, artists such as [[the Orb]], [[Aphex Twin]], [[Seefeel]], the [[Irresistible Force (production identity)|Irresistible Force]], [[Biosphere (musician)|Biosphere]], and the [[Higher Intelligence Agency]] gained commercial success and were being referred to by the [[popular music]] press as [[ambient house]], [[ambient techno]], [[Intelligent dance music|IDM]] or simply "ambient". The term [[Chill out (music)|chillout]] emerged from British [[MDMA|ecstasy]] culture which was originally applied in relaxed downtempo "chillout rooms" outside of the main dance floor where ambient, dub and downtempo beats were played to ease the [[Psychedelic Experience|tripping]] mind.<ref name="altered">Altered State: The Story of Ecstasy Culture and Acid House, Matthew Collin, 1997, Serpent's Tail {{ISBN|1-85242-377-3}}</ref><ref>{{cite encyclopedia | year = 2002 | encyclopedia = Encyclopedia of Contemporary British Culture | publisher = Routledge | location = London | editor1-first = Peter | editor1-last = Childs | editor2-first = Mike | editor2-last = Storry | title = Ambient music | page = 22 }}</ref>

British artists such as Aphex Twin (specifically: ''[[Selected Ambient Works Volume II]]'', 1994), [[Global Communication]] (''[[76:14]]'', 1994), [[The Future Sound of London]] (''[[Lifeforms (The Future Sound of London album)|Lifeforms]]'', 1994, ''[[ISDN (album)|ISDN]]'', 1994), [[Black Dog Productions|the Black Dog]] (''[[Temple of Transparent Balls]]'', 1993), [[Autechre]] (''[[Incunabula (album)|Incunabula]]'', 1993, ''[[Amber (Autechre album)|Amber]]'', 1994), [[Boards of Canada]], and [[The KLF]]'s ''[[Chill Out (KLF album)|Chill Out]]'', (1990), all took a part in popularising and diversifying ambient music where it was used as a calming respite from the intensity of the [[rave#United Kingdom|hardcore]] and [[techno]] popular at that time.<ref name="altered" /> Other global ambient artists from the 1990s include American composers [[Stars of the Lid]] (who released 5 albums during this decade), and Japanese artist [[Susumu Yokota]] whose album ''Sakura'' (1999) featured what Pitchfork magazine called "dreamy, processed guitar as a distinctive sound tool".<ref>{{Cite web|title=Susumu Yokota: Sakura|url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/8874-sakura/|access-date=2021-01-05|website=Pitchfork|language=en}}</ref> 

===2000s===
In the early 2000s, [[trance music]] was an offshoot of some [[psychedelic ambient]] productions. Established in France in 2001, [[Ultimae]] has become the go-to label for space ambient, and they included artists such as [[Carbon Based Lifeforms]]. A number of [[Klang (Stockhausen)|Stockhausen]]'s later compositions (not all of them electronic music) feature ambient space music as their theme: The so-called "[[The Urantia Book|Urantia]]" subcycle of ''[[Klang (Stockhausen)|Klang]]'' (Sound, 2006–2007), extending from its thirteenth "hour", ''[[Klang (Stockhausen)#Thirteenth Hour: Cosmic Pulses|Cosmic Pulses]]'' to its twenty-first "hour" ''[[Klang (Stockhausen)#Twenty-first Hour: Paradies|Paradies]]''.<ref>Clements, Andrew. "Review: Proms 20 & 21: Stockhausen Day Royal Albert Hall, London 4/5", ''[[The Guardian]]''. August 4, 2008.</ref> 

In the early 2000s, DJs in [[Ibiza]]'s [[Café Del Mar]] began creating ambient house mixes that drew on jazz, classical, Hispanic, and [[New age music|New Age]] sources. Consequently, the popular understanding of "chill-out music" shifted away from "ambient" and into its own distinct genre.<ref name="dmm">{{cite book |title=Dance Music Manual: Tools, Toys, and Techniques |last=Snoman |first=Rick |year=2013 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-1136115745 |pages=88, 340–342 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=c_mm_hkmp_YC |access-date=17 May 2014}}</ref> In 2009, a genre called "[[chillwave]]" was invented by the satirical blog Hipster Runoff for music that could already be described with existing labels such as [[dream pop]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://pitchfork.com/features/article/2010s-chillwave-best-coast-washed-out-neon-indian/|title=How Chillwave's Brief Moment in the Sun Cast a Long Shadow Over the 2010s|first=Larry|last=Fitzmaurice|website=Pitchfork|date=14 October 2019}}</ref> Producer [[Wolfgang Voigt]] co-runs the German label [[Kompakt]], which has released installments of the influential ambient techno compilation series ''Pop Ambient'' annually since 2001.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Colly |first1=Joe |title=Pop Ambient 2009 |url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/12864-pop-ambient-2009/ |website=Pitchfork |access-date=22 May 2021}}</ref>

In February 2008, [[Atlas Sound]] debuted with the album ''[[Let the Blind Lead Those Who Can See but Cannot Feel]]'', which featured ambient pieces.<ref name="p4k19">{{cite web |last1=Fitzmaurice |first1=Larry |title=How Chillwave's Brief Moment in the Sun Cast a Long Shadow Over the 2010s |url=https://pitchfork.com/features/article/2010s-chillwave-best-coast-washed-out-neon-indian/ |website=Pitchfork |date=October 14, 2019}}</ref> [[Animal Collective]]'s ''[[Merriweather Post Pavilion (album)|Merriweather Post Pavilion]]'' was an album released in January 2009 that was particularly influential for its ambient sounds and repetitive melodies.<ref name="Eady2014">{{cite web|last1=Eady|first1=Ashley|title=Chillwave: Has The Next "Big Thing" Arrived?|url=http://wrvu.org/chillwave-has-the-next-big-thing-arrived/|website=WRVU Nashville|date=February 14, 2014}}</ref>

===2010s–present===
====YouTube====
[[File:Mindfulness Meditation - Art4Good.jpg|thumb|Ambient music can be a tool for [[stress reduction]], [[mindfulness]] and meditation.]]
From the early 2010s to present, ambient music gained widespread recognition on [[YouTube]], with uploaded pieces, usually ranging from one to eight hours long, getting over millions of hits. Ambient videos assist online listeners with [[yoga]], [[Education|study]], [[sleep]] (see [[music and sleep]]), [[massage]], [[meditation]] and gaining [[optimism]], inspiration, and creating peaceful atmosphere in their rooms or other environments. Such videos may be titled "relaxing music".<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Yehuda | first1 = Nechama | year = 2011 | title = Music and Stress | journal = The Journal of Adult Development | volume = 18 | issue = 2| pages = 85–94 | doi=10.1007/s10804-010-9117-4| s2cid = 45335464 }}</ref>

Many uploaded ambient videos may also be influenced by [[biomusic]] where they feature [[Natural sounds|sounds of nature]], though the sounds would be modified with [[reverb]]s and [[Delay (audio effect)|delay units]] to make spacey versions of the sounds as part of the ambience. Such natural sounds oftentimes include those of a [[beach]], [[rainforest]], [[thunderstorm]] and [[rainfall]], among others, with [[List of animal sounds|vocalizations of animals]] such as [[bird songs]] being used as well. Pieces containing [[binaural beats]] are common and popular uploads as well, which provide [[music therapy]] and [[stress management]] for the listener.<ref>How Music Works by David Byrne, McSweeney's, 2012.</ref><ref name="nyt_ambience">{{cite news |last1=Brooke |first1=Eliza |title=The Soothing, Digital Rooms of YouTube |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/16/style/ambience-videos-asmr-youtube.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20211228/https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/16/style/ambience-videos-asmr-youtube.html |archive-date=2021-12-28 |url-access=limited |website=The New York Times |date=16 February 2021 |access-date=23 October 2021 |ref=nyt_ambience}}{{cbignore}}</ref>{{efn|One notable exception is [[the Caretaker (musician)|the Caretaker]]'s ''[[Everywhere at the End of Time]]'', an ambient series of albums featuring over 22 millions views as of {{Date}}. It is widely considered to evoke strong negative emotions due to its musical representation of [[Alzheimer's disease]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/23/style/tiktok-caretaker-challenge-dementia.html |title=Why Are TikTok Teens Listening to an Album About Dementia? |date=23 October 2020 |access-date=21 April 2021 |website=[[The New York Times]] |last=Ezra |first=Marcus |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210408232712/https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/23/style/tiktok-caretaker-challenge-dementia.html |archive-date=8 April 2021 |url-status=live |url-access=limited }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://ra.co/reviews/23649 |title=The Caretaker – ''Everywhere At The End Of Time (Stage 6)'' Album Review |date=12 April 2019 |access-date=31 March 2021 |website=[[Resident Advisor]] |last=Ryce |first=Andrew |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190413213656/https://residentadvisor.net/reviews/23649 |archive-date=13 April 2019 |url-status=unfit }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://thequietus.com/articles/29098-the-caretaker-tiktok-everywhere-at-the-end-of-time-interview |title=''Everywhere At The End Of Time'' Becomes TikTok Challenge (Leyland James Kirby gives us his reaction) |date=19 October 2020 |access-date=6 April 2021 |website=[[The Quietus]] |last=Clarke |first=Patrick |url-status=live |archive-date=14 July 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210714034114/https://thequietus.com/articles/29098-the-caretaker-tiktok-everywhere-at-the-end-of-time-interview }}</ref>}}

====Digital releases====
[[iTunes]] and [[Spotify]] have [[digital radio]] stations that feature ambient music, which are mostly produced by [[independent label]]s.<ref name="Mark Prendergast 2003"/>

Acclaimed ambient music of this era (according to ''[[Pitchfork (website)|Pitchfork]]'' magazine) include works by [[Max Richter]], [[Julianna Barwick]], [[Grouper (musician)|Grouper]], [[William Basinski]], [[Oneohtrix Point Never]], and [[the Caretaker (musician)|the Caretaker]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://pitchfork.com/features/lists-and-guides/9948-the-50-best-ambient-albums-of-all-time/?page=2|title=The 50 Best Ambient Albums of All Time – Page 2|website=Pitchfork.com|date=26 September 2016 |access-date=5 September 2020}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://pitchfork.com/features/lists-and-guides/9948-the-50-best-ambient-albums-of-all-time/?page=3|title=The 50 Best Ambient Albums of All Time – Page 3|website=Pitchfork.com|date=26 September 2016 |access-date=5 September 2020}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://pitchfork.com/features/lists-and-guides/9948-the-50-best-ambient-albums-of-all-time/?page=4|title=The 50 Best Ambient Albums of All Time – Page 4|website=Pitchfork.com|date=26 September 2016 |access-date=5 September 2020}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://pitchfork.com/features/lists-and-guides/9948-the-50-best-ambient-albums-of-all-time/?page=5|title=The 50 Best Ambient Albums of All Time – Page 5|website=Pitchfork.com|date=26 September 2016 |access-date=5 September 2020}}</ref> In 2011, American composer Liz Harris recording as [[Grouper (musician)|Grouper]] released the album ''AIA: Alien Observer'', listed by Pitchfork at number 21 on their "50 Best Ambient Albums of All Time".<ref name="pitchfork.com">{{Cite web|title=The 50 Best Ambient Albums of All Time – Page 3|url=https://pitchfork.com/features/lists-and-guides/9948-the-50-best-ambient-albums-of-all-time/?page=3|access-date=2021-01-05|website=Pitchfork| date=26 September 2016 |language=en}}</ref> In 2011, Julianna Barwick released her first full-length album ''The Magic Place''. Heavily influenced by her childhood experiences in a church choir, Barwick loops her wordless vocals into ethereal soundscapes.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Julianna Barwick {{!}} Biography & History|url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/julianna-barwick-mn0002418851/biography|access-date=2021-01-05|website=AllMusic|language=en}}</ref> It was listed at number 30 on Pitchfork's 50 Best Ambient Albums of All Time.<ref name="pitchfork.com"/> After several self-released albums, Buchla composer, producer and performer [[Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith]] was signed to independent record label Western Vinyl in 2015.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith – Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith|url=http://kaitlynaureliasmith.com/js_artist/kaitlyn-aurelia-smith/|access-date=2021-01-05|language=en-US}}</ref> 

In 2016, she released her second official album ''EARS''. It paired the [[Buchla Electronic Musical Instruments|Buchla synthesizer]] with traditional instruments and her compositions were compared to [[Laurie Spiegel]] and [[Alice Coltrane]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith's Existential Synthesizer Music|url=https://pitchfork.com/features/rising/9834-kaitlyn-aurelia-smiths-existential-synthesizer-music/|access-date=2021-01-05|website=Pitchfork|date=15 March 2016 |language=en}}</ref> Kaitlyn has also collaborated with other well-known Buchla performer, [[Suzanne Ciani]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith and Suzanne Ciani collaborate on Sunergy for RVNG|url=https://www.residentadvisor.net/news/35384|access-date=2021-01-05|website=Resident Advisor}}</ref> ''[[Long Ambients 1: Calm. Sleep.]]'' was released by American [[electronica]] musician [[Moby]] in 2016, as a free download.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.littlepinerestaurant.com/ |title=Little Pine Restaurant |publisher=[[Little Pine (restaurant)|Little Pine]] |accessdate=February 25, 2016}}</ref><ref name="info">{{cite web |url=http://moby.com/la1/ |title=Long Ambients1: Calm. Sleep. by Moby |publisher=Moby.com |accessdate=February 25, 2016 |author=Moby |authorlink=Moby}}</ref> In March 2019, Moby released a follow-up ambient album, ''[[Long Ambients 2]]''. [[Iggy Pop]]'s 2019 album ''[[Free (Iggy Pop album)|Free]]'' features ambient soundscapes.<ref name="rs">{{cite news |last1=Blistein |first1=Jon |title=Iggy Pop Previews New Album With Meditative Title-Track 'Free' |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/iggy-pop-new-album-free-860520/ |accessdate=5 December 2019 |magazine=Rolling Stone |date=18 July 2019}}</ref> [[Mallsoft]], a subgenre of [[vaporwave]], features various ambient influences, with artists such as [[Cat System Corp.]] and Groceries exploring ambient sounds typical of malls and grocery stores.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://daily.bandcamp.com/features/the-mall-nostalgia-and-the-loss-of-innocence-an-interview-with-corp |title=The Mall, Nostalgia, and the Loss of Innocence: An Interview With 猫 シ Corp. |date=8 March 2017 |access-date=11 April 2022 |website=[[Bandcamp Daily]] |last=Chandler |first=Simon |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200303080310/https://daily.bandcamp.com/features/the-mall-nostalgia-and-the-loss-of-innocence-an-interview-with-corp |archive-date=3 March 2020 |url-status=live}}</ref>

== 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>

==Sleep==
{{main|Music and sleep}}
Ambient has been selected by participants from online sleep surveys to aid sleep.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Trahan |first1=Tabitha |last2=Durrant |first2=Simon J. |last3=Müllensiefen |first3=Daniel |last4=Williamson |first4=Victoria J. |date=2018-11-14 |title=The music that helps people sleep and the reasons they believe it works: A mixed methods analysis of online survey reports |journal=PLOS ONE |volume=13 |issue=11 |pages=e0206531 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0206531 |doi-access=free |pmid=30427881 |bibcode=2018PLoSO..1306531T |issn=1932-6203|pmc=6235300 }}</ref> The ambient music genre, among other genres, was used in a study pertaining to [[insomnia]] in adults, where it facilitated a large improvement in [[sleep quality]] for insomnia patients.<ref name=":22">{{Cite journal |last1=Jespersen |first1=Kira V. |last2=Pando-Naude |first2=Victor |last3=Koenig |first3=Julian |last4=Jennum |first4=Poul |last5=Vuust |first5=Peter |date=2022-08-24 |title=Listening to music for insomnia in adults |journal=The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews |volume=2022 |issue=8 |pages=CD010459 |doi=10.1002/14651858.CD010459.pub3 |issn=1469-493X |pmc=9400393 |pmid=36000763}}</ref> Participants, who were between 20 and 45 years old, listened to [[Max Richter]]'s album ''[[Sleep (album)|Sleep]]'', which was originally meant to work as a sleep aid. They used headphones and were able to shut their eyes, but they were informed to stay in a sitting position so they do not fall asleep. Though one participant fell asleep whilst listening to the music.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Kuula |first1=Liisa |last2=Halonen |first2=Risto |last3=Kajanto |first3=Kristiina |last4=Lipsanen |first4=Jari |last5=Makkonen |first5=Tommi |last6=Peltonen |first6=Miina |last7=Pesonen |first7=Anu-Katriina |date=2020-05-04 |title=The Effects of Presleep Slow Breathing and Music Listening on Polysomnographic Sleep Measures – a pilot trial |journal=Scientific Reports |language=en |volume=10 |issue=1 |page=7427 |doi=10.1038/s41598-020-64218-7 |pmid=32366866 |bibcode=2020NatSR..10.7427K |issn=2045-2322|pmc=7198497 }}</ref>

==Film soundtracks==
Examples of films with [[Film score|soundtrack]]s that feature some, or extensive, usage of ambient music include, ''[[Forbidden Planet]]'' (1956), ''[[Solaris (1972 film)|Solaris]]'' (1972),<ref name=screen/> ''[[Blade Runner]]'' (1982),<ref name=screen/> ''[[Dune (1984 film)|Dune]]'' (1984),<ref name=screen>[https://screenrant.com/best-ambient-movie-soundtracks/ 10 Best Ambient Movie Soundtracks] by Lucy-Jo Finnighan from [[ScreenRant]]. October 31, 2021. Retrieved 31 March 2024.</ref> ''[[Heathers]]'' (1988),<ref name=screen/> ''[[Akira (1988 film)|Akira]]'' (1988),<ref name=screen/> ''[[Titanic (1997 film)|Titanic]]'' (1997),<ref>[https://www.spokesman.com/stories/1998/feb/20/titanic-soundtrack-making-its-own-waves/ ‘Titanic’ Soundtrack Making Its Own Waves] Steve Morse, [[The Boston Globe]]. 20 February 1998. Retrieved 31 March 2024.</ref> ''[[Traffic (2000 film)|Traffic]]'' (2000), ''[[Donnie Darko]]'' (2001), ''[[Solaris (2002 film)|Solaris]]'' (2002), ''[[The Passion of the Christ]]'' (2004),<ref>[http://www.movie-wave.net/the-passion-of-the-christ/ The Passion of the Christ] James Southall from The Movie Wave. 29 March 2004. Retrieved 31 March 2024.</ref> ''[[Pride & Prejudice (2005 film)|Pride & Prejudice]]'' (2005),<ref name=screen/> ''[[The Social Network]]'' (2010),<ref name=screen/> ''[[Her (2013 film)|Her]]'' (2013), ''[[Enemy (2013 film)|Enemy]]'' (2013), ''[[Drive (2011 film)|Drive]]'' (2011),<ref>{{cite web|url=http://pro.boxoffice.com/articles/2011-09-johnny-jewel-on-developing-the-unique-soundtrack-for-drive |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141107200955/http://pro.boxoffice.com/articles/2011-09-johnny-jewel-on-developing-the-unique-soundtrack-for-drive |archive-date=November 7, 2014 |title=Johnny Jewel on Developing the Unique Soundtrack For ''Drive'' |first=Todd |last=Gilchrist |work=[[Box Office (magazine)|Box Office]] |date=September 18, 2011 |access-date=September 30, 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref>  ''[[Interstellar (film)|Interstellar]]'' (2014), ''[[Gone Girl (film)|Gone Girl]]'' (2014),<ref name=screen/> ''[[The Revenant (2015 film)|The Revenant]]'' (2015), ''[[Columbus (2017 film)|Columbus]]'' (2017), ''[[Mandy (2018 film)|Mandy]]'' (2018),<ref>[https://www.canculturemag.com/film/2018/11/1/review-the-mandy-experience-at-revue-cinema Review: The Mandy Experience at Revue Cinema] Canculture. November 1, 2018. Retrieved 31 March 2024.</ref> ''[[Annihilation (film)|Annihilation]]'' (2018), ''[[Ad Astra (film)|Ad Astra]]'' (2019), ''[[Chernobyl (miniseries)|Chernobyl]]'' (2019)<ref>{{Cite web |date=2019-12-13 |title=Joker and Chernobyl composer Hildur Guðnadóttir: 'I'm treasure hunting' |url=http://www.theguardian.com/music/2019/dec/13/joker-and-chernobyl-composer-hildur-gunadottir-im-treasure-hunting |access-date=2022-05-08 |website=the Guardian |language=en}}</ref> and ''[[Dune (2021 film)|Dune]]'' (2021),<ref>[https://www.soundoflife.com/blogs/experiences/dune-2-hans-zimmer Masterfully MASSIVE: Hans Zimmer’s Multi-Dimensional Score for ‘Dune 2'] Sound of Life. 11 March 2024. Retrieved 31 March 2024.</ref> among many others.

== Notable ambient-music shows ==

<!-- PLEASE DO NOT ADD INTERNET ORIGINATING "RADIO" PROGRAMS HERE. OTA broadcast ONLY! Please cite station, frequency, or OTA network, e.g., NPR, Westwood One, etc.

THIS SECTION IS FOR HISTORICALLY SIGNIFICANT AMBIENT RADIO SHOWS ONLY! -->
* ''[[Sirius XM Chill]]'' plays ambient, chillout and downtempo electronica.
* ''[[Spa (Sirius XM)|Sirius XM Spa]]'' blends ambient and new age instrumental music on channel XM 68.
* ''[[Echoes (radio program)|Echoes]]'', a daily two-hour music radio program hosted by John Diliberto featuring a soundscape of ambient, spacemusic, electronica, new acoustic and new music directions – founded in 1989 and syndicated on 130 radio stations in the US.
* ''[[BBC Radio 1 Relax]]'' was a radio station offered by the [[BBC|British Broadcasting Corporation]] (BBC) that broadcast ambient music. The channel featured a variety of ambient genres, including electronic and instrumental compositions. 
* ''[[Hearts of Space]]'', a program hosted by [[Stephen Hill (broadcaster)|Stephen Hill]] and broadcast on [[NPR]] in the US since 1973.<ref name="ref48">"The program has defined its own niche — a mix of ambient, electronic, world, new-age, classical and experimental music....Slow-paced, space-creating music from many cultures — ancient bell meditations, classical adagios, creative space jazz, and the latest electronic and acoustic ambient music are woven into a seamless sequence unified by sound, emotion, and spatial imagery."  Stephen Hill, co-founder, Hearts of Space, essay titled [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="ref36b">"Hill's Hearts of Space Web site provides streaming access to an archive of hundreds of hours of spacemusic artfully blended into one-hour programs combining ambient, electronic, world, new-age and classical music."  Steve Sande, ''The Sky's the Limit with Ambient Music'', [http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2004/01/11/PKGAA45D9R1.DTL SF Chronicle, Sunday, January 11, 2004] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070811220631/http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=%2Fchronicle%2Farchive%2F2004%2F01%2F11%2FPKGAA45D9R1.DTL |date=August 11, 2007 }}</ref>
* ''[[Musical Starstreams]]'', a US-based commercial radio station and Internet program produced, programmed and hosted by Forest since 1981.
* ''[[Star's End]]'', a radio show on [[WXPN|88.5 WXPN]], in [[Philadelphia, Pennsylvania]]. Founded in 1976, it is the second longest-running ambient music radio show in the world.<ref>"Star's End" is (with the exception of "Music from the Hearts of Space") the longest running radio program of ambient music in the world. Since 1976, Star's End has been providing the Philadelphia broadcast area with music to sleep and dream to." [http://www.starsend.org/bkgrnd.html "Star's End" website background information page] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070814074101/http://www.starsend.org/bkgrnd.html |date=2007-08-14 }}</ref>
* ''[[Ultima Thule Ambient Music]]'', a weekly 90-minute show broadcast since 1989 on community radio across Australia.
* ''Avaruusromua'', the name meaning "space debris", is a 60-minute ambient and avant-garde radio program broadcast since 1990 on Finnish public broadcaster [[Yle|YLE's]] various stations.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://yle.fi/aihe/artikkeli/2015/04/30/avaruusromua-25-vuotta-radiossa-ja-kerran-televisiossa|title=Avaruusromua 25 vuotta radiossa ja kerran televisiossa!|website=yle.fi|date=30 April 2015 |url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160625151521/http://yle.fi/aihe/artikkeli/2015/04/30/avaruusromua-25-vuotta-radiossa-ja-kerran-televisiossa|archive-date=2016-06-25}}</ref>

== See also ==
{{Portal|Music}}
{{columns-list|colwidth=22em|
* [[Ambient video]]
* [[Balearic beat]]
* [[Easy listening]]
* [[Furniture music]]
* [[Incidental music]]
* [[List of ambient artists]]
* [[List of electronic music genres]]
* [[Mallsoft]]
* [[Microsound]]
* [[Minimalist music]]
* [[Music and sleep]]
* ''[[Ocean of Sound]]''
* [[Onkyokei]]
* [[Postminimalism]]
* [[Reductionism (music)]]
* [[Space age pop]]
* [[Sound map]]
}}

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

== References ==
{{reflist|30em}}

== External links ==
* [http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/1995_articles/mar95/ambienttechno.html Ambient Techno in ''Sound on Sound'']
* [http://www.ambientmusicguide.com/ Ambient Music Guide – Comprehensive ambient music resource site] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160407125819/http://ambientmusicguide.com/ |date=2016-04-07 }}

{{Ambient music-footer}}
{{Electronica}}
{{Music genres|state=autocollapse}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Ambient Music}}
[[Category:Ambient music| ]]
[[Category:Easy listening music]]
[[Category:Electronic music genres]]
[[Category:British styles of music]]
[[Category:Radio formats]]
[[Category:1960s in music]]
[[Category:Ambient music record labels]]
[[Category:New-age music]]