Ambiental music


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In classical music:

Modern Composer: Arvo Part made some beautiful music...

or

Death - The sound of perseverance... not ambiant but always good!

Good listening

first of all, welcome to neowin.

Thanks for the suggestions, my "music to experiment with" list is growing with good material :)

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is Cafe Del Mar considered Ambiental because i have the whole collection of it and when i listen to it, i feel like i am whisked to a paradise somwhere in Europe (which i hope will come true one day :D)

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Thought of a couple more names. Daniel Lanois has crossed paths with Eno multiple times, if you haven't even heard of him already. The two have contributed to a lot of shared material, sometimes their own music, sometimes cooperating on engineering/production of others.

At least half of Geoffrey Oryema's "Exile" I found amazing (and soothing), and I recall at least Peter Gabriel and Lanois contributing to it at the least. I *think* Eno may have also played engineer/producer as he's done on a ton of things.

Certainly classifying as ambient is also Diamanda Galas' stuff. Her "Singer [Live]" CD is just her and piano, and though incredible, probably not what you'd be looking to start with. If you should want outright scary / dark / ambient stuff unlike anything I've ever heard, there is her "Masque of the Red Death" trilogy, though I personally find it most useful for stuff to play when answering the door for Halloween--I've had friends get totally freaked out when they hear it and ask it be turned off, so I don't know I'd recommend it outright to many. She's very very good at what she does, but it's not what a lot of folk like to listen to and have a nice day thereafter.

ANYway....With more traditional instrumentation (and some electronics), some Kronos Quartet stuff might also be up your alley.

Heck, there's even Peter Gabriel's "Passion" (soundtrack to The Last Temptation of Christ) if you've never heard it. Really outstanding work, and a CD I'd personally consider an absolute must-own. It's remained one of my top-five recommended CDs, regardless of genre, for over a decade now.

Addendum: Shoot, just thought of another CD. Great *for* ambience, though not up quite the same "ambient music" alley as Brian Eno. Madredeus' "O Espirito da Paz" has some of the most amazing work I've ever heard as well. Nothing I can think of offhand that compares to it. Was used as ambient music in Wim Wenders' film, "Lisbon Story". If you like hearing stuff, sound (and Madredeus) play a central part of the film (only available on VHS).

Edited by poind
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Thought of a couple more names. Daniel Lanois has crossed paths with Eno multiple times, if you haven't even heard of him already. The two have contributed to a lot of shared material, sometimes their own music, sometimes cooperating on engineering/production of others.

At least half of Geoffrey Oryema's "Exile" I found amazing (and soothing), and I recall at least Peter Gabriel and Lanois contributing to it at the least. I *think* Eno may have also played engineer/producer as he's done on a ton of things.

Certainly classifying as ambient is also Diamanda Galas' stuff. Her "Singer [Live]" CD is just her and piano, and though incredible, probably not what you'd be looking to start with. If you should want outright scary / dark / ambient stuff unlike anything I've ever heard, there is her "Masque of the Red Death" trilogy, though I personally find it most useful for stuff to play when answering the door for Halloween--I've had friends get totally freaked out when they hear it and ask it be turned off, so I don't know I'd recommend it outright to many. She's very very good at what she does, but it's not what a lot of folk like to listen to and have a nice day thereafter.

ANYway....With more traditional instrumentation (and some electronics), some Kronos Quartet stuff might also be up your alley.

Heck, there's even Peter Gabriel's "Passion" (soundtrack to The Last Temptation of Christ) if you've never heard it. Really outstanding work, and a CD I'd personally consider an absolute must-own. It's remained one of my top-five recommended CDs, regardless of genre, for over a decade now.

it sounds that I will love "Masque of the Red Death" ;)

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,Oct 19 2003, 18:25] it sounds that I will love "Masque of the Red Death"  ;)

Brace yourself. Seriously. Play it during Halloween and people will swear your home is outright possessed. She is *extremely* skilled. :devil:

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There is also Zero 7 and Tosca you can look into (on the ambient/chill side of things). Peter Kruder's Peace Orchestra could also work and never forget Sigur Ros (but that can get dark at times, still good).

If I remember some more (or find some in my collection) I'll post'em.

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Have you been listening to the Ambient channel in the iTunes radio section?

yep, but suddenly they played Andrea Bochelli so I closed immedately, Bochelli?s voice is great but c?mon, thats not ambiental

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,Oct 19 2003, 20:04] By she you mean Galas, right?

Yes, "she" is Diamanda Galas. Believe she was a former opera singer with something remarkable like a 4-5 octave range before she got bored with traditional stuff and set out to show all that could *really* be done on her own.

If you hear some of her stuff (like Masque of the Red Death), you'll swear it's as close to hell opening its gates in your living room as you'd ever hope to hear. She got into a lot of advanced electronics/processing, etc., and *really* knew what she was doing. You will not encounter anything in movie soundtracks or anywhere else that's even comparable to how scary her stuff can be. Should any horror movie or something ever use her work someday, it's almost certain to become a classic on the basis of her sound contribution alone.

I've loaned her stuff to "Goth" people over the years, and they come back thinking I must be a serial killer or something if her work is the stuff I'd share with them. Blows everything else out there out of the water. At the minimum, *zero* beats her work for making kids run away in terror on Halloween thinking hell's gate has opened in the vicinity.

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Yes, "she" is Diamanda Galas. Believe she was a former opera singer with something remarkable like a 4-5 octave range before she got bored with traditional stuff and set out to show all that could *really* be done on her own.

If you hear some of her stuff (like Masque of the Red Death), you'll swear it's as close to hell opening its gates in your living room as you'd ever hope to hear. She got into a lot of advanced electronics/processing, etc., and *really* knew what she was doing. You will not encounter anything in movie soundtracks or anywhere else that's even comparable to how scary her stuff can be. Should any horror movie or something ever use her work someday, it's almost certain to become a classic on the basis of her sound contribution alone.

I've loaned her stuff to "Goth" people over the years, and they come back thinking I must be a serial killer or something if her work is the stuff I'd share with them. Blows everything else out there out of the water. At the minimum, *zero* beats her work for making kids run away in terror on Halloween thinking hell's gate has opened in the vicinity.

4-5 octanes, good range, I know galas work but just mainly for some reorded concerts a friend of mine have, indeed a beautiful voice

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,Oct 19 2003, 21:40] 4-5 octanes, good range, I know galas work but just mainly for some reorded concerts a friend of mine have, indeed a beautiful voice

You might need to hear her recorded stuff. *Very* heavy on processing and other electronics, often even making things sound like there's "speaking in tongues", among other things.

The live stuff I've heard myself is nothing like what she's been able to do in a studio.

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This is a good discussion. I've been intrested in this particualr genre for a while and some of the artist metioned in this thread I've never heard of. Looks like I've got some exploring to do ;).

ss1.

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I will second that suggestion of Peter Gabriels "Passion". A must have for sure.

Also as suggested, Lisa Gerrard, who happens to sing for Dead Can Dance.

[Which I was fortunate enough to see live - speechless I am over that show]

Piond, you have a way with words, haha. Diamanda Galas can indeed give the

impression of "hell opening its gates in your living room".

This Mortal Coil is another must have. 4AD had a lot of musical incest going on

back in the day. You can trace many of their artist through some amazing line ups.

If your interested in Usenet, give me a PM ...

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I was listening to the ambient channel on itunes, and i was thinking, try some Depeche Mode, some songs are right along the lines of some of the stuff on the itunes channel, something like Black Celebration or Painkiller. Or even better some of their insturmental stuff like Agent orange, PimpF, Easy Tiger......

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*compiles list of music to listen to*

Seriously, if you want to see the widest range of music a band can play download these Depeche Mode songs, Just cant get enough, Enjoy the Silence, Barrel of a Gun, and Freelove. 20 years of music changes a band 180? sometimes.

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Ambient, hmmm I'm into Electronic music and ambient too.

try [Aphex Twin - Film], kinda like a lullaby i find. excellent

[Yunx - Cyclomethicone] <-- Skam0161 Album. again top notch

haujobb does some sweet tunes too, really relaxing

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You can also try a group called Mythos (I have both the self titled album and Reality of a Dreamer) and Tim Story's Shadowplay album. Both are very good. Also as mentioned before Soundscapes is a very good set too.

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Seriously, if you want to see the widest range of music a band can play download these Depeche Mode songs, Just cant get enough, Enjoy the Silence, Barrel of a Gun, and Freelove. 20 years of music changes a band 180? sometimes.

yeah... i'm not really a Depeche Mode kind of guy. Haven't heard much, but i'm going to look into them soon. I'll check out those tracks.:))

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