/r/ambientmusic
A subreddit for fans of ambient music and all its sub-genres.
Ambient Music Overview
Here is a loosely organized overview of ambient music featuring some notable artists and releases. Huge thanks to this sub's ambient community and the book Ambient Century by Mark Prendergast which were extremely helpful putting this together.
Composers
- Erik Satie - Gnossiennes (1893) - Trois Gymnopédies (1888)
- Claude Debussy - Images Pour Orchestre: II Ibéria b. Les Parfums de la Nuit (1905-8) - Nocturnes I Nuages (1892-9)
- Gustav Mahler - Symphony No. 5 in C-Sharp Minor: IV Adagietto (1901-2)
- Maurice Ravel - Pavane pour une infante défunte (1899) - Ma Mère l’oye - Pavane de la belle au bois dormant (1908-10)
- Frederick Delius - On hearing the first cuckoo in Spring (1912) - Irmelin Prelude (1890-2)
- Charles Ives - The Unanswered Question (1908)
- Charles Griffes - The Kairn of Koridwen (1916)
- Albert Ketelbey - Sanctuary of the Heart (1924)
- Fats Waller - Water Boy, The Lonesome Road, from At The Organ (1926-39)
- Olivier Messiaen - Turangalila Symphony: VI Jardin du sommeil d’amour (1946-8)
- John Cage - Dream (1948), In A Landscape (1948), Nocturne, (1947)
- Ravi Shankar - The Sounds of India (1957)
- Miles Davis - Kind of Blue (1959), Bitches Brew (1970), In A Silent Way (1969)
- György Ligeti - 2001 Space Odyssey Soundtrack (selected tracks) (1968)
- Morton Subotnick - Silver Apples of the Moon (1967), The Wild Bull (1968)
- Alice Coltrane - World Galaxy (1972) - Illuminations (1974)
- Wendy Carlos - Clockwork Orange ost (1971), The Shining ost (1980), Tron ost (1982)
- Morton Feldman - Triadic Memories (1981)
- Toru Takemitsu - Rain Spell (1982)
- Kaija Saariaho - Maa I. Journey (1991)
Tape & Recording Manipulation / Musique Concrète / Early Electronic
- Otto Luening & Vladimir Ussachevsky - Low Speed (1952)
- Karlheinz Stockhausen - Studie I (1953), Kontakte (1958-60), Telemusik (1966)
- Raymond Scott - Soothing Sounds for Baby (1962)
- Pierre Schaeffer - Volumes from Musique Experimentale 1 (1962)
- Daphne Oram - Pulse Persephone (1965)
- Pierre Henry - Le Voyage (1968)
- Mort Garson - Plantasia (1976)
Minimalism
- La Monte Young - The Well-Tuned Piano (1964)
- Terry Reilly - In C, Rainbow In Curved Air (1969)
- Steve Reich - Drumming (1971), Music for 18 Musicians (1976)
- Keith Jarrett - The Köln Concert (1975)
- Brian Eno - Ambient 1 Music for Airports (1978), Discreet Music (1975),
- Arvo Pärt - Spiegel im Spiegel (1978)
- Jon Hassell - Possible Musics: Fourth World Vol. 1 (1980)
- Philip Glass - Glassworks (1981)
- Harold Budd - The Pearl (1984)
- Pauline Oliveros - Deep Listening (1989)
- John Taverner - The Last Sleep of the Virgin (1991)
- John Adams - Hoodoo Zephyr (1993)
- David Toop - Screen Ceremonies (1995)
New Age
- Iasos - Inter-Dimensional Music (1975)
- KITARO - Silk Road series (1980)
- Laraaji - Ambient 3 Day of Radiance (1980)
- Michael Hedges - Aerial Boundaries (1984)
- Suzanne Ciani - Velocity of Love (1985)
- William Ackerman - Conferring With The Moon (1986)
- Andreas Vollendender - Down to the Moon (1986)
Rock/Prog/Metal
- David Bowie - Low (1977)
- The Grateful Dead - Dark Star (1969) - The Other One (1971)
- Pink Floyd - Echoes (1971) - On The Run (1973)
- Popol Vuh - In Den Garten Pharaos (1971) - Aguirre (1975) - Nosferatu (1978)
- Neu! - Im Glück (1972)
- Ash Ra Tempel - Schwingungen (1972)
- Tangerine Dream - Zeit (1972) - Phaedra (1974)
- Can - Future Days (1973)
- Robert Fripp - No Pussyfooting (1973) - Evening Star (1975) - Soundscapes Live Series (1994)
- Mike Oldfield - Tubular Bells (1973) - Incantations (1978)
- Harmonia - Deluxe (1975)
- Manuel Göttsching - Inventions for Electric Guitar (1975)
- Cluster - Cluster & Eno (1977)
- Steve Hillage - Rainbow Dome Musick (1979)
- Hans Joachim Roedelius - Wie das Wispern des Windes (1986) - Selbstportrait I, II & III (1979-80)
- David Sylvian - Gone To Earth (disc 2) (1986), Approaching Silence (1999)
- Bill Nelson - Chance Encounters In The Garden of Lights (1987)
- Holger Czukay & David Sylvain - Plight & Premonition (1988) - Flux & Mutability (1989)
- Peter Gabriel - Passion (1989)
- Spacemen 3 - Dreamweapon (1990)
- Earth - Earth 2: Special Low Frequency Versions (1993)
- Boris - Flood (2000)
- Sunn o))) - Monoliths & Dimensions (2009)
Synthesizer Music
- Tonto’s Expanding Head Band - Zero Time (1971)
- Klaus Schulze - Timewind (1975) - Mirage (1977) - Dark Side of the Moog series
- Beaver & Krause - In A Wild Sanctuary (1975)
- Kraftwerk - Autobahn (1974) - Radio-Activity (1975)
- Tim Blake - Radio Gnome Invisible Trilogy w/ Gong (1973-4) - Crystal Machine (1977) - Magick (1991)
- Jean-Michel Jarre - Oxygène (1976) - Equinoxe (1978) - Waiting For Cousteau (1990)
- Vangelis - Blade Runner Soundtrack (1982) - Soil Festivities (1984)
- Ryuichi Sakamoto - Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence (1983) - Esperanto (1985) - Cendre w/ Fennesz (2007) - Async (2017) -
- Robert Rich - Trances & Drones (1983) - Bestiary (2001) - Somnium (2001) - Filaments (2015)
- Steve Roach - Structures In Silence (1984) - Dreamtime Return (1988) - Soma w/ Robert Rich (1992)
- Haruomi Hosono - Paradise View (1985) - The Endless Talking (1985) - Medicine Compilation (1993)
- Hiroshi Yoshimura - Green (1986)
Electronic
- Art of Noise - The Ambient Collection (1990)
- The KLF - Chill Out (1990)
- The Orb - Adventures Beyond The Ultraworld (1991) - U.F.Orb (1992) - Orbus Terrarum (1995)
- Pete Namlook - Silence (1992) - 2350 Broadway w/ Tetsu Inoue (1993) - Air (1994)
- The Irresistible Force - Flying High (1992) - Dreamfish 1 & 2 w/ Pete Namlook (1993-5) - Global Chillage (1994)
- Thomas Köner - permafrost (1993)
- Global Communication - 76:14 (1994)
- Future Sound of London - Lifeforms (1994)
- Aphex Twin - Selected Ambient Works Vol. 2 (1994)
- Bill Laswell as Axiom Ambient - Lost In The Translation (1994)
- Woob - 1194 (1994)
- Tetsu Inoue - Ambient Otaku (1994)
- Biosphere - Substrata (1997)
- Boards of Canada - Music Has The Right To Children (1998)
- Susumu Yokota - Sakura (1999)
- William Orbit - Pieces In A Modern Style (2000)
21st Century Indie ambient & Modern favorites
- Sigur Ros - Von (1997) - Ágaetis byrjun (1999) - () (2002) - Takk… (2005)
- Gas - Pop (2000)
- Raison D’Etre - The Empty Hollow Unfolds (2000)
- Fennesz - Endless Summer (2001)
- Keith Fullerton Whitman - Playthroughs (2002)
- William Basinski - The Disintegration Loops I-IV (2002-3)
- Tycho - Past Is Prologue (2004) - Dive (2011) - Awake (2014)
- Carbon Based Lifeforms - World of Sleepers (2006) - Interloper (2010)
- Stars of the Lid - And Their Refinement of the Decline (2007)
- Alio Die - Aura Seminalis (2008)
- Loscil - Endless Falls (2010)
- A Winged Victory for the Sullen - Self Titled (2011)
- Tim Hecker - Ravedeath, 1972 (2011)
- Grouper - A.I.A Alien Observer (2011)
- C418 - Minecraft Volume Alpha (2011)
- Olafur Arnalds - Living Room Songs (2011) - Re:member (2018)
- Hammock - Departure Songs (2012)
- Nils Frahm - Spaces (2013)
- State Azure - So Long Eternity (2013)
- Phobium - Oort Cloud (2013)
- Kassel Jaeger - Toxic Cosmopolitanism (2014)
- Max Richter - Sleep (2015)
- Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith - Ears (2016)
- Ian William Craig - Centres (2016)
- Huerco S - For Those Who Have Never (And Also Those Who Have) (2016)
- The Caretaker - Everywhere at the End of Time (2016)
- Carmen Villain - Infinite Avenue (2017)
- Sarah Davachi - Let Night Come On Bells End The Day (2018)
- Skee Mask - Compro (2018)
- Anna Roxanne - Because of A Flower (2020)
- Flora Yin-Wong - Holy Palm (2020)
- Mary Lattimore - Silver Ladders (2020)
- Ulla - tumbling Towards A Wall (2020)
- KMRU - Peel (2020)
- Music for Space travel - The Space Cadet (2021)
- Hilyard - Division Cycle (2021)
- Siavash Amini - A Trail of Laughters (2021)
- Nala Sinephro - Space 1.8 (2021)
r/ambientmusic Top 10 ambient albums of 2022
- 36 & zakè - Stasis Sounds for Long Distance Space Travel II
- Sofie Birch - Holotropica
- Blood Incantation - Timewave Zero
- Sarah Davachi - Two Sisters
- Nils Frahm - Music For Animals
- Locrian - New Catastrophism
- Claire Rousay - everything perfect is already here
- Ulla - Foam
- Carmen Villain - Only Love From Now On
- Warmth - The Night
r/ambientmusic Top 10 ambient albums of 2023
- 12 by Ryuchi Sakamoto
- Atlas by Laurel Halo
- Colours of Air by Loscil // Lawrence English
- Crépuscule I & II by Tujiko Noriko
- Forgotten Melodies by The Space Cadet
- Headlands by Fog Net
- Mycelium Music by Matthewdavid
- New Blue Sun by André 3000
- The Notional Pastures of Imaginary - Softwoods by Imaginary Softwoods
- Signs by Purelink
/r/ambientmusic
76,215 Subscribers
Albums to get more into ambient?
I already listen to a lot of ambient stuff like blithe field, ricky eat acid, and flatsound but I really want to start listening to more long, ambient drone type stuff. What are some albums I should listen to?
03:52 UTC
Does anyone have an idea of a free VSTi that is equal or similar to the synth he used in the first track?
02:48 UTC
Jason Keisling - Particle Era (Lumastora Remix)
22:37 UTC
Playing Tim Hecker’s discography today
What’s your favorite?
Talk about an artist insanely ahead of their time. Tim Hecker’s music is totally unique and experimental BUT not just for the sake of achieving this end. These are true artistic statements that are using the medium of sound in ways we never imagined possible.
In his career, Tim Hecker has gone through a wide array of sonic pallets and amount of presence ranging from what could be considered ambient to anything but. He’s made sounds that are colossal, vast beyond comprehension, as well as intimate.
To this day, I think my favorite is still the first I ever heard, Haunt Me, Haunt Me, Do It Again . It was a record that was weirdly popular despite its abstractness and a lot of people’s entry point into more experimental electronic music. But it is also a record that vastly rewards repeated and close listening, despite at first glance seeming one of his softer and more ambient albums. The flow of the album is incredible, with the centerpiece “The Work of Art in the Age of Cultural Overproduction” being a true watershed moment, showing what a monolithic scale can be created in bedroom production, “laptop music” in the best possible way.
19:13 UTC
Weekly Community Thread
This is the correct place to share self promo, playlists and mixes. Please tell us about what you are sharing!
18:00 UTC
Amateur music journalist here looking for some help.
Hey everyone, sorry if this post doesn't fit here but it's made in good faith. I just wanted to jump in and say: I'm a guy training to be a journalist in the UK and I'm doing some market research into the possibility of creating a magazine about ambient music, partly as a University project, partly as a business venture that I'm hoping I'll be able to pursue within 6-8 months. if anyone's feeling charitable, I've linked a google doc which asks eleven quick questions about you, so that I can better understand demographics of people who listen to ambient. It shouldn't take you too long at all: I'll be forever grateful to whichever internet strangers decide to answer. Thanks! :))
16:09 UTC
claire rousay - it feels foolish to care
15:57 UTC
Fluisteraars - Manifestaties van de Ontworteling
15:56 UTC
gonzo music
i made this, sorry if you hate it
03:36 UTC
Is this Ambient track sound like Oneheart
02:08 UTC
Harold Budd: Jane 8
23:54 UTC
Haunting Ambient Cover from "The Night of the Hunter" (1955)
23:00 UTC
The Ambient Century
Just got this book because why not go full throttle? Covers various flavors of ambient, and also how it shows up/influences artists in other genres.
I watched the Brian Eno documentary last waken, the one on the Night Flight Channel, and kind of went nuts on Amazon.
I see that there's a new Eno movie out.
Anyway, just wanted to share.
21:51 UTC
Amazing sound from Michele Di Martino. Suggestions for similar kind of drone?
20:34 UTC
Is today Ambient Music a "global" genre?
There was a time when electronic/ambient music was organized into regional currents, with a clearly identifiable sound and style...
To put it bluntly, there was the Berlin School, the Californian School (Roach, Stearns, Rich and co.), the New York avant-garde, neo-classical ambient from Northern Europe, and so on.
Do you think it's still possible today to identify ambient music according to where it was produced: Japanese, South American, American, German, English, Swedish, Brazilian, African, French, and so on?
Or has ambient music become "globalized", distinguished more by sub-genre divisions (drone, dark, soundscape, etc.) than by geographical origin?
18:53 UTC
Ambient artists or albums you think are underrated?
I'll go first; gossamer's "imperishable" is a very underrated ambient album imo, the opening track is a fantastic minimal piece.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7CZSFtaC71o
what are your picks?
17:10 UTC
Songs getting stuck in your head - how does it make you feel? Which songs get stuck?
16:45 UTC
Hiroshi Yoshimura - Silence
15:03 UTC
Comfort Zone 5 mix
Hi y'all. I’ve been doing an annual spring mix since 2019. At first it was more about ambient jazz, like Jasper Van't Hof, and new age-y stuff, like William Ackerman, Eric Serra, etc. I just uploaded the 2024 edition, and the drift towards IDM & downtempo continues; quite many quintessential names this time around, like Bochum Welt, John Beltran, Lord Of The Isles, Terekke… The vibe's always been the same tho. I hope you check it, even like it. Have a good one :)
https://soundcloud.com/fiskars/comfort-zone-5
13:05 UTC
REAPZ5 - "What Did I do Wrong?" Hi guys this is a very big step in my career because I decided to rebrand a bit. I feel like this suits what I want to do a bit more. Feedback appreciated
11:34 UTC
Taylor Deupree - Snow/Sand (For Clarinets, Vibraphone, Cello & Percussion)
11:24 UTC
Festival de Musica Visual de Lanzarote (1991) [VHS]
10:56 UTC
07:01 UTC
What record labels do you guys realiably go to find good new releases?
I'm curious as to what you guys find on bandcamp, please list as many as you can remember!
05:03 UTC
Anyone here enjoy the 'western' side of ambient music?
Stuff like the group- North Americans comes to mind... maybe some of the KLF- Chill Out album could fit in this side of things too.
I love that chill vibe with the western atmospheric guitars....
Anyone have any favorites from this side of ambient music?
04:28 UTC
What upcoming releases are you excited for?
01:22 UTC
Ambient music with really pretty ethereal vocals
Looking for more ambient music with a pretty singing voice on it, bands like grouper, Ana Roxanne, Julianna barwick for example. All ambient with really really pretty vocals. I don't mind the gazier side of grouper either (like AIA dream loss) so if you have recs with really gorgeous vocals(can be male or female vocals doesn't matter) I'd love to hear it
18:41 UTC
High volume ambient
The history of ambient music is filled with albums intended to be played at medium volume. Acoustically that's how they sound best and transmit their healing cosmic waves. However, I've been known to blast William Basinski in my car. Some records are incredibly dense and were recorded at high volume (Pauline Oliveiros, Glenn Branca, Sunn 0))) Some records are recorded to be very mellow (Brian Eno, etc), but when you play them at high volume, you see through time.
So what are the soft albums that sound great at high volume? What rocks?
07:27 UTC