Ambient Music... From where do i start ?

Hi to you all,

Need an "Internet Coffee" today.

At 44, i'm a bit tired to team up with the classic "rock band"... Going to rehearsals, talking about "what to play and what not", searching for new musicians when someone give up... I want to start something on my own using Sonar 8 & Project 5 as... Bandmates.

My free time has becomed so precious, i would like to spend it with my first passion, music, but in a new constructive way.

Two years ago, surfing the net, i've found a fascinating '70 musical scene also known as Kraut Rock

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krautrock

So, i've bought (and listen) some cds of Can, Neu!, Tangerine Dream, Ash Ra Temple, Amon Dull etc. Really awesome music !

Now, i would like to ask if someone of you all, has never done something like that...

I know, there's a lot of electronic music out, but this is totally different. I'm not interested in Hip Hop, Trance and similiar (with much respect...), i would like to create sonic textures and play some modern psichedelic music "all by myself".

So, people... From where should i start ? Need your experiences (if any), intersting links, your comments...

mau,

welcome to a different world of music. My fav is Tangerine Dream's "Sorceror" soundtrack (for the Friedkin movie, which is one of my top ten favs, too). It bridges the gap between total soundscape (like TD's early stuff) and arp/analog sequenced stuff that came later.

Arp/sequencing is one of the standard things - but it has to be monophonic (analog didn't lend it self to chords). It is akin to the bass sequences in disco - think Goldfrapp.

The other necessity is synths. Soft synths are excellent, don't let someone tell you to spend $2000 on a real analog (tho I do have an orginal moog and Arp Oddessy). Rapture is a great one for doing synth stuff. Then a different one for thicker, dirty virtual analog. I use Komplexer, which is a wavetable synth like the PPG (which was another standard for TG and the other kraut bands) but isn't available anymore. I'm sure there are will be plenty of other suggestions. Another good one for VA is Image Line's Poison, esp. if you are new to synth programming. It is simple and models an old siel synth, which had a few tricks up its sleeve.

Have fun.

@

So, i've bought (and listen) some cds of Can, Neu!, Tangerine Dream, Ash Ra Temple, Amon Dull etc. Really awesome music !

And don't forget Roger Powell.
Your band mates just got more difficult. I don't know what instrument you play but you'll proably want a keyboard synth or two.

Maurizio, It really depends what you define ambient as and what sorta time.. some will go on about textures and drone.. and some of it has very gradual changes so in some cases it doesn't sound like there is a melody.

even how long a tune takes, pink fluffy clouds by the orb from years ago went on for 45 minutes etc.I have an album Extra Vehicular Activity, by E V A. that might be the sort of thing you'd like.. there is a member of the forums who does ambient, something.. court.. jeez my memory is bad. (others know who I mean )

I mean my friend uses NI reaktor for a lot of things, the sound comes across as minimalist , but if you see the arrangement it's a LOT of elements.

kore would be good to use as well to morph between sounds, you just build up a matrix on that etc.

Dave I saw Jarre in Wembley Dave, was funny, I just checked it was 1997 .. some people our age were in front of us drinking beer and smoking something, and a couple were beside us the woman who must have been in here 30's says "whats that funny smell".. haha

Rbh, the tritons my friend said were like that, he was reminded when I asked him about the k2000.. the sounds were "ok" BUT it was the on board filtering that really made the difference to make the sounds a lot bigger / richer etc.

Hi people...

What can i say ? THANK YOU very much for your ideas and for your replies !

A little bit about me: i'm a guitarist, i've started about... 30 years ago to play guitar in a new-wave/dark band of teenagers (at that time). Not, i'm not still a guitar God, maybe one day...

My favorites guitarist are in the likes of Andy Summer, Adrian Belew, Robin Trower and few others; i love blues (Canned Heat), psychelic rock (early Floyd, Syd Barret) and from '70 to '80 dark (from Sabbath to Bauhaus, Joy Division)

Subsequently, about in 1989/90, a friend of mine told me about Atari 1024 and a "thing" called Cubase... Was a total discover for me. A new world.

In 1999, i decided to give Cakewalk's Home Studio 9 a try... from then on, i ever used Cake (with some exceptions). Actually, i use Sonar Studio 8.0.3 and Project 5 version 2.0 (updated to 2.5.1)

So, i use my pc to track down my songs, my ideas etc. In the recent past, i've used Sonar (HS XL 4) mostly to create songs and/or arrangements to be played with my rock-blues band. Some years of break with the group, now togheter again but...
I feel the need to change both music and the way i do it.

In the recent years, i've surf the net intrigued by all this hype about electronic music. Most of the artist i've read about, are so-called "producers" (once they were simply Djs...Am i wrong ?) and they made up Hip-Hop, Trance, Electro all musical genres related to the dance floor. I'm not interested to this approach, i've never loved to... dance.

But i've found also another wonderful scene, most related to Seventies, Avant-Garde and Psychedelia, with a bunch of innovatives artists to listen to.
Totally different approach to electronic music, but still sequencer... related, in some ways.

So, after a period of fascination, i would like to try my own way to compose my sound textures, maybe in a more "melodic" form, more "song related" for now. I love a more relaxed and pensively way to listen to the music and to create it, maybe 'cause i'm growing old and i need to manage my free time in a different way (i've also a 1 year child to make grow).

I'm a little tired to play "same 'ol blues" again & again, it's time to explore new sounds and feelings. And, if the "trial" works, i'll search for a keyboard player and maybe a singer, to perform live.

Thank you again for the artists you've suggested me and for all your precious inputs.

Hope i've not annoyed you with my personal info, only to let you know from where i came...

ORIGINAL: Crg

Well there sure seem to be some different definitions of ambient music here. Are you going to be using guitar synths mostly in your compositions?

No, Crg, unfortunately i don't have a guitar synth; i would like to have one (...specially, to have money for...) but for now, i only have standard electric guitars. But i think i could do a lot with the proper FX/Plugin inside Sonar & Co.

I have also a 4-strings electric bass guitar that, sometimes, i love to play (one finger and/or one plectrum); i use it often to record real bass parts inside Sonar, when i'm not too lazy to use Studio Intruments''s Bass plugin...

It's not a simple task to create intriguing and original sounds with an electric guitar, but i think there's a lot info out, in particular, i believe Cake forum is a mine of informations...

ORIGINAL: SteveJL

A lot of recent music of this genre falls under the titles of "Lounge", "Chill" and "Acid Jazz" music. It's very interesting and fun to create music of this type using today's technology.

The possibilities are limitless in that direction. Also try to listen to the soundtracks to In The Mood For Love as well as 2046, both by Wong Kar Wai to name but two.
You'll just need an application like Sonar, a MIDI controller/keyboard and a lot of research on various types of softsynths(Dimension Pro, Native Instruments, etc...) and you're set to go. Obviously, a knowledge of mixing and mastering will get you to your final destination...

To me, ambient music in the vien of the style i believe Eno pioneered has no discernable melody, beat, tonal center, start or end. It sort of appears, unfolds and disappears.

There are tons of things that get lumped into the category ambient that I do not consider ambient.

Real ambient appears to be very difficult to compose.

I have a decent sized collection of that and drone-y stuff. I used to listen to it and meditate. Now I prefer death metal for that. Nah joking.

Nice one, Mr. Mix

Some good stuff in all the above threads. If I had a model for such music, it would be TD's "Main Theme" from the Sorceror album/CD. Pure, structured synthetic sound. Gritty, without being intentially annoying. And it conveys emotion - something lacking in most electronic stuff. Definately not background music.

Music might have been a little different if Freidkin had found Tangerine Dream before the "Exorcist". He used them for Sorceror, one of my fav films, but it didn't do well, unlike the Exorcist. Large scale success might have spawned a lot of good, hard electronic music, rather than the main street picking up on punk, which was retro rock.

A funny story. In college I had my tape deck under the seat of my car. I picked up a kinda spacy girl to go out and started the car. TD's main dream came over the speakers - it starts out quiet enough. "what is that!?" and she started looking around for aliens in the sky, turned the radio knob for no effect and was getting really agitated before I finally broke down laughing. She didn't think it was too damn funny, but another reason I love the song.

Geesus......I have never felt so much like I have no clue what I'm talking about - as I do on this site! LOL


GREAT STUFF GUYS!!!.....I learn something new every single day.



.