[floatboxright:
Primary Stylistic Influences:
+ Modern ClassicalMusic, AvantGardeMusic, early ElectronicMusic, {{Krautrock}}, ProgressiveRock, PsychedelicRock
]
[floatboxright:
Secondary Stylistic Influences:
+ occasionally World Music and GenreMotif/{{Folk}}; later artists often influenced by {{Industrial}}, HouseMusic, {{Techno}}, {{Trance}} and other more recent genres of ElectronicMusic
]

->''"The cusp between melody and texture."''
-->-- '''Music/BrianEno'''

Ambient music is usually minimalistic, attempting to stir up a certain atmosphere or imagery to the listener. The instruments used are mostly of an electronic nature such as synthesizers, samplers and drum machines. However more traditional instrumentation is also prevelant among artists.

Its understated nature and tendency to evoke positive feelings in a listener make it very popular during relaxation and as feel good inspiration. Its darker side is also useful in creating tension and underlying emotion in TV and film. Subtle unsettling scores can make all the difference in keeping your audience on edge whilst not overpowering the scene.

The origins of the music can be seen as beginning just [[OlderThanTheyThink before and after]] the [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarI first World War]] alongside art movements such as futurism which emphasized less traditional experimentation in music. One of the pioneers was composer Music/ErikSatie, whose minimalistic atmosphere pieces were downgraded during his lifetime, but after his death became VindicatedByHistory as being way ahead of their time. They were a huge inspiration to ambient music. According to Website/{{Wikipedia}}, Music/BrianEno actually [[TropeNamer coined the term]] "Ambient Music" during the 70s. He once described the music as capable of being:

''"Actively listened to with attention or as easily ignored, depending on the choice of the listener".''

A statement that nicely sums up why it can be engaging for some and simply background music for others.

It may be worth noting that Eno credits Music/MilesDavis' "He Loved Him Madly", off 1974's ''Get Up with It'', with [[UrExample inspiring several of his ambient albums]].

Certain subgenres of AlternativeRock draw influences from ambient music, such as DreamPop and {{Slowcore}}/Sadcore. [[DoomMetal Drone Metal]] may also be considered to be influenced by ambient music, and there is an entire subgenre of BlackMetal also influenced by ambient music, appropriately called [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin "Ambient Black Metal".]]

!! Sub-genres include:

* Ambient Americana
* Ambient House
* Ambient Dub
* Ambient Trance
* Ambient Industrial
* Ambient Noise
* Ambient Noise Wall
* Ambient Techno
* Clinical Ambient
* Black Ambient
* Dark Ambient
* Drone Ambient
* Ritual Ambient
* Space Ambient
* Tribal Ambient
* Isolationalism
* Deathdream
* Lowercase
* Environmental Music (Kankyou Ongaku)

!! Examples of Ambient Artists/Works:
[[index]]
* Music/AphexTwin
** ''[[Music/SelectedAmbientWorks8592 Selected Ambient Works 85–92]]'' (some of the tracks)
** ''Music/SelectedAmbientWorksVolumeII''
* Apoptygma Berserk:
** ''Exit Popularity Contest''
* Music/{{Autechre}}
** "Yulquen" on ''Amber''
** "Paralel Suns", "Notwo", and "[=Outh9x=]" on ''Quaristice''
** "Perlence Suns", "9013-2", and "Perlence Subrange 6-36" on ''Quaristice Quadrange''
* Music/{{Balligomingo}}
* Music/{{Betamaxx}}
** ''Sarajevo'' (ConceptAlbum based on the 1984 Winter Olympic Games, held in the then-Yugoslav city of the same name)
* Music/{{Biosphere}}
** ''Substrata''
* ''Blowupnihilist''
** "Impermanence", "Dukkha", and "Masada", from ''Deconstructionism: The Most Sincere Form of Self Criticism''
** "Quarantine", "Evidence of a Psychotic Break", "Dirge, Respite", and "A Rope Over an Abyss", from ''The Ghastly Paraphernalia of Our Beneficial Trade''
** ''Objective Nothingness''
* Music/BoardsOfCanada (fused with IDM)
** 1998 - ''Music/MusicHasTheRightToChildren''
** 2002 - ''Music/{{Geogaddi}}''
** 2005 - ''Music/TheCampfireHeadphase''
** 2013 - ''Music/TomorrowsHarvest''
* Music/BohrenUndDerClubOfGore: German jazz band who mixes ambient with metal.
* Some of Music/DavidBowie's albums fall into this for significant portions of their running time:
** ''Music/LowDavidBowieAlbum''
** ''Music/HeroesDavidBowieAlbum''
** ''Music/TheBuddhaOfSuburbia''
* Music/BrokenIris
* Music/{{BT}}:
** ''This Binary Universe''
** ''If The Stars are Eternal, So Are You and I''
** ''Morceau Subrosa'' (released simultaneously with the above album)
* Most of Music/{{Burzum}}'s non-metal material.
* Music/{{C418}}
** [[/index]]''Bushes and Marshmallows''
** The ''VideoGame/{{Minecraft}}'' OST
** ''one''[[index]]
* Music/CabaretVoltaire:
** ''Dekadrone''
** ''[=BN9Drone=]''
* Music/CarbonBasedLifeforms
* Music/{{Coil}}
* College
** ''Shanghai''
* Music/{{Covenant}}
** "Cryotank Expansion", on ''Dreams of a Cryotank''
** "Modern Ruin Part II", on ''Modern Ruin''
** [[/index]]"Jag är Fullständigt Tung" on ''Leaving Babylon''(LimitedSpecialCollectorsUltimateEdition)[[index]]
* Jack Dangers:
** ''Music for Planetarium''
* Music/DarkAges
* Music/DarshanAmbient
* Music/{{Dilate}}:
** ''Cyclos''
** ''Octagon''
* Music/{{Enigma}}
** ''MCMXC A.D.''
** ''The Cross of Changes''
** ''A Posteriori''
* Music/BrianEno (the TropeNamer, if not exactly the TropeMaker)
** ''Another Green World''
** ''Discreet Music''
** ''Music/Ambient1MusicForAirports''
** ''Fourth World, Vol. 1: Possible Musics'' (with Jon Hassell)
** ''Ambient 4: On Land''
** ''Music/ApolloAtmospheresAndSoundtracks''
** ''Thursday Afternoon''
** ''The Shutov Assembly''
** ''Neroli''
* Music/TheFlashbulb
* Freaky DNA:
** "Bass Armonium"
** "Fog Stalker"
** "Iced Cubed"
* Music/RobertFripp:
** ''Let the Power Fall''
** ''Gates of Paradise''
** ''A Temple in the Clouds'' (with Jeff Fayman)
* Music/TheFutureSoundOfLondon
** Lifeforms
* Music/{{Grouper}}
* Music/TimHecker
* Music/{{Hexode}}
* Music/HisNameIsAlive (On the albums ''All the Mirrors in the House'' and ''Return to Never'' as well as scattered tracks on their earlier work)
* Aubrey Hodges
** [[/index]]''VideoGame/{{Doom}}'' and ''Final Doom'' Platform/PlayStation soundtracks
** ''Doom 64'' soundtrack
** ''VideoGame/{{Quake}}'' and ''VideoGame/QuakeII'' Platform/Nintendo64 soundtracks
** ''Journey Into the Dark Places Vol. 1'' and ''2''[[index]]
* Music/TheHumanLeague
** ''The Dignity of Labour, Pts. 1-4''
* Music/MarkIsham
* Music/JeanMichelJarre
** ''Music/{{Oxygene}}'' (1976)
*** ''Oxygène 7-13'' (1997)
*** ''Oxygène 3'' (2016)
** ''Music/{{Equinoxe}}'' (1978)
*** ''Équinoxe Infinity'' (2018)
** ''Magnetic Fields'' (1981)
** ''Waiting For Cousteau'' (1990)
** ''Amazonia'' (2021)
* Music/JunoReactor
** ''Luciana'' (a single 61-minute dark ambient track)
* Music/{{Khanate}}
* Music/LeylandKirby (also plunderphonics and harsh noise on some releases)
* Music/TheKLF
** ''Chill Out''
* Music/{{Kraftwerk}}'s first three albums could be considered to be ambient (though sometimes also called KrautRock), particularly ''Kraftwerk 2'' and ''Ralf und Florian''. This was just EarlyInstallmentWeirdness though, from before they arguably became the TropeMaker for electronic music.
* Laserdance:
** ''Ambiente''
* Lazerhawk
** ''Dreamrider''
* Le Matos (also UsefulNotes/{{Synthwave}})
** ''EXODE Original Web Series Soundtrack''
* Music/{{Leviathan}} - Dark ambient on ''A Silhouette in Splinters.''
* Music/LifeInYellow
* ''Gyorgy Ligeti''
** [[/index]]"Atmosphères", "Lux Aeterna" "Requiem", all three of which were featured in ''Film/TwoThousandOneASpaceOdyssey''[[index]]
* ''Lustmord'' - Trope Maker of dark ambient.
* Music/{{M83}}:
** ''Digital Shades, Volume 1''
** ''DSVII''
* Music/{{Matmos}}
* Music/MerShoppingMissbrukForStudenter
* Music/MidnightSyndicate
* Bryce Miller (also UsefulNotes/{{Synthwave}})
** ''City Depths''(2015)
** ''Monochrome Daydream''(2019)
* Music/{{Moby}}
** ''Ambient''
** The ambient [=CDs=] on ''Hotel'' and ''Wait For Me''
** 1999 - Music/{{Play}}
* ''Mark Morgan:''
** [[/index]]''Vault Archives'' (''VideoGame/Fallout1'' and ''VideoGame/Fallout2'' remastered soundtrack)[[index]]
* Music/MoonsetMusic
* Music/{{Mortiis}} was dark ambient for his first seven albums, before undergoing a GenreShift.
* Music/JuanMutant
* Music/NegativeEntropy:
** ''City Open to the Nomad''
* Spencer Nilsen
** ''VideoGame/EccoTheDolphin'' and ''Ecco: The Tides of Time'' Platform/SegaCD soundtracks, select songs from both games were compiled on the CD ''Ecco: Songs of Time''
* Music/NineInchNails
** 2008 - ''Music/GhostsIToIV''
** [[/index]]''VideoGame/{{Quake}}'' soundtrack
** ''Ghosts V: Together''
** ''Ghosts VI: Locusts''
* Nordra (SoloSideProject of Monika Khot from Zen Mother)
** ''Nordra EP''
** ''Pylon II''
** ''Come Diventare Un Partigiano''
** ''Pylon III''
* Nothing but Noise, a side project of Music/{{Front 242}} founding members Daniel B. and Dirk Bergen, along with Erwin Jadot:
** ''Not Bleeding Red''
** ''Music for Muted TV 1-4''
** ''From Berlin to Brussels''
** ''Existence Oscillation Past'',''Present'', and ''(possible) Future''
** ''Mutanten Machine''
** ''Formations Magnétiques et Phénomènes d'incertitude''
* OGRE & Dallas Campbell
** ''All Hallows''
** ''Beyond the Infinite''
** ''All Hallows II''[[index]]
* Music/OneohtrixPointNever
* Ben Prunty:[[/index]]
** ''VideoGame/FTLFasterThanLight'' and ''[[UpdatedRerelease FTL: Advanced Edition]]'' soundtracks
** ''Color Sky''[[index]]
* Music/{{REPULSIVE}}
* Music/TheResidents
** ''Music/{{Eskimo}}''
* Music/{{Ruelle}}
* Most of Music/SolarFields' discography, except for ''Earthshine'' and ''Random Friday'', which are {{trance}}
* Creator/SteveRoden
* Music/ErikSatie (his minimalist piano-based compositions are considered a UrExample of the style.
* Most albums by Music/KlausSchulze, former drummer of Music/TangerineDream and frontman of Music/AshRaTemple.
* Creator/AlexSeropian:
** ''VideoGame/{{Marathon}}'' soundtrack (the CD-ROM edition includes Redbook arrangements of seven select songs that can be listened to on an audio CD player)
* Creator/NickShutter
* Music/SleepResearchFacility
* Music/{{Slowdive}}
* Smokey Emery
** ''Soundtracks For Invisibility Vol. I-IV''
** ''Every Bitter Thing Sweet''
** ''Cathedrelic'' (with R. Lee Dockery)
* Music/SunnO
* Music/TangerineDream
** ''Alpha Centauri''
** ''Zeit''
** ''Phaedra''
** ''Rubycon''
** ''Ricochet''
** ''Stratosfear''
** ''The Seven Letters from Tibet''
* Music/{{Ulver}} on some albums.
* Music/VladislavDelay
** ''Anima''
* Music/{{Wardruna}}
* Music/WatashiNoKoko: Released an ambient album and a dark ambient album under the name Kesson Shoujo in 2007-08, then returned to the dark ambient genre for 2016's "hue drone."
* Music/StevenWilson (of Porcupine Tree fame) has delved into this with his ''Bass Communion'' project, which is composed of both Ambient and minimalist electronic soundscapes.
* Music/WingsOfAnAngel
* Xeno & Oaklander:
** ''Movements''
** ''Movements II''
* Music/HiroshiYoshimura
** ''Music for Nine Postcards''
** ''GREEN''
** ''Wet Land''
** ''Soundscape vol. 1: Surround''
** ''A・I・R (Air In Resort)''
* Music/JohnZorn
* Music/ZovietFrance
* The ''One A.D.'' and ''Two A.D.'' compilations range from dancey to spacey.
[[/index]]
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