Planetary Unfolding is an 1980 piece by electronic composer Michael Stearns. This release mapped out the world of space music, a category that often overlaps with ambient. Planetary Unfolding was created using modular synthesizers, but used in a completely different way than synthesists of the early seventies, like Wendy Carlos or Isao Tomita, were using them. The album is a constantly evolving set of soundscapes that evoke ideas of space, and shifting through space.

Steve Roach’s 1984 release, Structures from Silence, is a minimal electronic album that shows the influence of German musicians such as Tangerine Dream, in addition to Eno. This recording is an evolving soundscape that features slow sequenced synth melodies that evolve and mutate throughout the piece. The music is relaxing and quiet.

Richard D. James, better known as Aphex Twin, released a CD in 1994 called Selected Ambient Works, Volume 2, that extends the world of ambient music. The music bears the indelible influence of Eno, but James charts new territory, too. His ambient pieces tend to be less murky, but just as dark and mysterious as Eno’s work on Ambient 4.

In the early 90’s, ambient music began to evolve into more mainstream styles. The Orb’s Adventures Beyond The Ultraworld is a great example of pop ambient music. It mixes dance rhythms, samples, psychedelic music and sound collage to create a new style of ambient. This double album covers a lot of territory, and helped bring ambient music to millions of listeners that might not have otherwise heard of it.

Now, ambient music is more popular than ever. There are many artists, working in a variety of styles, that are influenced by Eno’s idea of ambient music. Many styles have grown out of ambient, including ambient space music, ambient techno, ambient electronica, ambient acoustic music, and dark ambient.

Pages: 1 2 3