Ambient
Ambient is a style that describes a large spectrum of music. Ambient music puts more emphasis on actual sound than musical structure, aimed at forming a particular atmosphere or mood with the help of conventional and unconventional instruments, sound clips, and sometimes vocal clips. Singing in ambient music can be done, although a good deal of ambient is instrumental.
Ambient music is not limited to any particular mood or sound, but rather embraces the idea that any mood or atmosphere can be achieved through sound alone, rather than needing to rely on music composition or song structure. Ambient has been incorporated into a large amount of various already-existing musical genres, due to its extremely compatible usage and versatility.
Ambient Dub
Ambient dub is an Electronic fusion of Ambient and Dub reggae, featuring the atmosphere of the former and the Jamaican-style basslines, percussion, and psychedelic production techniques of the latter.
The name of the genre was coined by Beyond with a series of compilation albums of the same name, starting with Ambient Dub, Volume One - The Big Chill in 1992. Many of the prominent artists within the genre also perform or mix in elements of Dub Techno or Ambient Techno, which has led to confusion over ambient dub's actual sound. While the lines are blurred between these three electronic genres, ambient dub can genuinely be discerned by its denser atmospheres, a heavier use of reverb and/or delay, and an emphasis on bass akin to traditional dub.
Ambient Pop
Typified by its distinct combination of Ambient sound design and Pop music structures, ambient pop emerged in the wake of Dream Pop and Synthpop during the mid 1980s. Though frequently associated with dream pop, ambient pop sets itself apart from its predecessor by not being directly related to the Alternative Rock movement and incorporating a greater variation of styles ranging from Downtempo, Jazz Pop and Krautrock to even Drone.
Ambient pop's sound is often based around multi-layered atmospheric Electronic instruments such as pads and synthesizers. Vocalists tend to sing in a shimmering, ethereal way and the addition of acoustic instruments is not uncommon, mainly keyboards, strings sections, drums and clean guitar.
The varied and unclear definition of ambient pop leads to close resemblance to Art Pop, with many artists falling into both categories, but these should not be treated as the same genre, as ambient pop focuses mostly on calm, slow pop music, rather than the complexity found in art pop works. Important artists include David Sylvian, Deux filles and Julee Cruise.
Black Ambient
Black Ambient is a subgenre of Dark Ambient music, which incorporates in its sound some elements usually associated with Black Metal scene. The typical for Dark Ambient slow and dark atmosphere is taken to extreme levels of dirtiness, and is often complemented by harsh shrieks and haunting whispers, resulting in a very dark, sinister and hypnotic sound. Abgzvoryathre by Moëvöt is a characteristic album for this genre.
Dark Ambient
(also known as Ambient Industrial)
Dark ambient is a form of Post-Industrial music that emphasizes an ominous, gloomy, and dissonant atmosphere. Similarly to Ambient, the genre often abandons traditional music structure, but it tends to be more eerie and unsettling than other styles of ambient. This dark and disturbing atmosphere can be evoked with the use of Drone, Musique concrète, Field Recordings, rumbles, machine noises, simple percussive instruments, distortion and synthesizers.
Although the term "dark ambient" was coined in the 1990s to describe the music of raison d'être, the genre can be traced back to the 1970s. One of the earliest influences on the development of dark ambient were Tangerine Dream's Zeit and Klaus Schulze's Irrlicht. Both albums were released in 1972 and heavily used droning organs and muted guitars to create a unique, distant atmosphere that also led to the emergence of Space Ambient. While Zeit was recorded with a prominent presence of dissonant synthesizers and a string quartet, the effects on Irrlicht were achieved by reversing and post-processing an orchestral rehearsal. This use of Electronic and musique concrète techniques was later adopted by many industrial and dark ambient artists.
The next big step leading to dark ambient was the birth of industrial in 1976. Throbbing Gristle's radical approach to music varied in its abrasiveness. While some of the records and performances consisted of a lot of Noise, repetitive, heavy rhythms and screaming vocals, others were closer to the more restrained, menacing soundscapes that would become dark ambient. This less extreme side of Throbbing Gristle could be heard on some live recordings such as Music From the Death Factory, but it became the most prominent in the soundtracks to After Cease to Exist (featured on The Second Annual Report) and In the Shadow of the Sun (released as a stand-alone album, In the Shadow of the Sun). The transition from industrial to dark ambient was solidified in the 1980s by artists such as Nurse With Wound, :zoviet*france: and Lustmord.
Since the mid 1980s, dark ambient has been associated and combined with a variety of different styles that value its dark atmosphere. Some of the genres that have borrowed from dark ambient include Ritual Ambient, Black Ambient, Martial Industrial, Neoclassical Darkwave, Drone Metal, and Dark Jazz.
Since dark ambient can function as background music to enhance the mood, it has been found suitable for many soundtracks. One of the first and most acclaimed movies to feature a dark ambient soundtrack was David Lynch's Eraserhead from 1977. Other popular motion pictures with such music include Donnie Darko (2001), Silent Hill (2006) and The Social Network (2010). The genre also found its place in video game music, most notably Diablo II, Fallout: The Soundtrack and Silent Hill (as well as other installments in those series).
Ritual Ambient
(also known as Ritual Dark Ambient)
Ritual Ambient is a subgenre of Dark Ambient that focuses on dark, deep, disturbing, ritualistic and occult atmosphere. It often features some chanting voices, tribal rhythms and appropriate samples.
Space Ambient
(also known as Space Music)
Space ambient refers to a form of flowing and relaxing Ambient music often dubbed 'space music'. The style typically employs sequencers along with cosmic synthesizers which are played in a sweeping and gradual manner (akin to and often utilising aspects of Drone). The successive ascending and descending rhythms are enhanced by almost imperceptible patterns in order to create a resonating, distant psychedelic sound. The ethereal, dreamlike effect of the synthesizer pads and additional sound effects is commonly coupled with artists and releases using space and general science fiction themes on artwork and track titles. Space ambient's usual aim is to provide the listener with both meditative background music and to 'transport' them on an aural journey, stimulating the imagination.
Emerging in the early 1970s from the ambient side of Berlin School and other Progressive Electronic music, pioneering artists Tangerine Dream and Klaus Schulze developed the style on releases such as Zeit and Irrlicht respectively. Like other ambient styles, its relaxing, unobtrusive atmosphere lends itself to soundtracks (notable examples being Brian Eno's Apollo: Atmospheres & Soundtracks and Vangelis's Blade Runner) and therapeutic work. There was a large degree of overlap with and influence of New Age music in the later development of the genre, seen in the works of Constance Demby and Jonn Serrie.
Tribal Ambient
(also known as Ethnic Ambient, Ethno Ambient)
Tribal ambient combines the theory and atmosphere of Ambient music with traditional instruments and sounds. The use of percussion is the genre's most common feature, with a distinctly hypnotic sound created by drums from the Traditional Folk Music of regions such as West Africa, South East Asia and the Greater Antilles. These include congas, tablas, djembe, bongos and gourd, goblet and Taos drums, whilst more global instruments, percussion or otherwise, are also often used, such as bells, sticks, chimes, flutes and pipes. Together with the usage of Nature Recordings and calming, meditative drones, these lend the style a naturalistic, peaceful mood. Conversely, the style has also been blended with Dark Ambient by artists such as Muslimgauze and :zoviet*france:, producing a more unnerving atmosphere. Vocals are used sparingly, if at all, and often lend a "shamanic" or spiritual feel to the music. Due to mixing live traditional instrumentation with sequenced synth, tribal ambient sometimes shares similarities and overlaps with forms of New Age music.
Steve Roach was an important figure in pioneering the sound with the milestone release Dreamtime Return in the late 1980s, incorporating a heavy Indigenous Australian Music influence. However, the style was developed earlier by various other artists around the turn of the decade, for example, Jon Hassell (initially with Brian Eno on Fourth World Vol. 1: Possible Musics) and Bryn Jones of Muslimgauze. Other notable tribal ambient musicians include Vidna Obmana, Robert Rich, Ulf Söderberg and Antonio Testa.
Like most ambient styles, tribal ambient is commonly used in soundtracks. Its organic feel naturally lends itself to nature and wildlife documentaries, whilst also being used in video games (for example, Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee and Fallout: The Soundtrack).
Definitions courtesy of rateyourmusic.com