What Makes a Good Ambient Song

17th December, 2021
Blog Post #64

When you want to create an atmosphere with your music, what do you need? A number of elements come into play that can affect not just how the listener sees the world of the music, but that which is its overall mood as well. When a song makes a chord sound like it’s held for a long time, or a percussion instrument sounds like it’s echoing in a large hall, those are things every composer knows about chord progression and orchestration. But there are other characteristics of music that assist in building an atmosphere as well. Ambient music seeks to create environments that feel real and tangible through abstractly-controlled sonic landscapes and is different from other types of music in that way.

 

The ambient song is a style of music in which the same basic musical structure is repeated over and over again. Throughout the repetition, slight variations in rhythm and melody occur through a process known as “micro timing,” creating a sense of relaxation and a feeling of gentle euphoria. In the 1970s, the ambient song was taken up by musicians such as Brian Eno and Laraaji, who used them to create a sense of meditative calm. Since then it has evolved further in directions such as drone music, chillstep, and deep house.

 

If you like ambient songs, you probably like them when they are simple, but not too simple. You don’t want to be able to hum the tune; that would make it too ordinary. But you don’t want it to be so complicated you can’t remember it either. Ambient songs should be long enough to change moods several times, but short enough to hold your interest. They should build gradually, but not repeat themselves enough for you to get bored. They should have a strong middle part, with the opening and closing sections similar but different.

 

Ambient songs can be in any style, including classical music or noise or country-western or whatever else you might imagine. The only important thing is that they keep changing back and forth between different moods so that your attention is always being carried along without ever having time to wander off.

 

Piano, guitar, bass, and drum are the most common instruments used in an ambient song. These instruments usually string instruments, since they are able to provide a nice mood. The use of these instruments in an ambient song can be compared to the use of violins in a classical piece or harps in a country music song. The main reason for using these instruments is to create a mood for the listener. When someone is listening to an ambient song, it is not just about the lyrics that are being sung, but the music that is being played.

 

A good ambient song is one that doesn’t draw attention to itself. It accompanies whatever activity you’re doing without distracting you from that activity. Lastly, it is something that has a subtle, pleasing melody and little or no lyrics.