#Circuli ambient music creator how to#

Given that randomization is an important element in its production, generative music is usually produced and consumed via computers nowadays due to a computer’s ability to easily make random selections, but this wasn’t always the case.

I find generative techniques to offer a revolutionary way to think about creating a hybrid live/recorded musical experience. Of course this field of composition owes much to the legendary New York avant-garde composer John Cage and his ideas on indeterminacy. Based on the idea that a music maker can deploy some sort of randomized, semi-randomized or indeterminate musical element(s) in the production process, the results of musical designs executed through generative techniques are rarely the same from one playback to the next. Those previously mentioned experimental and electronics-focused approaches to composition led to the development of a collection of new and fascinating composition techniques and production strategies, including some that take advantage of generative music technologies. Then I’ll be offering a brief historical overview of the genre’s development, sharing a couple of production tips and presenting my picks for the 12 best plugins to use when producing ambient music in the box. In this article, I’ll be taking a look at one of the most influential of these experimental composition techniques and suggesting how you can experiment with that technique in your productions. The music, according to Eno, can be “as ignorable as it is interesting ” I find it to be intoxicating and mesmerizing when it’s at its best, though new listeners will need to be prepared to abandon the often deep-seated expectation of hearing certain common compositional approaches in this music, such as harmonic progressions, standardized forms and thematic development. Many of the tools and techniques used to (often) subtle effect in ambient music can be easily transferred to other genres, regardless if they end up being used subtly or not. An ear that’s well tuned to subtle shifts in timbre and dynamics is a prerequisite for success in the field, after all. This focus on timbre also makes ambient music a fruitful area of study for audio engineers.

These tools provide a potent playground for sound design. This approach can be incredibly rewarding to explore in the box, where we have easy access to precision timbre shaping tools like virtual instruments, DAW automation and robust digital signal processing. Creators of this music usually rely heavily on the electronic tools and production techniques traditionally found in recording studios during the entire production process, including during composition. Since being labeled by Brian Eno as ambient music in the mid 1970s, this underground and nebulous genre has tantalized many listeners with its heightened focus on the timbral musical element and with some experimental approaches to composition. Consider this context as we continue on from here. Of course they didn’t have the incredible sound shaping tools we have today either.

#Circuli ambient music creator how to#

Granted, those musicians who came before us still had plenty of other musical parameters to think about, such as the selection of pitches and how to combine them with others into harmonies and melodies, all while developing rhythmic and formal designs. It’s safe to say that throughout most of musical history, the way a note sounded (timbre) was less considered, less controllable and less important to the music producers of the past than it is today.