Dark Ambient recording techniques?

[vespers75]

I've been recording dark ambient music off and on for some time now, and I've fallen into my own set of "techniques" for doing so. I know there are a few other guys here on KVR that also do that type of thing, such as Sickle who makes awesome hellish soundscapes. So I though it might be cool to start a thread where those of us who create the darkest of musics, could share and swap some ideas as to what they do in creating their own bleak sound worlds.

[Amberience]

I usually guff into a microphone and pitch it down 48 octaves and timestretch it for eight hours.

[shamann]

I find that that something as simple as volume and panning adjustments are very useful. Building up a set of sounds that create a sense of distance/roomspace, with sounds off into corners or just underneath the main thing you are doing can be used to great effect. And a good handle on dynamics, unlike a lot of pop music, dark ambient makes a fair amount of use loud to quiet to loud dynamics. So not so different from most music I guess.

I agree with Andy, pitching/slowing things down is a great technique to consider.

[dystonia_ek]

Dark Ambient for dummies:

1 - Take any sound source, speech, banging on an instrument, Beatles records, shouting, whatever.

2 - Slow and stretch many times.

3 - Layer a few times, adding great heaps of delay and reverb.

4 - Add even more great heaps of reverb.

5 - Select an appropriately mysterious Old-World name like 'Geschwartzengeruhften' or 'Traumgespritzenereinheit'.

6. Add more reverb, just to be sure.

8 - Take a foggy picture of either 1 - a crypt or cave or 2 - some astrophysical phenomen, then collage with medieval sigils and/or Cuneiform carvings for the cover of your CD, which should be called something like 'X-Cthonian Antiworld Transmissions'.

9 - See yourself magically appear in this week's Cold Spring mailorder update.




(Sorry, couldn't resist).

[Barbed Wire Kiss]

Dark Ambient for dummies:

1 - Take any sound source, speech, banging on an instrument, Beatles records, shouting, whatever.

2 - Slow and stretch many times.

3 - Layer a few times, adding great heaps of delay and reverb.

4 - Add even more great heaps of reverb.

5 - Select an appropriately mysterious Old-World name like 'Geschwartzengeruhften' or 'Traumgespritzenereinheit'.

6. Add more reverb, just to be sure.

8 - Take a foggy picture of either 1 - a crypt or cave or 2 - some astrophysical phenomen, then collage with medieval sigils and/or Cuneiform carvings for the cover of your CD, which should be called something like 'X-Cthonian Antiworld Transmissions'.

9 - See yourself magically appear in this week's Cold Spring mailorder update.




(Sorry, couldn't resist).

I get my coat then!

Anyway, that's what I did when I started. Recently I've been trying a few of the strange IRs around for my initials sounds.

[shamann]

Dark Ambient for dummies:

1 - Take any sound source, speech, banging on an instrument, Beatles records, shouting, whatever.

2 - Slow and stretch many times.

3 - Layer a few times, adding great heaps of delay and reverb.

4 - Add even more great heaps of reverb.

5 - Select an appropriately mysterious Old-World name like 'Geschwartzengeruhften' or 'Traumgespritzenereinheit'.

6. Add more reverb, just to be sure.

8 - Take a foggy picture of either 1 - a crypt or cave or 2 - some astrophysical phenomen, then collage with medieval sigils and/or Cuneiform carvings for the cover of your CD, which should be called something like 'X-Cthonian Antiworld Transmissions'.

9 - See yourself magically appear in this week's Cold Spring mailorder update.

Really, though, I don't think you added enough reverb.

[dystonia_ek]

You're right. Add an extra reverb step at the end.

Seriously, though, the best thing for anyone to do is just whatever you like the sound of - learn by doing. Don't let anyone steer you into some sort of box.

One of the things that distinguishes Sickle's stuff, for example, is that he comes from a background in a different area of music completely. As a result he approaches his 'ambient' material without any of the preconceptions that plague many artists who are totally genre-conscious about what they do.

The only other point I'd have is to make it ABOUT something - as a purely aesthetic gesture it'll never be more than nice wallpaper. Content and context will make the difference. Try to avoid the bogus mystical posery that has been so current with generations of Lustmord imitators with no sense of humour. Inject unexpected elements. Focus on rich, interesting sound sources rather than effects, too much emphasis and reliance upon which will render the results gimmicky at best.

And, to borrow from the recent techno sounds thread, ALWAYS remember that the funk is in the hands, not in the gear.

[shamann]

Wet blanket!

[eduardo_b]

Seriously, though, the best thing for anyone to do is just whatever you like the sound of - learn by doing. Don't let anyone steer you into some sort of box.

One of the things that distinguishes Sickle's stuff, for example, is that he comes from a background in a different area of music completely. As a result he approaches his 'ambient' material without any of the preconceptions that plague many artists who are totally genre-conscious about what they do.

The difficult part is separating one's self from all the dark ambient (and other ambient styles) that's come before and might be an influence. Not being genre-conscious is hard to do because the attraction to the genre is already there.

I was on an ambient music mail list for about a year, and while it was deadly dull at times, there were also regular, if not frequent, "this isn't ambient" "yes it is" arguments -- I was in the middle of many of them. Some stuff sounded like trance on valium and thus, to me, really wasn't ambient, but others wanted to hear "ambient" that was outside the box.

My suggestion is less about technique and more about finding what seems to be missing from the work of others and making it happen for yourself. I've heard plenty of ambient pieces that seemed quite nice and then the composer just screwed it up with stuff that was annoying or just plain ugly. That's what got me into doing music on a computer -- "I can do better than that."

[gnu23]

hmm....needs more reverb...

[Armoor]

I think being in the right mindset is also important. For example, work late at night when you're less critical. I have to do that anyway with my my family and work schedules. I remember listening to some ambient music I downloaded late at night and thinking, "Wow! This is really cool." The next day I played it at work and I thought, "This doesn't sound like I remember it." I created some loops one night and the same thing - the next day I thought these were monotonous! But I remember thinking they were really trippy the previous night.

So I guess this all falls into getting your body into a rhythm of composing. I usually do that with a big programming job - start with coffee, look at some books/websites for ideas, start with some of Sonic's music in the background and then...

I noticed when I used to be in a band and we practiced every Saturday that for some months afterwards, after I started going to college, on Saturdays I would be thinking about music and riffs. Your body/brain loves to be on a schedule so make the most of that to get your mind where it needs to be.

Anyway, those my thoughts on tips for dark ambient music. Now maybe I should upload something otherwise this was all meaningless dribble (because I haven't uploaded a song to KVR yet - at least a recent one).

[shamann]

I was on an ambient music mail list for about a year, and while it was deadly dull at times, there were also regular, if not frequent, "this isn't ambient" "yes it is" arguments -- I was in the middle of many of them. Some stuff sounded like trance on valium and thus, to me, really wasn't ambient, but others wanted to hear "ambient" that was outside the box.

My suggestion is less about technique and more about finding what seems to be missing from the work of others and making it happen for yourself. I've heard plenty of ambient pieces that seemed quite nice and then the composer just screwed it up with stuff that was annoying or just plain ugly.

This raises an important concern. No matter what, no f**king arpeggios! Ambient in general is probably a lost cause on this, but if you are going for dark, don't get all Ian Boddy on us, ffs.

And don't get me started on new age synth swooshes.

[eduardo_b]

I created some loops one night and the same thing - the next day I thought these were monotonous! But I remember thinking they were really trippy the previous night.

As someone who writes, I can confirm that this isn't just about music. Sometimes, the day after I've written part or all of a piece, I'll look at it again and wonder what the hell I was thinking. And once I start tampering with it, it may all fall apart. I've also started music projects (calling them projects given how short they are is probably not accurate) that I killed a day or two later, but as long as I didn't spend hours on them, I don't feel too bad -- and sometimes relieved I deleted them.

[eduardo_b]

No matter what, no f**king arpeggios!

Okay, I'd better go back and pull those tracks out.

And don't get me started on new age synth swooshes.

You'd have loved being on that ambient music list I mentioned. Combining the words "new age" and "ambient" in a sentence would set things off -- in both directions. One guy used to go on and on about his crush on Enya, and not just her music.

[vurt]

dunno really, for me its always been the ones where im not actually trying that when i sit back and listen i feel ive done a good job.
so i guess get yourself some sort of live environment happening, avoid sequencing! experiment away and just get lost in what your hearing, somethings not right adjust it but record everthing...
can of course be sliced and diced afterwards layered and whatnot.
oh and plenty of reverb.

be willing to use any sound, there is no wrong.