So... Is ambient the new fashion or,,,

[Sicklecell666]

In a few years we'll have people pointing out that they had to engage randomization features manually and had to actually type in the limiting parameter values in their MIDI controller widgets.

It won't be in a few years, it's already happening now. I assembled Neuralis not for complete randomisation, but for intellegent pre-programmed automational control that extends itself over time. Calling it a randomizer in this context is inherently false, as it operates specifically within the ranges that it is pre-assigned & only effects designated parameters with a range of automational control that will be greatly extended in it's next version. Of course, you can hit the random button & randomise automation parameters like speed, length, and smoothing, but that's just a gimmick that doesn't represent what Neuralis is meant for at all; it's just a quick fix Wow-factor I tossed in for cheap thrills..

Neuralis is not a randomiser. It's a programable second brain that frees up certain controls YOU desginate that permits you more freedom in your performance. It's an extension of the user, not an independant free agent.

[jones-y]

I don't really care for the genre, but there is absolutely no reason to disrespect it as a music form.

And this is coming from a hip-hopper, who knows what the receiving end feels like.

[Meffy]

Sickle, have you heard of a fellow who performed and composed under the name "Raymond Scott?" He wrote a lot of the music that ended up in sountracks of classic cartoons. From what I understand he didn't write if for that use specifically, but it worked so well that they're almost The Official Cartoon Music.

He was also one of those eccentric genius types, and I think he was an electrical engineer to boot. Whether he had the degree or not, he built a very cartoon-ish music composing machine that AFAIK we'll never be able to recreate. Lots of other mid-century electronic music stuff too.

One of Scott's best-known achievements was "Soothing Sounds for Baby." It's not quite what it sounds like from the title, though. This is some of the first electronic ambient music ever.



Very strange stuff, this. Not dark, no. But it's a distant ancestor of today's ambient. Way ahead of its time.

Raymond Scott was a Jetson, IMO.

Meffy

[vurt]

cool meffy ill check that out if i can find it.

[Sicklecell666]

Very intresting, Meffy, and thanks for sharing it. I'll have to look into that as part of my motivation for some of the stuff I've been doing was making music that I could keep my kid asleep with


Of course, I've had difficulties keeping the stain out of it all..

At this point, I haven't managed to do a single composition my wife will allow my kid to listen to..who was it..oh yeah, Sascha said it sounded something like 'Music to raise werewolves to'..

[Nax]

Neuralis is not a randomiser. It's a programable second brain that frees up certain controls YOU desginate that permits you more freedom in your performance. It's an extension of the user, not an independant free agent.

I can't comment on your creation because I did not take the time to read your post to see what it does. I don't have the software you used so I thought I couldn't use it anyway. But I'll take a second look in case I can make some use of your ideas.

As far as randomization, I have been playing with it for a few years (gladly only for my own enjoyment) and started when AuReality's Building Blocks came out a few years ago. I wish that program was still being developed because it could do wonders and it was very easy to use.

In general though the brain does not handle random information well. It discards it as soon as it does not find anything it can work with and make a structure out of.

I'm not saying that if I randomize the resonance of a filter within a limited range a listener will immediately respond to the randomization of that value. But still, even seemingly imperceptible differences can have their effect, like the instantly recognizable sound a folk music instrument player can have. If that player changes his/her timbre with each song he/she is playing he will stop being recognizable and he/she can even be upsetting to his/her listeners.

[Meffy]

'Music to raise werewolves to'

Heeeeee... now there's a hearty turn of phrase!

Meffy

[experimental.crow]

Very intresting, Meffy, and thanks for sharing it. I'll have to look into that as part of my motivation for some of the stuff I've been doing was making music that I could keep my kid asleep with


Of course, I've had difficulties keeping the stain out of it all..

At this point, I haven't managed to do a single composition my wife will allow my kid to listen to..who was it..oh yeah, Sascha said it sounded something like 'Music to raise werewolves to'..

hehe ...
mrs. normal listens to bobby darrin ...

[ahja]

So what is your point ahja? You've backed away from ninety precent of the ways your statement can fairly reasonably be taken, but you havent really clarified what you do mean in any way that is satisfactory.

Are you just asking why there is increasingly more ambient here? Because your context immediately spins away from considering a whole load of possible explanations, including the fact that there exists an audience for it here. You predisposed the thread in favour of some sort of disparaging 'because it easy to piss about making wibbling sounds' context. In fact its hard to take a non-disparaging, non-smug, non-elitist context from a single sentence you wrote.

I guess there are as many reasons for people making 'ambient' here as there are people doing it. Not 'everyone' as you claim, and by no means are those who fall under what is a pretty damn the tenuous and loose category anyway all doing the same sort of thing anyway.

Why are you doing it? Why does it bother you that more people are? Do you actually know how they make it at all? Why does it matter to you how they make it? Why do you find it 'sudden'? Why do you find it 'strange' that it might be becoming more predominant on one specific website?

Do you really think you are one of 'us'?

Or do you just want to continue to think you're one of a 'cool' minority?

Hi whyterabbyt,

I think I explained my 'point' long ago in this thread. I was curious as to why so many ambient producers are suddenly coming out of the wood work, as it appears to be the next 'cool' thing to be doing.

Sure, I did put a bit of a spin on it... As ambient can be automatically generated by a number of different reaktor ensembles... MaxMSP... etc... I, personally, don't really feel that is musicianship though... as 'SOME' clarify and take credit for. As I have been a musician for as long as I can remember, it makes me feel a bit stupid in a sense. Hard work, creativity, and a vision is something I always put into my music, and when I hear a lot of recent ambient, not just here, created completely by random... It's hard to swallow. If you want to call that elitism, then fine. But you must understand by point of view here.

I guess I'm not one of you all here, and that's all fine and dandy. I'm not gonna lose sleep over the matter. I, by far, don't think I'm part of a cool minority, as you put it. KVR is not a signifigant part of my life... so I definitly don't think I'm part of any group of people here. I only stated the 'us' comment to show you that I may be thinking on the same ground as other ambient producers, and not a rock musician here to make fun, or hold against.

Why do I write ambient (which was the real intention of this thread)? Cause my earliest recordings as a young teen was an abstract collage of found sounds, and synths... Exploring sound design and visual atmospheres. This is something that always caught my attention. Of course, over the years I grew up and learned how do things in a more musical fasion.

[Meffy]

In general though the brain does not handle random information well. It discards it as soon as it does not find anything it can work with and make a structure out of.

PMFJI, but this is an interesting point.

To me, the most appealing "ambient" soundscapes provide not aimless randomness, but a sort of seeming disorder that the ear and brain keep trying to pick patterns out of. Like seeing "faces" in a stucco wall or acoustic ceiling tile, or hearing words in a stream of pseudo-random phonemes, or seeing religious figures on grilled cheese. Grill a better cheese sandwich and the ears will beat a path to your doorway.

Sickle, I'll have to d/l your creations and give 'em a try soon. So many irons in the fire at once... ah, for more time!

Meffy

[Sicklecell666]

If that player changes his/her timbre with each song he/she is playing he will stop being recognizable and he/she can even be upsetting to his/her listeners.

Within some contexts, that could be a deliberate act in & of itself. As I've mentioned, my appetite is to generate disturbing atmospheres, not congenial ones.

I completely get where you are coming from though, which is why I am pushing deeper for more control over Neuralis to be established. The end target for me would be to completely remove all associations with it to randomising, as at this point, clearly there is a negative connotation to it that some people here have misunderstood.

[Meffy]

Of course, over the years I grew up and learned how do things in a more musical fasion.

[ahja]

Of course, over the years I grew up and learned how do things in a more musical fasion.

How humble. Your point has been made. *9_9*

Damn, you guys really know how to twist words, and pull them completely out of context.

[ahja]

Hey, I look pretty happy and can afford some styling clothes.

[Sicklecell666]

Of course, over the years I grew up and learned how do things in a more musical fasion.

How humble. Your point has been made. *9_9*

Damn, you guys really know how to twist words, and pull them completely out of context.

If you can't take the heat, get outta the kitchen.

It's ironic that you compliment a track by Bluedad that uses large degrees of the instruments that you critice..

Calling you a hypocrite at this point is redundant.

And if this thread were to be something as innocent as a 'Why do you make ambient' inquiry, it would have flown over much better had you not been so antagonistic in your initial post. I don't react out of vaccuum..

Shit in, shit out.

ciao,