Best VST instrument for relaxation, Ambient, sounds

[ghettosynth]

Here's a nice modular session with a simple setup.

Bet for most of us the ambient feeling comes from the inner picture of an asian temple where unknown (or rarely heard) percussion strikes with non-western rhythms while one or another bird (the whistling sound) as well as some wind passes by... that calm and peaceful ambience (sic!) that differs so much from our daily experience (cars, hectic, shouts, TV...) makes it a typical genre piece though it is in fact dead simple...

That sounds more new age. New age is like ambient with too much sugar on top. I like ambient to be serious or dark. Probably the worse thing to happen to ambient music was new age.

Agreed. I listen to a lot of ambient and I hate almost all of that stuff. Even the drone zone can get to syruppy for me at times.

https://somafm.com/dronezone/

[bharris22]

Here's a nice modular session with a simple setup.

Bet for most of us the ambient feeling comes from the inner picture of an asian temple where unknown (or rarely heard) percussion strikes with non-western rhythms while one or another bird (the whistling sound) as well as some wind passes by... that calm and peaceful ambience (sic!) that differs so much from our daily experience (cars, hectic, shouts, TV...) makes it a typical genre piece though it is in fact dead simple...

That sounds more new age. New age is like ambient with too much sugar on top. I like ambient to be serious or dark. Probably the worse thing to happen to ambient music was new age.

+1. Steve Roach's The Magnificent Void is ideal. Anything with the sounds of babbling brooks doesn't qualify as ambient as far as I am concerned.

[.jon]

Nevermind.

[ghettosynth]

Nevermind.

LOL!

[himalaya]

Steve Roach's The Magnificent Void is ideal.

Great record, right? A bit dark and menacing for what I assume the OP had in mind, but you never know.

However, this is an example where the whole album could be made in Omnisphere, and any perceived or imagined lack of any new fancy schamncy filters poses no challenge to making such deep, gorgeous textures.

However, this album is another example of a great use of effects (as has been said numerous times), which are more important when creating such deep textures than state-of-the-art filters!

[onerob]

If you go with the idea of using ordinary sounds and transforming them with effects, this new plugin looks like it could be helpful:

https://www.112db.com/mikron/cascade/

[himalaya]

In fact, The Magnificent Void album is also a great example of what I mentioned earlier, that a careful mix of acoustic sounds, those with more ethnic overtones, can add to the overall mood - without adding any obvious cheesy New Age connotations.

Here are chimes and didgeridoo, all nicely layered with the rest of the sounds to make one cohesive whole. I can't hear 'New Age' but extra layers of beautiful, intricate sounds:

[himalaya]

If you go with the idea of using ordinary sounds and transforming them with effects, this new plugin looks like it could be helpful:

https://www.112db.com/mikron/cascade/

Wow! This is so nice! I've never seen this one before. On my shopping list. Thanks for posting!

[shapeshifter]

Since you are talking about ambient, here is my latest.

https://soundcloud.com/shapeshifterdna/ ... mpowerment

[onerob]

If you go with the idea of using ordinary sounds and transforming them with effects, this new plugin looks like it could be helpful:

https://www.112db.com/mikron/cascade/

Wow! This is so nice! I've never seen this one before. On my shopping list. Thanks for posting!

You're welcome

[chk071]

Steve Roach's The Magnificent Void is ideal.

Great record, right? A bit dark and menacing for what I assume the OP had in mind, but you never know.

However, this is an example where the whole album could be made in Omnisphere, and any perceived or imagined lack of any new fancy schamncy filters poses no challenge to making such deep, gorgeous textures.

However, this album is another example of a great use of effects (as has been said numerous times), which are more important when creating such deep textures than state-of-the-art filters!

I like that sound too. Others surely would argue that it's just a bunch of random sounds drenched deeply in reverb. There's surely some Steve Roach stuff which seems a bit random, and repetitive, but, i really like other tracks from him. There is Ambient music which is more structured, and feels less random, in general, though.

[Nielzie]

SynPlant

[Nielzie]

If you go with the idea of using ordinary sounds and transforming them with effects, this new plugin looks like it could be helpful:

https://www.112db.com/mikron/cascade/

That is indeed really nice

[wagtunes]

If you go with the idea of using ordinary sounds and transforming them with effects, this new plugin looks like it could be helpful:

https://www.112db.com/mikron/cascade/

Interesting. Simple, yet effective.

[elassi]

Others surely would argue that it's just a bunch of random sounds drenched deeply in reverb.

Not to mention the most important tool of all for this kind of steady sound manipulation: a bunch of slow LFOs.

While talking about slow: "As slow as possible" (John Cage) pushes another ambient concept to its extremes. If you fancy to follow this path PaulXStretch might be another tool for the ambitious ambienista.

@Shapeshifter: Nice one. Listening to it since 25min and counting...