abasio Posted January 28, 2008 Share Posted January 28, 2008 I am curious about what you like with ambient tracks. Do you like short ambient tracks so the sound constantly changes or do you like long ambient tracks that have the time to evolve & tell a story? I was interested after this conversation in the reviews Well, perhaps it a greatest hits collection? It is nice to have all the tracks in place. I actually don't like them on the comps, they sound too different from the other material on the comps. I think Steve Roach is instructive here, his tracks are massive long and don't go anywhere, they change, but don't reach a destination. There are just so many artists who are capable of creating an interesting 3-4 minutes of ideas, but then try and stretch those ideas out into long mixes which end up making you sick and tired of the ideas you liked. In other words, the material overstays its welcome. My opinion is that the long ambient tracks are okay, but get old really fast. I think the gold standard is: FSOL Lifeforms. http://www.discogs.com/release/1130474 Lots of mini tracks on there. I think ambient died in the 1990s because people got board with the long over indulgent tracks. Interesting! I'd agree that artists like Steve Roach tend to be too minimal for some but it all comes down to taste. I know some people on this forum that love steve roach to bits. I myself never got into his music. Artists like steve roach make too much music & fail to keep up the quality. I'm sure they make some good stuff but it's hard to find it when they release 3 albums a year (steve roach released 3 albums last year, 1 2CD & 2 3CDs and has already released a 2 CD in 2008) I just don't have the patience to sift through his mountains of production. A lot of ambient artists make too much stuff. If they could put more effort into one album I'm sure I'd be more interested in them. I also thought that the short tracks in lifeforms felt more like transmissions rather than real tracks but that's just my taste again. I really don't think ambient died, there has been some great stuff this century & I hope it continues For me I really like long ambient tracks that tell a story. Journey tracks where the music has time to evolve & take us to far away places.. But it was rightly pointed out that that some artists take an idea & just stretch it out so that said idea becomes tired and boring. I'd agree with that but for boring I can just ignore & never listen to again. It really irks me though when I really like a track but it's over before I can get into it. When I feel like the artist could have made a nice long journey but couldn't be bothered. For me it's journey all the way. Favourite long journey Tracks Pete Namlook & Mixmaster Morris - Hymn 28:09 Jikkenteki - An Angel Takes Flight 27:22 Matt Coldrick & Matt Hillier - Air 23:27 Ishvara - Nomad 21:06 Ishq - Fluid Earth 20:02 The Infinity Project - Under The Overtones 19:58 Solar Fields - Air Song (8am version) 16:39 Solar Fields - Combinations 16:01 Kwook - KwookyWorld 15:22 Total Eclipse - Freefalling Upwards 15:21 The Civilised Electrons - Encounter (In an unexplored nebula) 15:07 Robert Rich & B.Lustmord - Omnipresent Boundary 15:00 Mystery of the Yeti - Welcome To All Extraterrestrials 14:55 Adham Shaikh - Journey To The Sun 14:15 Mathias Grassow & Thomas Weiss - Sights 13:43 Ishq - Cyandragonfly 13:27 Elve - Vale 13:23 Spielerei & Mantacoup - After The Shockwave 12:28 Kris Kylven & Syb-Sonic - Forgotten Souls 12:08 all of these are proper journeys unto themselves Favourite Short Tracks Carbon Based Lifeforms World Of Sleepers 5:17 Enigma - The Child In Us 5:06 Amos - Fläktsystem 5:05 Rena Jones - Aurora Borealis 4:53 Cymphonic - Unfoldment 4:12 Secede - Shrine 4:06 Celtic Cross - Louden 3:22 The Infinity Project - Blue Aura 3:19 Rena Jones - From Star To Seed 3:15 Jason Corder & Opium - Neromeccanico 2:46 Tripswitch - Tachyon 2:37 Abakus - Shared Light 2:27 Mahiane - Spathe 1:59 Healer - Ultrarapid 1:35 Enigma - Third Of It's Kind 0:19 The Infinity Project - High Insert 0:06 All of these tracks are great but I can't help wishing they were longer What do you like from your ambient? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sawfly Posted January 28, 2008 Share Posted January 28, 2008 I do like some very long tracks as you can get lost in them but generally I dig the shorter tracks but most of all I love ambient albums which are mixed so it feels like one hour journey when I listen them through Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RTP Posted January 28, 2008 Share Posted January 28, 2008 I already wanted to vote for long tracks, but then I realized I actually can't say that. I like long tracks as well as short ones. Take for example Makyo ... he's got some quite long tracks such as Vismaya or suzhou River and I absolutely love them. And then there are tracks like some Enigma or for example Shiva Chandra - Chilli Out (an absolutely genious piece), which are just 3 to 5 minutes long and are absolutely perfect as well. And one of my all time favourites, Matenda - Smiri Se, is 8 minutes long, which is in the middle. And I'd say in the average it comes to medium-long tracks. 7 to 9 minutes or so. Carbon Based Lifeforms' tracks are about that length or even shorter. That's what I like. Can be sometimes longer, can be sometimes shorter, but when you add it up to average then that value would come out. Is that long or short now? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Insejn Posted January 28, 2008 Share Posted January 28, 2008 Short. 6-9 minutes will do fine. The long tracks are usually one long boring pad anyway Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
radi6404 Posted January 28, 2008 Share Posted January 28, 2008 I prefer the middle lengh ones but I prefer rythmic ambient tracks with goa elements, like Blue planet corp ambient tracks or old electric universe ambient tracks. I don´t like the beatless ambient trakcs, I get nervous listening them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supergroover Posted January 28, 2008 Share Posted January 28, 2008 right you are radi! ambient ambient is usually boring. Lenght i really dont care about. If the combination of the tracks make a story its basically one track... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
radi6404 Posted January 28, 2008 Share Posted January 28, 2008 Short. 6-9 minutes will do fine. The long tracks are usually one long boring pad anyway same here Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yerg Posted January 28, 2008 Share Posted January 28, 2008 I am simply unable to listen to long beatless ambient tracks because i wanna go sleep after 10 minutes of listening/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NextWorld Posted January 28, 2008 Share Posted January 28, 2008 depends on the track... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NEMO.BOFH Posted January 28, 2008 Share Posted January 28, 2008 +1 Nextgen Depends totally. Some tracks just would be dull if they were longer than they are, cause the story has been told within the short time. And of course vice versa. Beatless tracks for me is but I still like that there is rhythm... ie. bubbling synths or something a bassline... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rino Posted January 28, 2008 Share Posted January 28, 2008 Favourite long journey Tracks Pete Namlook & Mixmaster Morris - Hymn 28:09 Solar Fields - Air Song (8am version) 16:39 Kris Kylven & Syb-Sonic - Forgotten Souls 12:08 The above quoted tracks are my three all time favorite ambient tracks I reckon. The first being the single, absolutely finest piece of ambient music I have ever come across. From my own arsenal of tunes I add: Pleiadians- Celaeno Shpongle- ...and the day turned to night From Within- Snake charmer From Within- ALL 3 tracks from the seond installation of this classic and utterly unbelievable trilogy!!! From the shorter tracks I absolutely adore the following: June Rashava & Senzar- Beautiful you Solar Fields- Time slide Miranda- Weightless Speedy J- Lanzarote Generally I like long, dreamy, story telling ambient tracks, like the three I quoted above. In order to work for me, ambient music must slowly evolve, lure you in inch by inch, with its underlying harmony and subdued melodies and sounds, pushing atmospheric soundscapes to the forefront. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bahamut Posted January 28, 2008 Share Posted January 28, 2008 I like both short and long tracks and both short and long tracks can be boring, or not. But certain moods and entrancing states can only be achieved with long, slowly developing music. Maybe some people are spoiled by short music with instant appeal and don't have the patience to listen to and discover longer slowly developing music (that requires repeated listening). You shouldn't listen to ambient with any expectations, just let it flow. Ambient is about the journey, not the destination. If you can't even listen to a track because of its length, I don't see how you can appreciate or understand ambient in general. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Time_Trap Posted January 28, 2008 Share Posted January 28, 2008 I like both short and long tracks and both short and long tracks can be boring, or not. But certain moods and entrancing states can only be achieved with long, slowly developing music. Maybe some people are spoiled by short music with instant appeal and don't have the patience to listen to and discover longer slowly developing music (that requires repeated listening). You shouldn't listen to ambient with any expectations, just let it flow. Ambient is about the journey, not the destination. If you can't even listen to a track because of its length, I don't see how you can appreciate or understand ambient in general. +1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melancholyman Posted January 28, 2008 Share Posted January 28, 2008 I agree with all above, except that beatless ambient is boring. Haha and Radi you get Nervous? Maybe you are afraid of lettin go Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sawfly Posted January 28, 2008 Share Posted January 28, 2008 I agree with all above, except that beatless ambient is boring. Haha and Radi you get Nervous? Maybe you are afraid of lettin go Real ambient is beatless Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seraph Posted January 28, 2008 Share Posted January 28, 2008 As long as it has good soundscape, atmosphere or a twist I can listen from 0:07 seconds to 70 minutes works. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pawelek Posted January 28, 2008 Share Posted January 28, 2008 Real ambient is beatless point I prefer short ambient tracks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gnome Posted January 28, 2008 Share Posted January 28, 2008 I prefer each tune's ending to be mixed with the next tune's beginning so it feels like one mix.I can only appreciate ambient when listening to the whole album,seeing it as long journey so who cares if the tunes inbetween are short or long. To be honest though i'm listening to ambient only just before bed and during so basically most of the ambient i've heard was in my sleep.With a few exceptions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reger Posted January 28, 2008 Share Posted January 28, 2008 good, long or "short" doesnt matter, tho, there are certain tracks, which beg to be longer, for they are so good you want them to go on for little longer hol baumann - final for example Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
needle ninja Posted January 29, 2008 Share Posted January 29, 2008 If it is really good then long, otherwise short as possible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digital90 Posted January 30, 2008 Share Posted January 30, 2008 Ill Flower - FSOL 3:25 Umbra - O Yuki Conjugate 2:40 Are two that come to mind. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digital90 Posted January 30, 2008 Share Posted January 30, 2008 I think you should update the poll question. It is two dualistic. How about a third option, which is the one I fall in: 3 - Song length doesn't matter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeaWasp Posted January 30, 2008 Share Posted January 30, 2008 If it is really good then long, otherwise short as possible. But isn't that with any music? Ambient music should be listenable as background music, but can be complex when listening "in-depth" (Who am i quoting?) Having said that, as long as there is some weird form of rhythm, I'm all ears, and will try to hear it through to the end... And yes, I do prefer long ambient tracks. They especially need time to build up... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Time_Trap Posted January 30, 2008 Share Posted January 30, 2008 Ambient music should be listenable as background music, but can be complex when listening "in-depth" (Who am i quoting?) Brian Eno Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snowball Posted January 30, 2008 Share Posted January 30, 2008 I think you should update the poll question. It is two dualistic. How about a third option, which is the one I fall in: 3 - Song length doesn't matter. aweeeeeeesome typo!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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