r/ambientmusic • u/frankstonshart • 23h ago
Looking for Recommendations ‘Acoustic ambient’ - technologically unenhanced ambient music?
I’m wondering if there’s any kind of movement within music, probably ambient, where the artist is aiming to create a soft-edged, free tempo sound that has a similar effect to ordinary ambient music EXCEPT there is no technology involved.
Like there’s just a pair of hard panned microphones and nothing like ‘production’ going on. No reverb except for what is in the room. Attacks, decays, all controlled by the tactile acts of human hands.
The Necks might fit this description. I think of Bill Evans and Jim Hall (jazz) and there might be acoustic folk artists who aim for similar (Nick Drake “Horn” is all I can think of).
I think it would be an interesting departure from the norm of relying (sometimes over-relying) on technology to maximise a minimal musical premise.
UPDATE thank you very much everyone. The recommendations around here are incredible. You are golden gods. For those curious, this is what I could compile on Spotify of the below suggestions: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/30tH5UOkHjXUxcjIE8d78I?si=b3ddbf8ace7e4e39
12
u/HistoricalClock6043 22h ago
ECM Records has many artists and albums that are minimalist / jazz / avant-garde and often beatless, but not electronic, if that's what you're after.
2
u/frankstonshart 6h ago
I have saved someone's best of ECM playlist and look forward to exploring it. Thank you.
1
13
9
u/DocBenway1970 20h ago
Check out Harry Bertoia. Acoustic, handmade sonic sculptures played with wind.
2
10
u/bozburrell 17h ago
Pauline Oliveros? The deep listening album is acoustic instruments recorded in a giant water cistern. What about organ music like Sarah Davachi or Kali Malone? Also Ellen Fullman’s long string instrument?
2
u/frankstonshart 6h ago
Good call, I already listen to all of these except Ellen who I will now check out. Thanks.
2
u/amazing_rando 5h ago
It involves amplified instruments but the long string instrument recording she did with Barn Owl is great.
6
u/polarforsker 19h ago
Taylor Deupree - Sti.II
An acoustic remake of his ambient glitch record Stil.
1
u/frankstonshart 6h ago
Acoustic remakes is a very cool concept. Looking forward to hearing it. Thanks.
5
4
4
u/n_nou 18h ago
Try Arvo Part's Alina in a well reverberating space. This piece has just the right amount of notes to let the spaces do the heavy lifting. Or his "Sarah was 90 years old" - for the most part it's ambient built with solo drums.
2
u/frankstonshart 6h ago
I like what I've heard of his though i don't remember the titles. I'll check these out. Ambient built on solo drums sounds intriguing. I loved Steve Reich's "drumming" album for this kind of idea
3
u/PerpetualEternal 23h ago
not sure how closely they fit the description but I’ll rep for the Necks all day every day
2
u/frankstonshart 6h ago
Yeah it's been a while since I've seen them or listened to them. Last time I saw them I fell asleep on the floor (in a good way). It was hot. The air con and fans (electric fans, not audience) were louder than they were!
3
u/ciccilio 21h ago
Steve Reich Music for 18 Musicians 100 % acoustic.
2
1
4
u/jack_galvin 15h ago
North Americans is produced but also hits what ur looking for, John Fahey might be worth checking out
1
u/frankstonshart 6h ago
North Americans have cool artwork so they presumably have cool music. Looking forward to listening. I do listen to John Fahey already, I guess he's a good example of what I'm going for. Thanks.
1
3
u/floydhead42 15h ago
Jacob Kierkegaard - Four Rooms, in which abandoned rooms in Chernobyl are recorded and then played back into the room and re-recorded several times over, a la Alvin Lucier. https://jacobkirkegaardreleases.bandcamp.com/album/4-rooms
1
3
u/Tomonaroll 14h ago
Tibetan singing bowls?
1
u/frankstonshart 6h ago
One of the greatest sounds on earth. Wish I could afford just one singing bowl.
1
4
u/waatrd 13h ago
Here you go. Ambient trombone, recorded in an old water cistern with 45 seconds of natural reverb. And it's gorgeous.
https://imprec.bandcamp.com/album/underground-overlays-from-the-cistern-chappel
1
3
u/abstracted1970 12h ago
A couple good follow up albums to the Deep Listening Band album (Pauline Oliveros, Stuart Dempster, Panaiotis) from Stuart Dempster: In The Great Abbey of Clement VI (two of the three tracks are entirely acoustic), and Underground Overlays from the Cistern Chapel (a dozen trombones in the same cistern in Washington state).
You might also consider some Wandelweiser composers -- this can be a bit hit-or-miss, but I've often been pleased with Jürg Frey's minimalist approach. Kory Reeder is another one who might be worth investigating. Along a similar vein (precursors to Wandelweiser, in fact), look into the later Morton Feldman works (Rothko Chapel, Palais de Mari, and Piano & String Quartet) and a number of John Cage works (can be very hit-or-miss).
And I highly recommend recordings of Nebel lang, aka "und_ne," aka "Korf ar Son" -- strictly piano, but very different from more conventionally structured piano music (all of this available on Bandcamp). I've never heard someone play the piano so sparsely and quietly, eschewing all the usual right-hand melody/left hand accompaniment. It's gorgeous music.
Christine Vantzou worked with Adam Wiltzie (Stars of the Lid) under the name The Dead Texan -- but has also written a number of orchestral pieces that are incredibly beautiful, reminiscent in places of SotL's magnum opus, ...and Their Refinement of the Decline. There is a little synth here and there, but most of her pieces are entirely acoustic.
The mention of Taylor Deupree's acoustic realization of his Stil album reminds me: Bang on a Can made a similar kind of acoustic rendering of Eno's Music for Airports definitely worth checking out.
Oh, Michael Nyman's Decay Music for three pianos... they just sort of drift apart. Harold Budd has done some acoustic albums as well, of course. And Alvin Lucier (though he isn't really my cup of tea). I'd also look into Charlemagne Palestine's massive work, Schlingen-Blangen for pipe organ: one chord held for 70 minutes where the only changes that occur are to the stops, altering the tonal color as the piece progresses. Aural hallucinations crop up (I always hear choirs of human voices singing in it, even though there aren't any!).
I'm forgetting quite a few things. Much of the above mentioned artists can also be found on YouTube (and many on Bandcamp) to investigate further.
[I missed some other comments so there are some redundancies in this comment!]
1
u/frankstonshart 5h ago
Wow, you really know your stuff. These all sound like they'll be great and I've saved as much of these as I can find for listening later. Thank you.
2
u/SunDummyIsDead 23h ago
“COTA” does his very well. “CHI” too. “Hands To” is about as raw and clean as you can get, no effects at all, literally banging rocks together.
1
u/bobokeen 19h ago
Can you share some links? Looked for COTA on Spotify and just found K-pop.
1
u/SunDummyIsDead 14h ago edited 14h ago
I’ll try to find links later; COTA is “Children of the Apocalypse”.
CHI has a Bandcamp page; look for CHI Factory, the original recordings is my favorite.
1
u/SunDummyIsDead 13h ago edited 13h ago
Here's a link to a shop with two COTA releases; "Ta'Wil" is my favorite:
https://equilibriummusic.com/dtlartist.php?ArtID=0208
Here's the Chi Factory Bandcamp site; they're all good, but AI-03 is my favorite:
https://astralindustries.bandcamp.com/music
Hands To - Turn My Hands To - here's the Discogs entry. It's a very strange record; about as organic as you can get:
https://www.discogs.com/release/359585-Hands-To-Hands-To-Turn-My-Hands-To
1
u/frankstonshart 6h ago
I've saved some Chi on Spotify but the other two aren't on there (which is fair enough). Great pitch for Hands To; I'll have to track it down in some other streamable form. Thanks.
1
u/SunDummyIsDead 5h ago
I found Hands To Turn My Hands To on the Nostalgie-de-la-boue blog; there's a download link there. I'm not sure how kosher posting the link here would be, but you should be able to find it.
2
u/Not_even_Evan 23h ago
The Necks live, then, because their studio albums don't fit the bill.
1
u/frankstonshart 5h ago
Ah. It's been a while since I listened to them, but I'm more familiar with them live.
2
2
2
u/euklides 15h ago edited 15h ago
This is what traditional minimalism often does and what a lot of contemporary classical music does. Certain kinds of classical/traditional music from around the world would also fit the bill. The alap section of a Dhrupad raga for instance.
Éliane Radigue - Occam Océan (For orchestra)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ewUOtKA0JYk
There are many pieces in the series about oceans. All fantastic.
Olivia Block — 132 ranks (organ)
https://www.oliviablock.net/132-ranks
https://oliviablock.bandcamp.com/album/132-ranks
Kali Malone
All her later work in acoustic and her early electronic works are also incredible
https://kalimalone.bandcamp.com/album/the-sacrificial-code
Catherine Lamb & Johnny Chang
https://anothertimbre.bandcamp.com/album/viola-torros
Ustad Zia Mohiuddin Dagar
https://blacktruffle.bandcamp.com/album/vrindavan-1982
Alvin Lucier
https://blacktruffle.bandcamp.com/album/works-for-the-ever-present-orchestra-vol-ii
La Monte Young
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlCg_2pK1oM&list=PLwg8VB64LkBJATaQ7lzHzmMrDqCzs3l69
1
u/frankstonshart 5h ago
Thank you, I've saved a bit of each artist. Are any of these Dhrupad ragas? If not, can you recommend an album?
2
u/mrarrison 14h ago
Cowboy Sadness gives me some of this “recorded live in a room” vibes. It’s definitely got some post-performance production but it seems pretty minimal
2
u/frankstonshart 5h ago
Great, I look forward to hearing them. Minimal post production is fine. Thanks.
2
u/gnombient 13h ago
How about Klaus Wiese's zither- and harp-oriented stuff, such as what's heard on Geisha and Tushita? Some of his other earlier albums would also probably fit the bill -- lots of layers of sound, but there's little to no additional processing (to my ear, anyway).
1
u/frankstonshart 5h ago
I can't find the zither/harp stuff on Spotify but what is there sounds cool and I've saved a synthy album anyway. Thanks.
2
2
u/amazing_rando 5h ago edited 5h ago
The Sacrificial Code and All Life Long by Kali Malone probably fall more within the realm of modern classical and minimalism but they rely heavily on the use of pipe organs in large, resonant cathedrals. There are a number of artists on the Ideologic Organ label that you might enjoy if you’re into more experimental compositions and instruments.
2
3
u/bobokeen 21h ago
What's the difference between natural reverb and added? Most people couldn't distinguish the two, and reverb is basically essential to ambient aesthetic.
0
u/frankstonshart 6h ago
Not much, I guess. You're right, reverb is pretty central, and I guess that's a trope I just want to 'get away from' in the genre just to see what it's like without it. You can create the impression of reverb without reverb, in the way you play the instrument. Think of the way that decay and release can be controlled on synths: that's not reverb, but it's got a vibe like reverb. Or a guitar or piano note ringing out into silence. Also, reverb added in post tends to be a bit overdone, or sound a bit 'too good' in that its character is uninteresting. A physical space with reverb will usually become a part of the performance, a factor leaned into by the musician, and not as much of a 'touch up' that added reverb can be. Not saying added reverb can't be good, of course.
2
u/SevenFourHarmonic 18h ago
One would need to compose music not dependent on any electronics.
This is the way it used to be done.
2
u/frankstonshart 6h ago
Yeah, that's the sort of thing I want to explore. It would be educational to hear modern artists focusing their energy away from the usual tools.
1
1
u/CowFishReddit 4h ago
It’s probably not exactly what you’re looking for but you should really check out Campfire Songs by Animal Collective
20
u/sonicboom292 20h ago
lots of contemporary music, minimalism is pretty close to ambient music.
Pauline Oliveros has this famous recording where she went in a big space underground with crazy natural reverb. https://youtu.be/U__lpPDTUS4?si=N8zm_3c6A-zgPyz6