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Ambient Music - How to?! - Printable Version

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Ambient Music - How to?! - Leandro - 11-03-2015

Hello, guys!

I'm a new member of the forum and i registrated myself here to see if you guys can help me...
I've been listening a lot of ''Tycho'', ''Evocativ'' and ''Xerxes'', which are ambient music DJs or bands, i dont know accurately.

So i fall in love with this kind of music and want to start doing something equally...

Whats the first step? What should i do? Can you guys please help me?!

Obs: Sorry the bad english.


Ambient Music - How to?! - Jerome - 11-03-2015

These artists do not represent true ambient music. They do, however, have elements of ambient music in their compositions. For true ambient listen to Brian Eno - Apollo - Atmospheres & Soundtracks.


Ambient Music - How to?! - Leandro - 11-03-2015

Jerome Wrote:These artists do not represent true ambient music. They do, however, have elements of ambient music in their compositions. For true ambient listen to Brian Eno - Apollo - Atmospheres & Soundtracks.

Hey, Jerome! Thanks for answering...

I listened to Brian Eno now that you said it... Ok, its very different from these artists. Brian is more darker and slow, i thought. Good music by the way. but i still prefer that kind that i said, which i think it's ''lounge chillout'' or something like that... Do you have any tips?


Ambient Music - How to?! - Jerome - 11-03-2015

Leandro Wrote:Hey, Jerome! Thanks for answering...

I listened to Brian Eno now that you said it... Ok, its very different from these artists. Brian is more darker and slow, i thought. Good music by the way. but i still prefer that kind that i said, which i think it's ''lounge chillout'' or something like that... Do you have any tips?

Yes, to me your music is more chillout stuff. Do you want to compose this sort of music?


Ambient Music - How to?! - Leandro - 11-03-2015

Yes, i want to start to compose this music... Seems to need a lot of work.


Ambient Music - How to?! - Jerome - 11-03-2015

Yes, there is no easy way to compose decent music. It depends on what you want to spend. At a very minimum you will need a powerful PC, a DAW - Digital Audio Workstation which is really your PC, a programme to record all your different sounds & instruments - (Cubase/Sonar/Pro Tools/Samplitude are just some examples) - a keyboard controller (midi-enabled) to play your sounds (or a midi-enabled guitar controller if you are a guitarist) and some software synthesizers to create the sounds - most DAW's have some of these built in to the program for free to get you started. This all costs money so you should really start by figuring out how much you have to spend first. There are some free DAW's on the web that you can get started with if you don't have any money to begin with. Just as a rough guideline it cost me about 80,000 Euro's to record this - http://www.auralscapes.com Bear in mind that was for studio's session musicians, synthesizers (both real and software), guitars, processing units, monitors, and all the other stuff that goes along with it. Do you play any instruments? If you dont', then you should look at the Native Instruments website and figure out how you are going to get your sounds into the DAW. You are entering a very complicated world and there is a lot to learn. My advice would be to first read up about it or you could waste a lot of money buying stuff you don't need. Paul White's book - The Producer's Manual is a great start.


Ambient Music - How to?! - Leandro - 11-03-2015

Jerome Wrote:Yes, there is no easy way to compose decent music. It depends on what you want to spend. At a very minimum you will need a powerful PC, a DAW - Digital Audio Workstation which is really your PC, a programme to record all your different sounds & instruments - (Cubase/Sonar/Pro Tools/Samplitude are just some examples) - a keyboard controller (midi-enabled) to play your sounds (or a midi-enabled guitar controller if you are a guitarist) and some software synthesizers to create the sounds - most DAW's have some of these built in to the program for free to get you started. This all costs money so you should really start by figuring out how much you have to spend first. There are some free DAW's on the web that you can get started with if you don't have any money to begin with. Just as a rough guideline it cost me about 80,000 Euro's to record this - http://www.auralscapes.com Bear in mind that was for studio's session musicians, synthesizers (both real and software), guitars, processing units, monitors, and all the other stuff that goes along with it. Do you play any instruments? If you dont', then you should look at the Native Instruments website and figure out how you are going to get your sounds into the DAW. You are entering a very complicated world and there is a lot to learn. My advice would be to first read up about it or you could waste a lot of money buying stuff you don't need. Paul White's book - The Producer's Manual is a great start.


Man, you really helped me a lot! nice music you did by the way, congratulations!
Let me ask you something... Can i create this kind of music without using DAWs?
And which DAWs you recommend? I'll take a look.


Ambient Music - How to?! - Leandro - 11-03-2015

Man, you really helped me a lot! And nice music you did by the way, congratulations! Keep going on it...

Let me ask you something, about those DAWs, which one you recommend? I'll look into it.
Can i create this kind of music without using a DAW?


Ambient Music - How to?! - Jerome - 11-03-2015

For someone who is starting out look at Cakewalk's Sonar Artist package. Yes you can create this music without a DAW but it's too complicated to explain. I would recommend getting a good PC and Sonar first. BUT! - before you buy or do anything get a good book on the subject - The Producer's Manual by Paul White should be the very first thing you buy. He is the editor of 'Sound on Sound' magazine. I have a copy of the book and it will explain everything you need to know to get started. You can probably get it cheaper if there is a download version available. Take the time to read about what you are getting involved in first. It will save you a lot of money in the end. Good Luck!


Ambient Music - How to?! - jazzboCR - 11-03-2015

Leandro--First of all, your English is just fine and effective, and will get better over time. Second, that book that Jerome mentioned--couldn't find a download or audiobook version but then I didn't look very hard. It's available from the Usual Suspect for about $30 used + S/H. I'm linking mainly for the reader/user comments (all the folks love it):
http://www.amazon.com/Producers-Manual-Recordings-Project-Studio/dp/0956446019/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1426088682&sr=8-1&keywords=the+producer%27s+manual << They yoke this with 2 other books that may be of interest at a future time. Good luck and please share anything you've made, even unfinished works.