darkraven said:Honestly, I think it's actually pretty straightforward: it all comes from nature. Some people just love the sound of wind rustling through trees, the steady rhythm of rain or distant thunder, the crashing waves on an Atlantic coastline, or those deep, eerie ocean sounds recorded meters below the surface. Or even just the crunch of boots walking through fresh snow, or those NASA space recordings. These things are called field recordings, and they are a massive pillar of ambient music. Tons of people use this stuff to relax, meditate, or even just fall asleep. And thank God, you don't actually have to trek out into the middle of the woods to hear it.
Certain sounds are tied to specific environments, or you can synthesize sounds that evoke those places—whether it's outer space, the deep sea, a dense forest, or a mountain peak.
The same logic applies to darker settings, which falls under "dark ambient"—the exact genre we're debating here. There are textures for every single mood. I mean, I am definitely not putting on bird songs when I'm feeling depressed.
Plus, the definitions of what constitutes "music" are broad enough to include ambience and "organized sound." Whatever. Ambient is pretty much universally accepted as a musical genre now, so that whole argument about it not being music doesn't really hold water.
The digital realm is just... questionable. It’s this weird slice of intelligence that doesn't even exist in the wild. Personally, I live for a good breeze, though I can't stand those harsh gusts or heavy winds... But if my neighbor Mirko Tihodrapić isn't out there mowing the lawn or messing around with a weed whacker—probably because his back is killing him at 120 years old—he’s usually blasting some engine near the gas station just for the hell of it. If he's making all that racket, I can actually hear the rhythm of the wind cutting through it. Like a conversation. These hypnotic repetitions, kind of like waves hitting rocks... or that muffled, vacuum-like sound you get underwater. That’s the natural sound spectrum. Humans dance to it constantly, even when we're standing in an anechoic chamber or just ignoring it in our daily lives. Using digital tools to create or capture sound—trying to grab an ambient vibe that wasn't even recorded—is a whole different ballgame. A total trip. And "white noise"? It’s basically organized sound once we decide to label it that way. But it isn't music. Not until you let it drift through some delay and reverb... then suddenly, it sounds like the wind talking to you. Just digital mimicry of something real...
You can't just conjure energy out of thin air... you can't pull something from nothing. Not even if you start with an idea or some raw information. Without matter to act as a middleman, there’s no influence, no impact. Even with digital intelligence at the helm, once that data hits the machine mechanics, it turns into this heavy, tactile force... which basically...
Honestly, it doesn't even exist...Take that first example. It’s pretty basic, really. If you're someone who can actually spot it—someone whose brain is wired to hate things that break their patterns or mess with their expectations—forcing them to listen to something that just isn't there... it could push them over the edge pretty fast...Maybe even through...It’s all just "noise." Like some kind of psychic driving 2.0. I think I went way too far with this one. It's about that total sense of tactility on a daily basis... where you aren't even noticing anything anymore, not even yourself, because you're just completely drowned out by the constant sound pollution and all the other info dumping everywhere...
I don't even know where to start with this one... just total nonsense.So, we're basically talking about defining tactility by narrowing down the frequency spectrum—both what we can hear and the stuff that’s totally silent, like infra or ultra... But frequencies of what, exactly? We're looking at tuned information, like that whole "440 vs 432" debate, which dictates how things actually function. It’s all happening within "matter," which isn't really anything more than raw information vibrating through empty space. Everything operates on certain frequencies, manifesting itself in these rhythmic, cyclical patterns...
Whatever, man... regardless of how you look at it, maybe things aren't all that great when people get too comfortable, living in this bubble where they don't even feel the need to just head out into the wilderness to clear their heads... Or maybe it is fine. Maybe we're all just subconsciously adjusting to some kind of
space that doesn't even exist. A place where digital wolves—always hungry, always on—live in total chaos, completely immune to being labeled or forced into playing nice for the sake of morality, religion, God, "being a good person," or whatever other bullshit about productivity and social norms... If a gentle wind comes along and wipes everything out, maybe that's just nature's way of showing a little tenderness.