Originally posted by Sykonee
And yeah, ambient and New Age tended to go hand-in-hand in the early years, sharing the same synthy attributes and atmosphere. Then New Age got... well, corny, a bit too focused on actual musicianship than simple droning synth sweeps. Least that's the divide between ambient and New Age that I found.
What about everybody else? How would you draw the line between the two genres?
I don't think one can point to a difference in instrumentation, since both ambient and New Age have completely "synthy" forms and completely organic, acoustic ones. It has always seemed to me that ambient has a stronger tendency to warp recordings and samples in a more pronounced way (going all the way back to Brian Eno*) than New Age does, but I could be wrong about that. Perhaps New Age is also more melody-focused than a lot of ambient.
Of course, it's entirely possible that some New Age music belongs under the broad umbrella of "ambient," but I really don't think that all of it does. For an obvious example: Yanni.
* Eno himself had a pretty negative view of New Age music, saying in an interview: "...like any other category of music, eg. 'classical', 'jazz', 'pop' or whatever, of course there is good and bad. In the New Age case, however, there is more bad than good because of the mindless use of electronics that current technology has given birth to - it has become very easy for anyone to produce a tape of blurring noises mixed with 'pretty' sounds and call it New Age. I realise I am partly responsible for this and regret the misunderstanding."
Sykonee
The distinction I found was New Age music has jazz-like elements to it; say, a lute diddling over running water. Though there's a calm, relaxing atmosphere, you still get a sense of an actual musician in that environment, whom you're watching.
Ambient music simply paints a canvas with sound. It makes the listener a part of that environment, rather than a spectator.
(and, gee man, you could'a linked to the thread :p )
SYSTEM-J
I would say the difference is primarily in the attitudes and scene surrounding the music, as opposed to strictly musical attributes. New Age is a "spiritual movement" and New Age music is simply music that embodies or associates itself with New Age beliefs. There is no single musical characteristic you could definitively say all New Age music has that all ambient doesn't, and vice versa.
zyklon-jay
I've always wanted to hit Yanni in the face with a shovel. Man that guy annoys the piss out of me.
Vector A
New Age: music that makes you want to hit its creator in the face with a shovel?
zyklon-jay
Nou makes Ambient no?
Vector A
Yeah, he makes ambient, or used to at least.
zyklon-jay
So the hit in the face with a shovel description remains ambiguous to both genres and therefore can not be used to differentiate one from the other. We are totally like scientists.
Omar Little
so good...
Titanium
I thought something like this is new Age well its new age piano.
lostpsyte
So does anyone have any new age albums they could recommend?
After listening to that mix, it seems like shpongle & the infinity project('s ambient stuff) etc seems to be quite a bit influenced by new age stuff as well as ambient/dub. Which I found interesting.
chode_breath
The difference between the two is like the difference between trance and euro trance/dance. The line is often thin but when it's crossed you'll probably know.
