Producer’s Guide

Creating Ambient synth sounds

Ambient music can be linked back to the launch of the first modular synths and synth experimentation/electro-acoustic music by composers and artists such as Brian Eno, Wendy Carlos and Jean-Michel Jarre and bands/collectives such as The BBC Radiophonic Workshop, Tangerine Dream and Kraftwerk. In the ’90s/’00s artists including The Orb, Enigma, Enya, Aphex Twin, Boards of Canada, Omni Trio, Autechre, Burial, Moby, Photek and the KLF fused minimalistic synths, lush FX, samples and textures with beat-driven styles such as House, Techno, Broken Beat, Downtempo and D’n’ B but, rather than focusing on Pop chord progressions and short 3:30 forms, the resulting tracks were often more abstract/experimental, varied in length and focused on deeper atmospherics, darker moods and space for thought, with quirky, processed samples, ‘found sounds’ and vocal loops thrown in.

Ambient synth sounds generally require lots of reverb/processing and often more modulation than Pop/Funk sounds but, as always, there are no hard and fast rules! In this guide we’ll cover making drones and pads, synthesis/processing ideas, discuss analogue vs digital synths and put together an Ambient-style sequence. Here goes…