mr dave

hmm interesting topic.

i'd say it's an amalgamation of the views you present.

for myself the background aspect of it is very crucial. for the most part, good ambient music shouldn't feature any real jarring or bombastic elements. it's something i find good to listen to while trying to get to sleep but not necessarily specific to background music, a cinematic score is not necessarily ambient.

i wouldn't call it specific to electronic music either, although it's predominantly made with electronics. generally speaking ambient music that isn't made with electronics usually gets dumped into the 'shoegaze' genre.

i think the idea of the focus being on sounds over notes is spot on. i don't necessarily agree that it's music without distinctive sound though. if anything i think too many musicians are conditioned to perform based on the instrument they use, as in if you pick up a guitar you're 'supposed' to play guitar (ie: chords or riffs or lead).

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