Get them sampled into software like Ableton Live or another DAW, or into a piece of kit like an Elektron Octatrack or Akai MPC sampler and sequencer, and begin arranging them in chromatic mode or as one-shot samples. To approach atmosphere in this way, consider various sound sources: your own tunes, found sound, samples, anything really. Like Schaeffer and Stockhausen before him, Lopatin creates dense atmospheres of collaged sound, turbocharged with the manic energy made possible by digital music software. This works to give the overall mix some interesting, grainy driven delay artifacts-the kind of sounds you might hear as you drift through abandoned places. It sounds cool on its own, but what we did with DDLY is use the Grain Delay and pitch it up to +11.0 st., while turning up the mix to 80% and setting the delay time to 1/64T. In the clip below, we work with negative space in a tune that features percussion and synthesizer pads.
And what sounds there are might well be coated in echoes and reverb. Well, you could record those sounds on sight, or you could produce music that makes ample use of negative space. Maybe you’re from Detroit, and you want to capture the post-industrial sounds of abandoned factories and buildings with your music. Think about recording found sounds from these places, or locating some online. To partially recreate a space with music, or simply create tunes inspired by places, there are several strategies. The analogue delay-80% wet, 41% trash, and set to 1/2 delay time-adds some more delay flourishes to the breathy hi hats, while the Grain Delay pitches some of the synth notes down to -10.3 st., giving the ambient pad a darker hue.Īn artist like Burial does something similar with sounds inspired by places or spaces, most notably when he imagines walking rainy UK streets in a post-rave contemplative reverie. But we used DDLY’s two delays to add even more space and tonalities to the sound. The dry version already features some reverb and a little delay on one of the tracks. And you’ll probably need to do some sampling of, say, underwater environments, and then heavily affect all of these sounds.įor this clip, we used DDLY to add some more atmosphere to the track. If you want to do something with these washes of sounds, that are both distinctive but build toward a monumental whole, you’ll need a few different types of instruments, whether that’s hardware, software, analogue and digital, or some combination. Hopkins has said that the song was written in response to the 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Japan. Around this framework Hopkins weaves gorgeous electronic sounds that sound at times like a jet airplane, weather systems, low-level static, and even waves and underwater sounds. The piano’s notes, spare though they are, create a sort of rhythm, drenched in reverb. Hopkins’ genius on this track, much like ambient forefather Brian Eno-with whom he has worked-is the blending of piano and synthesized textures. A great album from start to finish, the song “Abandon Window” is one of the record’s most moving tracks, transporting the listeners to vistas that are both melancholic and hopeful. Across eight tracks, Hopkins created sounds both rhythmic and tonal. With the 2013 album Immunity, UK-based producer and musician Jon Hopkins created an album rich in various atmosphere.
Below are a few approaches to doing it, whether it’s layering sounds, creating alien soundscapes, collaging and sequencing different elements, or just being inspired by something like an abandoned factory building. Much of it has to do with the instruments used, the melodies, beats, and other sonic and songwriting elements.Īs you can see, there are any number of approaches for creating or even just thinking about atmosphere in music. They know when to pack a song segment with melody and noise, and when to let it breathe. That is, how you fill out the sound, or leave open spaces within it. Or perhaps you want your music to transport listeners into another place, whether that place be real or imagined.Ĭreating an atmosphere can also be about dealing with positive and negative spaces.
Maybe you’re sitting at your laptop and thinking, “I want an atmospheric sound.” Well, that could mean something ambient like Brian Eno to one person, or a type of stratospheric post-rock like Mogwai or Godspeed You! Black Emperor to another. In music, atmosphere can mean many things.