Question about - Ambient Downtempo Composing

[Old Iron Giant]

Lately iv been hooked on Listing to this Genre of music, and earlier today I thought about record a few of my own tracks.

Id like to know what's the best setup for this style?
The strategy I was thinking about doing, was to record a downtempo Loop with my Sampler. Then latch the loop, and play it on repeat- wile adding some spacey pads and SFX's with a Rompler/ Voice synth. Maybe add some heavenly distorted vocals, using a Vocoder.

Would any of you suggest something different? I'm vary much a novice at Composing music, and would love any Opinions, or Advice. I'd like to learn as much as possible.

Gear list I plan on using, in this project:
- Alesis QS7.1
- Alesis QuadraVerb
- Emu ESI32
- Redsound DarkStarXP2 *vocoder*
If there is something in my gear-list, you feel would be better suited for this project, than what I have listed.
Please let me know.

My inspiration

Id like to note that I'm doing this for fun, and nothing of the serious sort.
I have no plans on giving this project a name, nor-any of the tracks.
This is purely for my own enjoyment- Like most of my Audio work

[ned-ryarson]

ambient music is generally about 'pad' sounds..

spectrasonics atmosphere or the newer omnisphere would be a great place to start..

though i find using a polyphonic VA synth with plenty of verb and delay does the trick

[Stab Frenzy]

I'd also recommend adding in some samples of stuff, anything really, field recordings are good. Loop them (big loops, like 20 seconds or so) and process the h**l out of them. They can help give you that extra little something to create a bit of interest in the sea of reverb.

[ned-ryarson]

yeah.. and dont be scared of noise. i like mixing noise wit other waves to create atmospheric pads..

[shaft9000]

it depends entirely on the era you draw inspiration from.

30's-60's - must have a tape machine. and some microphones. and plate and/or spring reverb. that's it.

70's - must have an analog delay, preferably tape-based but a BBD device can go a long way also.
an analog phaser and/or flanger is characteristic of lots of things done in this period.
reverb was not used very much, since it 'swamps' LPs and reduces clarity under the compressed bandwidth of vinyl.

80's - old Lexicon or Eventide reverb a must. DX7 or similar FM synth for pads and 'tinkly bell sounds' and such. gritty old 8 or 12-bit sampler a must.

late 90's onward - can be done entirely ITB. You don't have to spend a cent if you already have MIDI on your computer, since there are hundreds of free VSTs that will do the job.

[Old Iron Giant]

Thankyou for the quick responses
Hardware wise- It sounds like I have everything I need for this project.

[madtheory]

Your Quadraverb is a great tool, for any genre.

[LucB]

IMHO you shouldn't make this too much of an exercise in style. What i mean by this is that you may aim towards pads as far as ambient goes, and slow beat as far as down-tempo goes, but you shouldn't necessarily make a direct reference to anything previously made in that style in the choice of gear or sounds you favor.

Personally, i'd add a little doom to the whole thing, like very slow and clunky beat loops to lay a certain pacing. Maybe some guitar drones too. You know, like Sunn O))), but with drums. hehehe.

[ned-ryarson]

squarepushers great at melodic ambient, though its not downtempo

[hageir]

LucB is right,
there are no "rules"..

Just do what you think is ambient

I just sit down, turn off the lights, press record, close my eyes (and listen), start playing and slowly space out..
I use a lot of guitarpedals (loopers, analog and digital delays mostly and some other stuff)
Check it out,
it's mostly based around my Rhodes and pedals:

Golden Line:
http://www.myspace.com/ghbsgoldenline

(Better quality):
http://www.ghb-rgb.com/

[Joey]

I just did an all ambient track with just my ms20 and MF102... its really about what you want to do with your synth...

was my first attempt at ambient as well.

there is no 'proper' setup for any style of music IMO

[Old Iron Giant]

I just did an all ambient track with just my ms20 and MF102... its really about what you want to do with your synth...

was my first attempt at ambient as well.

there is no 'proper' setup for any style of music IMO

True statement,
After some thought on this topic-
I chose to use a VoiceSynth/Sampler setup, over analog- simply for a more "full-body Pad, Orchestra, & SFX" sound.

Example-
imagine "Adagio for strings" with a mix of Ambient, & minimal percussion.

[solaristica]

The one thing I would not use would be the "vocoder"... Can't see vocals in a purely ambient track... but then again, no rules... What "ambient" music you've been listening to? Classic a la Eno (DX7, tape delays, and tape loops), Robert Rich-like (big modular synth, gigantic reverb units),or something more like The Sight Below (guitar drones and effects...) ?

Don't forget to post your final product...

Sames goes for Joey who said that he just finished his first attempt at this...

[Jinsai]

"Ambient" and "Downtempo" are pretty loosely-defined genres. I suggest you decide what this means, and write down or otherwise document what your "rules" are.

As for gear, the one thing I would do is AVOID getting exactly the same gear the other people making this music have. Otherwise it becomes too easy to dial up the same kinds of sounds and make derivative emulations of the things you're already listening to.

You can make music with anything. Get gear you like or understand and go for the vibe/mood/feel/whatever you want. That's what will make YOUR take on "ambient downtempo" interesting.

[nvbrkr]

http://hypermammut.sourceforge.net/paulstretch/

This app might give you some ideas.

In general, I've found out that people who are into ambient material tend to gravitate over time towards the type of soundscapes that aren't necessarily just chords played on a synth. For example, a feedbacking microphone with reverb and some additional processing can be a beautiful "lead instrument" for ambient. Nothng prevents you from making ambient soundscapes with monosynths either.

DAW editing is your best friend in these styles of music.