Brian Eno: How To Make Original Ambient Music - BBC Click

BBC Click's Spencer Kelly finds out how to make constantly changing ambient music using probabilities and complicated maths, from the godfather of the genre, Brian Eno.

Twitter: @bbcclick

[toddharrop]

I think the most important thing he said, the take-away, was that he sets up his generative music-making machine and then goes away to focus on something else. So, as ambient music, it's supposed to sound in the background, and if he notices that some pitch is too loud, plays too often or in the wrong register, then he comes back into the studio to tweak the machine. It's like designing wallpaper. You can only test it by printing a roll and pasting it on a wall. If your eyes get distracted by something then the pattern isn't performing its function. (Please don't think I'm insulting Eno's music by comparing it to wallpaper. It's just an illustrative metaphor, especially since he is or was also a visual artist.)

[dlarge]

This is incredible. Ambient is kinda the only music I tend to like and as a computer scientist seeing how he uses the computer to create these landscapes is truly astounding.

[neila]

The camera dudes need a dose of ambient music to chill the fuck out out. Felt like a sequence from Bourne identity

[soloharmonicsrobj]

Brian Eno is a master at the science of sound. I learned many of my techniques from listening to his music.

[winterkeep]

Love that even Brian Eno names his instruments "little wobbly stars" 🤣 there's humanity in the world 😊

[Outdoorshuntingshooting]

Brian has been working on/towards this system of producing 'music' or whatever you feel like calling it, for many years, why would/should he do what everyone else is doing? I have followed his work from the age of 15 (1980) right through to the present. If you like it, listen, if not, move on. He has been inspired by what came before and he is inspiring whats to come.

[smithfield]

A remarkable musician, he wrote out all the program patches for the Yamaha dx7 no mean feat

[bcj]

I love this. I kind of want to do some partially randomized computer-generated music at some point. He's in deep with that though as shown here. I can take comfort knowing that he names his tracks with goofy descriptions like I do.

[RealmExplorerPortal]

A perfect intersection of art and math

[cimmik]

Can I watch the whole interview somewhere?

[BradCarlMusic]

I have a question: Why does a guy who doesn't know why Eno wouldn't want a "B" get to be the person handling this interview?

[wildersworkshop]

bloody hell, if you're going to interview someone as advanced in their field as Eno, send in someone who at least has a basic grasp on music theory and production techniques.

[brianobush]

Basic probability should be understood by everyone. This is not complicated. The host I believe is a just patronizing Eno.

[travellingshoes]

I'd have loved it if after having inputed all of those parameters the computer just spat out B notes.

[ArtificialJetleg]

Everyone figuring which plug in ia the beat, while Brian Eno has its own scripts!

[MrTomb]

Does anyone know what the software being used at 0:22 is?....

[GreenOilBike]

Would be great to know the thinking behind the numbers.

[CarolynDestruction]

I actually don’t know how to play keyboards, synthesizers, etc, but I use SoundTrap and the keyboards and synthesizers on there. I basically free improvise my music. My project Crocxsin is an ambient, noise, drone project I’ve been working on since I was 19 and I have a lot of people really enjoying my music.

[martinwhile]

It's like when a scientist explains to you what rainbow is, why it is, how it is, and therefore why you should like it.

[sethlawrence]

What is the application he is using? I'm not very familiar with the appearance of interfaces on Apple products