Ambient is the de-emphasis of traditional melody, rhythm, and form and the emphasis and exploration of sonic characteristics such as timbre and texture.

Ambient is a deceptively simple style of music and whilst it is generally possible for anyone to make it, the trick is to make memorable ambient - and there lies the difficulty. Making ambient requires a different set of listening skills - deep listening, as coined by Pauline Oliveros. Focus on areas that most people don’t and bring those elements to the front using the recording process

Start by listening to ambient music you like. Listen very carefully. Then listen some more. There's no right or wrong way to create. There are people who make ambient music with guitars and digital delays or synthesizers and lots of reverb or people who use field recordings processed in post production. It is generally repetitive and slow moving, like a meditation.

Brian Eno is keen to embrace a sense of “doubt and uncertainty” and I can support that. My compositions often start just with a simple melodic idea. Other parts spring from there, often as the result of experimentation — which leads to happy and not-so-happy accidents!

For me the world of Techno and Acid is just as important as the world of Ambient and Drone - they all come from the same place. It’s all music in which to lose yourself. A Techno record can have just as much impact as an Ambient record. Removing the kick from a Techno record in a club just for a minute can have as much impact as a deep Ambient track - and I find that very exciting.

Ambient, and drone even more so, is less about the melody, rhythm, or compositional structure and more about the atmosphere and the timbre. The main tools are sound design (finding the best combination of timbres), lush reverb, and modulation to introduce subtle variations.

Timbre

Tone and timbre are really important in Ambient music. Sounds generally develop over longer time spans so it is important for the sound to remain interesting by use of filter sweeps, LFO, LowFi, and interactions with other pitches.

Brian Eno said that Ambient music "is intended to induce calm and a space to think" - it should have enough detail that you can actively listen to it without getting bored, but not so much that you can't ignore it whilst it's playing.

Play with extreme contrasts in volume, in texture and timbre. Try to create a song where each track uses some form of heavy distortion. Alternatively, compose a track where every sound has a drawn out and soft attack. Then experiment with juxtaposing those two elements within the same song. Experiment with automation of panning, volume, EQ and effects parameters over long periods of time. Experiment with dynamic cross fading between different dynamic layers using the Mod Wheel.
In a particular melodic or harmonic line, consider replacing the instrumentation for that line in one part of your song. For example, if your guitar has a harmony or rhythm part during the first verse, pass that part over to a piano during the second verse.

Layers

In Ambient, the rhythm together with call and response are less used but importantly the layers must work together synchronously - blending together to create more a complete soundscape punctuated by subtle noises such as filtered noise washes or field recordings. Spend some time recording sounds from your home or neighbourhood - and find new ways to include these sounds into your music.

The bass line becomes a deep drone, with the colours of its harmonics being emphasised gradually using filtering or resonators. Try limiting your song to only a few chords, or a few simple melodic phrases. Remember that you still need to keep the music engaging - and hopefully interesting - for the listener!

Tempo

Ambient music in its purest forms usually has no detectable tempo. The music should be thought of as a journey during which some events take place. rather than being structured around a regular tempo with strong beats, the music is punctuated by parts which grow and then fade away leaving a space which is equally important.
Try composing a tune with no discernible meter or tempo. Or try composing in a new time signature such as 7/8 or 5/4

Form

Ambient pieces can be very long - as long as you want in fact. However, there are usually graduated sections which appear perhaps on top of a common theme such as a long drone. This gradual fading in and out is what gives Ambient its form.Think of a tree growing with branches appearing and finally leaves sprouting which may flutter in the wind.

Try working with a more simple or a more complex musical form. Try creating static tracks - tracks that repeat, unchanged for long periods of time. These contrast well with the other tracks that might be changing around them. Sometimes, it is useful to disrupt expectations in your music because it can cause the listener to sit up and take notice.

Space

Ambient music almost always uses spatial characteristics such as stereo spread (the space between your speakers) and perhaps surround sound, delay (for distinct repeats), reverberation, as well as pitch or spectral space (the distance between a low note and a high note, or a band-passed sound and a broadband sound).

Think carefully about mix depth to avoid two-dimensional pieces.

• To bring sounds to the foreground - louder, brighter (boost HF content), dryer or subject to rapid changes

• To send sounds to the background - quieter, darker, more reverberant.

When writing think about where each element should be placed. Draw them in a placement box

Pauline Oliveros - Deep Listening