We are increasingly likely to find ourselves in places with background music. No composers have thought to write for these modern spaces, which represent 30% of our musical experience.
Brian EnoRead
Ambient music must be as ignorable as it is interesting.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Ambient music should create a background atmosphere that is both engaging and unobtrusive.
Brian Eno's quote emphasizes the dual nature of ambient music, which should be intriguing enough to capture listeners' attention yet subtle enough to be overlooked in a casual environment. This reflects the idea that music can serve as both an integral part of an experience and a mere backdrop that enhances the atmosphere without dominating the listener's focus.
Themes
AmbientMusicBackgroundAtmosphereInterestingIgnorable
In practice
Example use cases
During a dinner party, I like to play ambient music as Brian Eno suggests, creating a pleasant backdrop without overshadowing conversations.
More from Brian Eno
All quotes βI think that technology is always invented for historical reasons, to solve a historical problem. But they very soon reveal themselves to be capable of doing things that aren't historical that nobody had ever thought of doing before.
Brian EnoRead
When I first started making ambient music, I was setting up systems using synthesizers that generated pulses more or less randomly. The end result is a kind of music that continuously changes. Of course, until computers came along, all I could actually present of that work was a piece of its output.
Brian EnoRead
People do dismiss ambient music, don't they? They call it 'easy listening,' as if to suggest that it should be hard to listen to.
Brian EnoRead
In the future, you won't buy artists' works; you'll buy software that makes original pieces of 'their' works, or that recreates their way of looking at things. You could buy a Shostakovich box, or you could buy a Brahms box. You might want some Shostakovich slow-movement-like music to be generated. So then you use that box.
Brian EnoRead
The big message of gospel is that you don't have to keep fighting the universe; you can stop, and the universe is quite good to you. There is a loss of ego.
Brian EnoRead
Similar quotes
Rock'n'roll as a genre is different from pop and hip hop: it is about bands, and that for me suggests brotherhood, family, friendship and community.
Steven Van ZandtRead
I know people said I wasn't selling out in America, but that was entirely untrue. We sold out all over the world, and every night I looked out into the fans and those front rows that you're talking about, the tears, the honesty, the inability to not be completely overjoyed because they felt accepted.
Lady GagaRead
With Saint Heron, I really wanted to celebrate and continue to cultivate the community for genre-defying R&B artists.
Solange KnowlesRead
When you work with Ray Charles, Billy Eckstine and Frank Sinatra, and you tell them to jump without a net, you better know what you're talking about. Thank God I was ready for it.
Quincy JonesRead
Without Tony Allen, there would have been no Afrobeat.
Fela KutiRead
In a sense, the music business and I haven't always been the best of bedfellows. Artists often have to fight their corner. Your music goes through these filters of record labels and media, and you're hoping you'll find someone who'll help you get your work into the world.
Annie LennoxRead