New Age music is peaceful music of various styles that is intended to create relaxation and positive feelings. Post-rock is a genre of Alternative rock characterized by the use of Musical instruments commonly associated with Rock music, but using Rhythms Celtic fusion is an umbrella term for modern music which incorporates influences considered "Celtic" or Celtic music which incorporates modern music A symphonic poem or tone poem is a piece of Orchestral Music in one movement in which some extramusical program provides a narrative or illustrative element Biomusic is a form of Experimental music which deals with sounds created or performed by living things Some but not all new age music is associated with New Age beliefs. New Age ( New Age Movement and New Age Spirituality) is a Social Collective Phenomenon and a Spiritual Nature New Age music is typically relaxing and inspiring, and is often used by listeners for such activities as yoga, massage, meditation, reading, as a method of stress management^[1] or to create a peaceful atmosphere in their home or other environments. Yoga ( Sanskrit: योग, IAST: yóga, joːgə refers to traditional physical and mental disciplines originating in India, to the Meditation is a mental discipline by which one attempts to get beyond the conditioned "thinking" mind into a deeper state of relaxation or awareness Stress management encompasses techniques intended to equip a person with effective coping mechanisms for dealing with psychological stress, with stress defined as a person's

The harmonies in new age music are generally modal, consonant, or include a drone bass. In Music, a scale is an ordered series of Musical intervals which along with the key or tonic, define the pitches However mode In tonal music, a pedal point (also pedal tone pedal note organ point or pedal is a Sustained tone typically in the bass, during which at least one The melodies are often repetitive, to create a hypnotic feeling, and sometimes recordings of nature sounds are used as an introduction to a track or throughout the piece. Songs of up to 30 minutes duration are not uncommon.

New Age music includes both electronic forms, frequently relying on sustained pads or long sequencer-based runs, and acoustic forms, featuring instruments such as flutes, piano, acoustic guitar and a wide variety of non-western acoustic instruments. Electronic music is music that employs Electronic musical instruments and Electronic Music technology in its production A synth pad is a sustained tone generated by a Synthesizer, often employed for background harmony and atmosphere in much the same fashion that a string section is often used A music sequencer (also MIDI sequencer or just sequencer) is software or hardware designed to create and manage computer-generated music Acoustic music refers to music that solely or primarily uses instruments which produce sound through entirely acoustic means as opposed to Electronic means In many cases, high-quality digitally sampled instruments are used instead of natural acoustic instruments. In Music, sampling is the act of taking a portion or sample, of one Sound recording and reusing it as an instrument or element of a new recording Vocal arrangements were initially rare in New Age music but as it has evolved vocals have become more common, especially vocals featuring Sanskrit, Tibetan or Native American-influenced chants, or lyrics based on mythology such as Celtic legends or the realm of Faerie. Sanskrit (sa संस्कृता वाक् saṃskṛtā vāk, for short sa संस्कृतम् saṃskṛtam) is a historical Definitions of Tibet See also Definitions of Tibet Name In English The English word Tibet, like the word for Tibet in most European For indigenous peoples in the United States other than Hawaii and Alaska see also Native Americans in the United States. The word mythology (from the Greek grc μυθολογία mythología, meaning "a story-telling a legendary lore" Celtic mythology is the Mythology of Celtic polytheism, apparently the Religion of the Iron Age Celts Like other Iron Age

History

New Age music has its basis in the work of 1960s European and American electronic and acoustic musicians exploring music for creating expanded consciousness. In the late 1970s, music began to be recorded specifically for the purposes of meditation and relaxation. During the early 1980s, the term "New Age music" was introduced more widely to the public by radio stations and then by music retailers and some record companies, as a marketing tag applied to a variety of non-mainstream instrumental music styles. Radio stations in major markets (such as "the Wave" in Los Angeles) defined themselves as "New Age", while playing some New Age music and using nature sounds in their station-id's, yet those stations also heavily featured styles musically and philosophically unrelated to New Age music, for example, Smooth Jazz. Smooth jazz, also sometimes referred to as new adult contemporary music is generally described as a genre of music that utilizes instruments (and at times improvisation The first true New Age radio station is the U. S. was KLRS (Colours) in Santa Cruz, CA with a non-stop playlist of New Age music and is considered the first New Age station in the world. Most major cable television networks have channels that play music without visuals, including channels for New Age music, such as for example, the "Soundscapes" channel on Music Choice. Music Choice is a US company that programs music and produces music-related content for digital cable cell phones and cable modem subscribers in the US . . New Age Music is designed to alter your state of consciousness, in the same manner as alcohol or drugs. "Stress Management" techniques that employ New Age techniques, are practicing the same techniques in a lot of cases as "grounding exercises" [[1]]practiced by Wiccan's or witches. These excersises are designed to "center" your inner self to the earth, and remove you from this world, into a more "peaceful world", i. e. altered consciousness, visualizing [(creative visulization)][2] somewhere else, emptying ones self, and is commonly used to seek "spirit guides". It is eastern in origin, practiced by shamans, witches, and people who do Yoga. It is commonly taught in schools, and big corporations, especially upper management. It is an Occult practice, when used with these techniques.

Definitions

Etherea (Colin Ross)

An example of new age music, performed on recorder and featuring ambient chirping birds. The recorder is a woodwind Musical instrument of the family known as Fipple Flutes ' or internal duct flutes &mdash whistle-like Bird vocalization includes both Bird calls and bird songs In non-technical use bird songs are the bird sounds that are melodious to the human ear 3 min 8 sec

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New Age music is defined more by the feeling it produces rather than the devices used in its creation; it may be electronic or acoustic, or a mixture of both. New Age artists range from solo or ensemble performances using Western instruments such as piano, acoustic guitar, flutes, harps and many others, to electronic musical instruments, and Eastern instruments such as sitar, tamboura, tabla; and instruments from all other parts of the world, the human voice singing in languages from all around the world. Western music is the genres of Music originating in the Western world (Europe and its former colonies including Western classical music, American An electronic musical instrument is a Musical instrument that produces its sounds using Electronics. Asian music encompasses numerous different musical styles originating from a large number of Asian cultures

Some New Age music artists openly embrace New Age beliefs, while other artists and bands have specifically stated that they do not consider their own music to be New Age, even when their work has been labeled as such by record labels, music retailers, or radio broadcasters. New Age ( New Age Movement and New Age Spirituality) is a Social Collective Phenomenon and a Spiritual Nature

There is a significant overlap of sectors of New Age music, Ambient music, electronica, World music, Chillout, spacemusic and others. Ambient music is a Musical genre in which sound is more important than notes Electronica includes a wide range of contemporary Electronic music designed for a wide range The term world music includes Traditional music (sometimes called Folk music or roots music of any culture that are created and played by indigenous musicians Space music, also spelled spacemusic, is an umbrella term used to describe music that evokes a feeling of contemplative spaciousness The two definitions typically used for New Age are:

• New age music with an ambient sound that has the explicit purpose of aiding meditation and relaxation, or aiding and enabling various alternative spiritual practices, such as meditative healing, chakra auditing, and so on. Chakra ( Pali: chakka Tibetan: khorlo Malay: cakera is a Sanskrit term meaning Circle or Wheel The proponents of this definition are almost always musicians who create their music expressly for these purposes. ^[2] Prominent artists who create New Age music expressly for healing or meditation include Aeoliah, Deuter, Deepak Chopra, and Steven Halpern. Aeoliah is a German New Age musician Aeoliah (pronounced Ay-oh-lee-ya was born and raised in Germany until he was ten when he immigrated to the US with his parents in 1960 Deuter is a German New Age instrumentalist and recording artist known for his meditative style that blends Eastern and Western musical styles Steven Halpern is a New Age musician Halpern played trumpet and guitar on the New York City jazz scene in the 1960s but became disenchanted with this scene and

• Music which is found in the New Age section of the record store. ^[2] This is largely a definition of practicality, given the breadth of music that is classified as "new age" by retailers who are often less interested in finely-grained distinctions between musical styles than are fans of those styles. Music which falls into this definition is usually music which cannot be easily classified into other, more common definitions, but often includes well-defined music such as Worldbeat and Flamenco guitar. In Popular music, worldbeat refers to any style of music which fuses folk music, often from non-traditional sources (essentially outside the Appalachian folk Flamenco is a Spanish term that refers both to a musical genre known for its intricate rapid passages and a dance genre characterized by its audible footwork Musicians as varied as George Winston, Dean Evenson, Will Ackerman, Suzanne Ciani, Jim Brickman, Enya, B-Tribe, Deep Forest, Jean Michel Jarre, Enigma, Kitaro, Yanni, Oscar Lopez, Mike Oldfield and Steve Roach are typically classified as New Age despite their wildly divergent musical styles. George Winston (born 1949) is an American pianist who was born in Michigan, and grew up in Miles City Montana, and Mississippi Dean Evenson is a New Age musician and producer He plays several instruments including the flute percussion synthesizer and keyboards William Ackerman is a Grammy winning guitarist and composer of acoustic -based instrumental Music. Suzanne Ciani (b June 4, 1946) is an Italian American pioneer in Electronic music and one of the few women to blaze a trail in the genre Jim Brickman (born November 20, 1961) is an American Composer and Pianist. Enya (born Eithne Patricia Ní Bhraonáin on May 17 1961, Gaoth Dobhair, County Donegal, Ireland, sometimes presented in B-Tribe or the "The Barcelona Tribe of Soulsters" is a musical project of the German-born musician and producer Claus Zundel ("The Brave" also known Deep Forest is a musical group consisting of two French musicians Eric Mouquet and Michel Sanchez. Jean-Michel André Jarre (born 24 August 1948, Lyon) is a French Composer, performer and Music producer. Enigma is German electronic musical project founded by Michael Cretu, David Fairstein and Frank Peterson in 1990 Kitarō (喜多郎 (born Masanori Takahashi (高橋正則 Takahashi Masanori) is a Grammy award-winning Japanese Musician, Composer Yanni (born Yiannis Hrysomallis (Γιάννης Χρυσομάλλης classical transcription Giannis Chrysomallis) on November 14, 1954 in Oscar Lopez (born 1954 in Santiago Chile) is a Chilean Canadian folk guitarist Michael Gordon Oldfield (born 15 May 1953 in Reading, Berkshire) is an English Multi-instrumentalist Musician Steve Roach (born 1955 in La Mesa California) is an American Ambient music composer and performer It also includes expressly spiritual New Age music as a subset.

Influences and themes

From 1968 to 1973, German musicians such as Holger Czukay (a former student of Karlheinz Stockhausen), Popol Vuh and Ashra released a number of works featuring experimental sounds and textures build with "electronics", synthesizers, acoustic and electric instruments; their music, referred to as Cosmic music can be regarded as Ambient or New Age, depending on point of view. Holger Czukay (born 24 March 1938) is a German musician probably best known as a co-founder of the Krautrock group Can. Popol Vuh was a German Krautrock band founded by pianist and keyboardist Florian Fricke in 1970 together with Holger Trulzsch (percussion and Frank Fiedler Ash Ra Tempel are one of the most notable German Krautrock groups of the 1970s and are a notable example of cosmic or Space rock. Krautrock is a generic name for the Experimental music scene that appeared in Germany in the late 1960s and gained popularity throughout the 1970s especially in Britain Later Brian Eno defined the styles and patterns of Ambient in a way that easily merged and co-developed with the styles of many musicians such as Robert Fripp, Jon Hassell, Laraaji, Harold Budd, Cluster, Jah Wobble from late 1970s to today. Brian Peter George St John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno (born 15 May 1948 commonly known as Brian Eno (ˈiːnoʊ is an English Musician, producer Robert Fripp (born 16 May 1946 in Wimborne Minster, Dorset, England) is a Guitarist, Composer and a Record Jon Hassell (born March 22, 1937) is an American Trumpet player and Composer. Laraaji is an American Musician. Born Edward Larry Gordon in 1943 in Philadelphia, he studied violin piano trombone and voice in his early years Harold Budd ( May 24 1936) is an American ambient / Avant-garde composer Cluster is a German experimental musical group who influenced the development of contemporary popular electronic and Ambient music. Jah Wobble (born John Wardle, in Stepney in 1958 is an English Bass guitarist singer Poet and Composer.

Other influences are early electronic music, classical music, ethnic music and world music. Classical music is a broad term that usually refers to mainstream music produced in or rooted in the traditions of Western liturgical and Secular music Traditional music is the term now used in the terminology of Grammy Awards for what used to be called " folk music " The term world music includes Traditional music (sometimes called Folk music or roots music of any culture that are created and played by indigenous musicians The minimalism of Terry Riley and Steve Reich (Indian influenced in the former case) can also be cited as an influence, along with artists like Tony Conrad, LaMonte Young who utilized drones since the early 1960s. Minimalist music is an originally American genre of experimental or Downtown music named in the 1960s based mostly in consonant harmony, steady Terry Riley (born June 24 1935) is an American composer associated with the minimalist school WikipediaWikiProject Composers#Lead section --> Stephen Michael Reich (born October 3 India, officially the Republic of India (भारत गणराज्य inc-Latn Bhārat Gaṇarājya; see also other Indian languages) is a country Tony Conrad (born Anthony S Conrad in 1940 in Concord New Hampshire is an American Avant-garde Video artist Experimental filmmaker, musician/composer La Monte Thornton Young (born October 14 1935) is an American Composer and musician The 1960s decade refers to the years from the beginning of 1960 to the end of 1969 Connected to the creation of New Age music is the resurgence of interest in Gregorian Chant during the second half of the 20th century. History Gregorian chant was organized codified and notated mainly in the Frankish lands of western and central Europe during the 12th and 13th centuries with later additions The twentieth century of the Common Era began on Now, New Age music has branched out and also includes chanting of "spiritual" or ancient languages, and includes, but is not limited to Sanskrit, Latin, Gaelic and Hebrew. Popular artists in this genre include: Krishna Das, Deva Premal, and Bhagavan Das. Krishna Das may refer to Krishna Das (singer Krishna Das (archer, Arjuna Award winner 1981 Deva Premal (born in 1970 in Germany) is a Musician known for her meditative New Age music, which puts ancient Bhagavan Das may refer to Bhagavan Das (theosophy, 1869-1958 Bhagavan Das (yogi, born 1945

The solo ECM performances by artists like Keith Jarrett (especially his record The Köln Concert), Ralph Towner (especially his records Blue Sun and Solo Concert) and Lyle Mays's first eponymous album, are usually thought to be an influence on Ambient/New Age music. ECM (Edition of Contemporary Music is a Record label founded in Munich, Germany in 1969 by Manfred Eicher. Keith Jarrett (born May 8, 1945 in Allentown Pennsylvania) is an American Pianist and Composer. The Köln Concert is a Recording released through ECM by the renowned Jazz Pianist Keith Jarrett, who performed solo Ralph Towner (b Chehalis Washington, March 1, 1940) is an American acoustic Guitarist He also plays Piano, Synthesizer Lyle Mays (born November 27, 1953) is an American jazz pianist from Wausaukee Wisconsin.

The acoustic solo and group performances by the early Windham Hill artists such as Andy Summers, William Ackerman, Alex de Grassi, George Winston, and Michael Hedges were called New Age for much of the last 30 years. Windham Hill Records was an Independent record label, founded in 1976 by Guitarist and Carpenter William Ackerman and his then-wife Andy Summers (born Andrew James Somers 31 December 1942) is an English guitarist and composer best known for his work in The Police William Ackerman is a Grammy winning guitarist and composer of acoustic -based instrumental Music. Alex de Grassi is an American Grammy Award -nominated Fingerstyle guitarist George Winston (born 1949) is an American pianist who was born in Michigan, and grew up in Miles City Montana, and Mississippi Michael Hedges ( December 31, 1953 &ndash December 2, 1997) was an American acoustic Guitarist born in Sacramento

Popular themes in New Age music include space and the cosmos, environment and nature, wellness in being, harmony with one's self and the world, dreams or dreaming and journeys of the mind or spirit. Dreams are the images sounds thoughts and feelings experienced while Sleeping, particularly strongly associated with Rapid eye movement sleep. Titles of New Age songs are frequently descriptive: examples include Principles of Lust (Enigma), Shepherd Moons (Enya), Straight' a Way To Orion (Kitaro), and One Deep Breath (Bradley Joseph). " Principles of Lust " is a 1991 song created by the musical project Enigma. Enigma is German electronic musical project founded by Michael Cretu, David Fairstein and Frank Peterson in 1990 This article is about the album by Enya For the astronomical bodies see the article on Planetary rings "Book Of Days" redirects here for other Enya (born Eithne Patricia Ní Bhraonáin on May 17 1961, Gaoth Dobhair, County Donegal, Ireland, sometimes presented in Kitarō (喜多郎 (born Masanori Takahashi (高橋正則 Takahashi Masanori) is a Grammy award-winning Japanese Musician, Composer One Deep Breath is Bradley Joseph 's fifth album (see 2002 in music) Bradley Joseph (born 1965 is an American Composer, arranger, and producer of contemporary instrumental music.

Alternative terms to "New Age"

As described in this article, the borders of this genre are not well defined; however music retail stores will include artists in the "New Age" category even if the artists themselves use different names for their style of music. Here are some other terms used for "New Age".

Contemporary Instrumental

This is a term that may be used most often, and can include artists that do not use electronic instruments in their music, such as solo pianist David Lanz. David Lanz (born June 28, 1950 in Seattle Washington) is a Grammy-nominated New Age pianist ^[3] Similarly, pianists such as Yanni ^[4] and Bradley Joseph ^[5] both use this term as well, although they use keyboards to incorporate layered orchestral textures into their compositions. Yanni (born Yiannis Hrysomallis (Γιάννης Χρυσομάλλης classical transcription Giannis Chrysomallis) on November 14, 1954 in Bradley Joseph (born 1965 is an American Composer, arranger, and producer of contemporary instrumental music. A keyboard instrument is any musical instrument played using a Musical keyboard. An orchestra is an instrumental ensemble, usually fairly large with string brass woodwind sections and possibly a percussion section as well

Adult Contemporary

This term, used by Jim Brickman^[6]; it is a type of radio format that plays mainstream contemporary pop music, excluding hip hop and hard rock; this music is intended more for adults than teens. Adult contemporary music, frequently abbreviated AC, refers to styles of popular music that ranges from "lush Sixties pop often vocal -based and rooted in Jim Brickman (born November 20, 1961) is an American Composer and Pianist. Pop music as a genre features a noticeable rhythmic element catchy melodies and hooks, a mainstream style and conventional structure Hip hop is a cultural movement which developed in New York City in the 1970s primarily among African Americans and Latinos. Hard rock (also referred to as heavy rock) is a variation of Rock music which has its earliest roots in mid-1960s garage and Psychedelic rock

Contemporary Adult Instrumental

This term was suggested by Steven Halpern in the June 1999 issue of New Age Voice as an alternative catch-all label for music which is classified by retailers as "New Age", but which is not expressly spiritual in nature.

References

See also

• Ambient music
• Biomusic
• Meditation music
• List of new age and new instrumental musicians
• Space music
• World music

External links

• New Age Reporter comprehensive online resource of music reviews and radio play rankings of New Age, Contemporary Instrumental, Acoustic, Electronic, Celtic, Ambient, Meditative, Native American, World CD releases that fall outside the coverage of areas of Billboard. Ambient music is a Musical genre in which sound is more important than notes Biomusic is a form of Experimental music which deals with sounds created or performed by living things Meditation music includes Music played with or listened to during Meditation, music the performance of which is a meditation or music which is meditative This is a list of New Age music and/or New instrumental music Artists with articles on Wikipedia New age music is broadly defined as relaxing even Space music, also spelled spacemusic, is an umbrella term used to describe music that evokes a feeling of contemplative spaciousness The term world music includes Traditional music (sometimes called Folk music or roots music of any culture that are created and played by indigenous musicians

• rec.music.newage resource Vast Newage resource site.
• New Age Music? What is it? Paul Adams' New Age Music article.
• Discography of New Age, Electronic, and Ambient Music