Ambient music is music that is designed to be part of the environment. It focuses on sonic texture rather than
composition or
rhythm. Ambient music typically lacks variety but has developed a set of distinct sub-genres. As a genre it originated in the
United Kingdom at a time when new sound-making devices such as the
synthesizer, were being introduced to a wider market.
Brian Eno was an early pioneer of ambient music. Its popularity peaked in the early 1990s.
The Orb and
Aphex Twin gained commercial success with ambient tracks. Ambient compositions are often quite lengthy, much longer than more popular, commercial forms of music. Some pieces can reach a half an hour or more in length.