Contemporary ambient is best described as a set of listening practices rather than a fixed sound genre

By the 2010s–2020s, ambient has ceased to name a sound and instead describes a ‘set of parameters for, or practices of listening.’ It now encompasses modular synthesis (Caterina Barbieri, Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith), pipe organ drone (Kali Malone), medieval composition (Sarah Davachi), shoegaze-influenced drone (Grouper), and politically engaged sound (Terre Thaemlitz). The common thread is not texture or tempo but the environmental/attentional mode of listening. A learner who defines ambient by sound alone will misclassify most contemporary work.

Examples

Grouper uses chorus-heavy guitar drone. Kali Malone uses pipe organ. Caterina Barbieri uses modular synthesis. Terre Thaemlitz uses ambient as political tool. All are contemporary ambient.

Assessment

A learner says ‘ambient means slow, soft, electronic music.’ Provide three counterexamples from the article that falsify that definition, and offer a corrected definition.