There’s a Thin Line Between Noise and Ambient

But what happens when you double down?

It can be informative to note that sometimes the difference between ambient music and noise music is simply a matter of volume. Played loud, a piece is a barrage; played quietly, it’s background ambience. But what happens when that background ambience is itself pitched down several notches. Titled “Inwards [005]” and tagged #silence, this piece by the Greek musician who goes by Simpsi begins so quietly you might think it’s entirely #silent. The music slowly makes itself somewhat apparent. It sounds like flowing, gently warping sine waves buffeted by some natural resource, like a passing breeze. And yet it’s in fact so quiet that its actual contours remain quite out of reach. It’s like the sound of a UFO landing just out of sight. Or maybe nothing is there at all.

Track originally posted at soundcloud.com/simpsimusic. Simpi is Panagiotis Simsiroglou of Athens, Greece.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *