New Age (music)

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Tony Scott 's Music for Zen Meditation (1964) is considered the first New Age recording.

New Age describes a genre in music that is supposed to promote inspiration , relaxation and optimism . New age music is used in yoga , reading, as well as massage and meditation as a stress management method to create a peaceful atmosphere in the home or other setting. It is associated with environmental awareness and the New Age movement. New Age music encompasses acoustic forms with instruments such as flutes , piano , acoustic guitar and instruments from Africa and the Far East, but also electronic forms that often rely on sustained synth pads or long sequence-based runs. Singing arrangements were initially rare, but over time the singing voices have become more and more popular, especially those with Indian- influenced chants, Sanskrit or Tibetan- influenced chants or mythologically oriented texts such as Celtic legends . There is no precise definition of New Age music. A 1987 Billboard Magazine article commented that New Age music may be the most startling, successful, and undefined music that has ever reached public consciousness. Many see the term "New Age music" more as an umbrella term in marketing than to name a genre of music and as part of a complex cultural trend. New Age music has been influenced by a wide range of artists. Tony Scott 's Music for Zen Meditation (1964) is considered to be the first New Age music recording. Paul Horn (starting in 1968 with his album Inside ) was one of the most important pioneers. Irv Teibels Environments -Albumserie (1969-1979) contained natural soundscapes , Tintinnabulationen and Om chants, and one of the first public psycho-acoustic recordings.

Definitions

New Age music is defined by the use and the effect or feeling it creates rather than the instruments and genre used in its creation; it can be acoustic, electronic, or a mixture of both. New Age artists range from solo or ensemble appearances with classical musical instruments such as piano, acoustic guitar, flute or harp to electronic musical instruments and Asian instruments such as sitar , tabla and tanpura . There is also a significant overlap of New Age music with ambient music, classical music, jazz, electronica , world music , chillout , space music, pop music, and others.

The two definitions that are typically associated with New Age music are:

  • Ambient style music , which has the explicit purpose of supporting meditation and relaxation or various alternative spiritual practices, for example alternative medicine , yoga practice, guided meditation and chakra auditing. Naturally, musicians in particular who expressly create their music for these purposes support this definition. To be useful for meditation, the music must have repetitive dynamics and texture without sudden loud chords and improvisations that could disturb the meditator. It is minimalist in its conception and is therefore mostly designed instrumental rather than vocal. Subliminal messages are also used in New Age music, and the use of musical instruments along the natural sounds of animals (such as whales, wolves and eagles) and nature (waterfalls, ocean waves, rain) is also popular. Well-known artists who create new music specifically for healing or meditation are Irv Teibel , Paul Horn , Georg Deuter , Steven Halpern , Paul Winter , Lawrence Ball (who was one of the first in the 1970s to create peaceful music with the sounds of nature combined), Dean Evenson , Karunesh , Krishna Das , Deva Premal , Bhagavan Das and Snatam Kaur .
  • Music that is classified as New Age in record stores. This definition based on marketing practice creates a marketing term rather than a music category - music of almost all styles can fall into this definition, especially if it is otherwise difficult to classify.

Debate and criticism

Andreas Vollenweider , first winner of the Grammy Award for Best New Age Album , rejected the designation of New Age music.
Yanni : "New Age is more of a spiritual than a musical definition."

Steven Hill , 1973 founder of The Hearts of Space , believes that "many of the artists are very sincere and fully committed to the ideas and ways of life of the New Age". Some composers like Kitarō consider their music to be part of their spiritual growth by expressing values ​​and shaping culture. Douglas Groothuis , Professor of Philosophy at the Denver Seminar, explained that rejecting all music called "New Age" means falling victim to a taboo and quarantine mentality, as most of the music is on the "progressive" side belongs to New Age music, where composers necessarily have no New Age worldview.

However, it is often pointed out that "new age music" is a mere popular name that has been successfully selling records. J. Gordon Melton argued that it does not refer to any particular genre of music, but rather to music that is used for therapeutic or other New Age purposes. Kay Gardner believed that the "New Age" label was viewed as an inauthentic commercial intent of so-called New Age music. She commented that "a lot of New Age music is rubbish" and how, with record sales, anyone with a home studio uses some cricket, ocean, or river sounds to guarantee sales. What began as ambient mood music that is related to New Age activity has become a term for a musical conglomerate of jazz, folk, rock, ethnicity, classical music and electronics, including the former and significantly different musical and theoretical movement.

Some believe that Mike Oldfield's 1973 progressive rock album Tubular Bells became one of the first albums to be referred to under the New Age genre description, while others believe that the music of the Greek Composer Vangelis and the general modern jazz-rock fusion illustrate the progressive side of new age music. Other artists include Jean-Michel Jarre (although his electronic excursions precede the term), Andreas Vollenweider , George Winston , Mark Isham , Michael Hedges , Shadowfax , Mannheim Steamroller , Kitarō , Yanni , Enya , Clannad and Enigma .

Many musicians and composers, however, reject the designation of their music as "New Age". When the Grammy Award for Best New Age Album was launched in 1987 , the first winner, Andreas Vollenweider, said: “I have no intention of labeling my music ... It is ridiculous to name everything that is timeless give". Peter Bryant , music director of WHYY-FM (90.9) and host of a New Age program, commented, “I don't care about the term ... New Age has a negative connotation ... In the circles I'm in Come in contact, people who work in music, 'New Age' is almost an insult ”, that it refers to“ very flimsy, dreamy kinds of boring music ... with no substance, form or interest ”and that the term Is "stuck".

“New Age is more of a spiritual definition than a musical one. Some musicians began to dig into New Age music. Now they've all thrown in there. But it would be silly to deal with this particular music. "

- Yanni : On the Definition of New Age Music (1992)

Harold Budd commented: “When I hear the term New Age, I reach for my revolver ... I don't see myself as a music maker just supposed to be in the background. It is embarrassing to be accidentally associated with something that you know is empty in your bowels ”. Vangelis sees it as a style that "gives unskilled people the opportunity to make very boring music". Yanni said, “I don't want to relax the audience, I want to involve them in the music, interest them,” and that “New Age implies a more subdued, more relaxed music than what I do. My music can be very rhythmic, very energetic, even very ethnic ”. David Van Tieghem, George Winston and Kitarō also turned down the label of the new age artist. David Lanz argued that "had finally found out that the main reason people don't like the term New Age is because it is the only musical category that is not a musical term". Andreas Vollenweider noted that "we sold millions of records worldwide before the New Age category was actually a category" and shared concern that "the stores have this problem with categorization."

Ron Goldstein, President of Private Music , agreed with one such point, stating that “ Windham Hill was the center of this whole thing. Because of that association, New Age was perceived as that “West Coast thing”. Label CEO Sam Sutherland argued, however, that even Windham Hill founders, William Ackerman and Anne Robinson, “were wary of using any idiomatic or generic term. It always seemed a little synthetic, ”and as companies, they stopped deliberately protesting the use of the term just because it was inappropriate. Both Goldstein and Sutherland concluded that the label helped move merchandise around, and that new age music will be incorporated into the general body of pop music within a few years from 1987 onwards.

The New York Times music critic Jon Pareles noted that New Age music absorbs other styles of music in a softer form, but the same well-defined styles don't need a New Age category, and that New Age music resembles other music, because it is intended as a marketing niche - to be a “formula show” intended for urban “ultra-consumers” as a status accessory that traditional Andean, Asian and African musical influences evoke the feeling of “cosmopolitanism” , while nature creates the “connection to untouched landscapes” in the album artwork and sound. Many critics described New Age music as “pretentious pussy” with no sense of structure or improvisation, with avoidance of speed and repartee, as well as sparse syncopation and basic 4/4 time.

Alternative terms

As described in this article, the boundaries of this umbrella genre are not clearly defined; however, the music trade will include artists in the “New Age” category, even if the artists belong to a different genre and use different names for their music style. Here are some other terms that are used in place of "New Age":

Kay Gardner called the original New Age music healing music, or women's spirituality . Paul Winter, who is considered to be the pioneer of New Age music, also rejected the term and preferred Earth Music .

The term instrumental music or contemporary instrumental can also include artists who do not use electronic instruments in their music, such as B. the solo pianist David Lanz. Likewise, pianists like Yanni and Bradley Joseph both use the term, although they use keyboards to incorporate layered orchestral textures into their compositions. Yanni distinguished the musical genre from the spiritual movement of the same name. The term contemporary instrumental music was also suggested by Andreas Vollenweider, while Adult Alternative by Gary L. Chappell. The term "adult alternative" was also used by Billboard in the new age and world music album charts.

history

The concept came about with the involvement of professional musicians in the New Age movement. Originally it was of no interest to the music industry , so the new age musicians and their staff started their own small independent record labels. Sales reached significant numbers in unusual stores such as bookstores, gift shops, health food stores, and boutiques, as well as direct mail. With the demand in a large market, the major record companies began promoting New Age music in the 1980s.

Paul Winter's Missa Gaia / Earth Mass (1982) is described as "a masterpiece of ecological New Age consciousness".
The Japanese electronic composer Kitarō

New Age music has been influenced by a variety of artists from a wide variety of genres - for example the folk instrumentalists John Fahey and Leo Kottke , the minimalists Terry Riley , Steve Reich , La Monte Young and Philip Glass , the classic avant-garde Daniel Kobialka , the synthesizer artists Brian Eno and the jazz artists Keith Jarrett , Weather Report , Mahavishnu Orchestra , Paul Horn (from 1968's Inside ) and Pat Metheny . Tony Scott's Music for Zen Meditation (1964) is considered the first New Age recording, which was initially particularly popular in California and was not sold in the United States until the 1980s. Another school of meditation music arose among the followers of Rajneesh ; Georg Deuter recorded D (1971) and Aum (1972), who mixed acoustic and electronic instruments with the sounds of the sea. Kay Gardner's song Lunamuse (1974) and the first recordings of Mooncircles (1975), which were a synthesis of music, sexuality and Wiccan spirituality, were " New Age Music before it got to be new-age music ". Her A Rainbow Path (1984) encompassed Halpern's theory of healing music from that era with women's spirituality, and she became one of the most popular artists in New Age music.

Paul Winter's Missa Gaia / Earth Mass (1982) is described as "a masterpiece of New Age ecological consciousness that celebrates the sanctity of land, sky and sea". His work on the east coast is considered to be one of the most important musical expressions of New Age spirituality. On the west coast, musicians focused more on music for healing and meditation. The most notable early work was Steven Halpern's Spectrum Suite (1975), the musical purpose of which was to "resonate certain areas of the body ... it calms the mind and body," and whose title refers to "the seven notes of the musical scale and the seven Colors of the rainbow relates to the seven essential energy sources (chakras) in our body ”. In the 1970s, his musical work and the theoretical book Tuning the Human Instrument (1979) pioneered the contemporary practice of music healing in the United States.

In 1976 the record label Windham Hill Records was founded with an initial investment of $ 300, and ten years later, grossing over $ 26 million annually. Over the years many record labels have sprung up that embraced or rejected the New Age label , such as Narada Productions , Private Music , Music West , Lifestyle, Audion, Sonic Atmospheres, Living Music, Terra ( Vanguard Records ), Novus Records (which mainly recorded jazz music ), FM (CBS Masterworks) and Cinema ( Capitol Records ).

Between the deliberate extremes of the West and East Coast are some of the most successful New Age artists like George Winston and R. Carlos Nakai . Winton's million-selling December (1982), released on Windham Hill Records, was hugely popular. Most of Nakai's work, with Changes first released in 1983, consists of improvised songs in the native North American style. In the 1990s, his music became virtual hymns for the New Age movement.

1981 added Tower Records in Mountain View, California , a "New Age" containers added. In 1985 independent and chain stores added sections for new age music, and major labels began to show interest in the genre, both by acquiring some existing new age labels such as Paul Winter's Living Music and by signing something called New -Age artists such as Japanese electronic composer Kitarō and American crossover jazz musician Pat Metheny, both signed by Geffen Records . Most of the major record labels were accepting New Age artists by early next year. In the late 1980s, the umbrella genre was the fastest growing genre with a significant radio broadcast. It was seen as an attractive business because of the low cost of acquisition.

From 1982 to 1989 Adam Geiger , New Age composer / keyboardist, alone and with Lura Jane Geiger, produced and sold a series of cassette tapes of New Age music on the LuraMedia label.

Stephen Hill founded the new age radio show Hearts of Space in 1973 . In 1983 it was picked up by npr for syndication to 230 subsidiaries at home and abroad, and the record label Hearts of Space Records was founded a year later . On Valentine's Day 1987, the former Los Angeles rock radio station KMET switched to a full-time New Age music format with the new call letters KTWV, which were branded as The Wave . During The Wave's new age , management told employees to refer to The Wave as a "sentiment service" rather than a "radio station". DJs stopped announcing the titles of the songs and instead, to keep the mood going, listeners could call a 1-800 phone number to find out which song was playing. Other new age specialty radio programs included Forest's Musical Starstreams and John Diliberto's Echoes . Most major cable TV channels have channels that play non-visual music, including channels dedicated to New Age, such as: B. the channel Soundscapes on Music Choice. The two satellite radio companies Sirius Satellite Radio & XM Satellite Radio each had their own channels that played New Age music: Sirius Spa (Sirius XM) (73), XM-Audio Visions (77). When the two merged in November 2008 and became SiriusXM , the name Spa was retained for the music channel, with the majority of the music library being used by Audio Vision.

In 1987 the Grammy Award for the best New Age Album was founded, while in 1988 the weekly New Age charts of Billboard Magazine were published. In 1989 the first international New Age Music Conference took place. In 1989 there were over 150 small independent record labels releasing new age music, while new age and adult alternative programs aired on hundreds of commercial and college radio stations in the United States, and over 40 distributors selling new age -Music via mail order catalogs.

Many small labels for New Age music emerged in Japan in the 1990s , but the terms “relaxing” or “healing” music were more popular for this type of instrumental music. Enigma ’s Sadeness (Part I) became an international hit, reaching number one in 24 countries including the UK and number five on the US Billboard Hot 100 , which sold over 5 million copies worldwide. Back then, Holland was home to two leading European New Age labels - Oreade and Narada Media . Oreade reported that in 1997 the latest trend was "angelic" music, while Narada Media predicted that the genre would evolve towards world music (with Celtic, Irish and African influences). In 1995 some new age composers such as Kitarō, Suzanne Ciani switched and Patrick O'Hearn due to lack of promotion, declining sales or limited freedom of creativity from large to independent record companies.

In 2001, Windham Hill celebrated its 25th anniversary, Narada and Higher Octave Music continued their entry into world and ethno- techno music, and Hearts of Space Records were bought by Valley Entertainment. Enya's Only Time peaked at number 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, while the album A Day Without Rain peaked at number 2 on the Billboard 200, making it the number one New Age artist of the year.

literature

  • Joachim-Ernst Berendt : Nada Brahma - Everything is sound. Suhrkamp Verlag, 2010, ISBN 978-3-518-45895-2 .
  • Patti Jean Birosik: The New Age Music Guide. Collier MacMillan, 1989, ISBN 0-02-041640-7 .
  • Amy Hale; Philip Payton: New Directions in Celtic Studies. University of Exeter Press, 2000, ISBN 0-85989-587-4 .
  • Don Heckman: Trends: New Age Enters a New Phase: Call it what you want, but the sound of Yanni and his similarly minded pals… is reaching far beyond its old image of ambient mood music ; Los Angeles Times February 27, 1994.
  • Stephen A. Marini: Sacred Song in America: Religion, Music, and Public Culture. University of Illinois Press, Urbana and Chicago 2003, ISBN 0-252-02800-7 .
  • John P. Newport: The New Age Movement and the Biblical Worldview: Conflict and Dialogue. William B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1998, ISBN 0-8028-4430-8 .
  • Brian Luke Seaward: Managing Stress: Principles and Strategies for Health and Well-Being. Jones & Bartlett Publishers, Burlington, MA, Mississauga, and London 2011, ISBN 978-0-7637-9834-5 .
  • Roy Shuker, Popular Music: The Key Concepts. Psychology Press, 2002, ISBN 0-415-28425-2 .
  • Wolfgang M. Stroh: Handbook of New Age Music. Looking for new musical experiences. Con Brio reference book, 1999, ISBN 3-930079-40-2 .
  • Gregg Wager: "Artists Bring a Variety of Styles to New Age Music"; Los Angeles Times December 2, 1988
  • Henk N. Werkhoven: The International Guide to New Age Music. Billboard Books / Crown Publishing Group, 1997, ISBN 0-8230-7661-X .
  • Arnold Whittall: Exploring Twentieth-Century Music: Tradition and Innovation. Cambridge University Press, 2003, ISBN 0-521-01668-1 .
  • Peter Wicke, Kai-Erik and Wieland Ziegenrücker: Handbook of popular music: history, styles, practice, industry. Schott Verlag, 2006, ISBN 3-7957-0571-1 .

See also

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Steven Halpern. In: New Age Voice Magazine , June 1999.
  2. ↑ John P. Newport (1998), pp. 478-479.
  3. ^ John Schaefer (December 1985), p. 63.
  4. ^ John P. Newport (1998), p. 476.
  5. ↑ John P. Newport (1998), pp. 476-480.
  6. ↑ Marini 2003, p. 181.
  7. ↑ Hale and Payton 2000, p. 26.
  8. ↑ Don Heckman: Trends: New Age Enters a New Phase: Call it what you want, but the sound of Yanni and his similarly minded pals… is reaching far beyond its old image of ambient mood music . In: Los Angeles Times , February 27, 1994.
  9. ^ John Schaefer (December 1985), p. 63.
  10. ^ Roger Catlin: New Age Artists Want A New Label. In: Hartford Courant. April 26, 1992.
  11. ^ Peter Culshaw: My Greek odyssey with Alexander . In: The Daily Telegraph , Jan. 6, 2005; accessed on December 21, 2018.
  12. ^ Gregg Wager: Artists Bring a Variety of Styles to New Age Music . In: Los Angeles Times , December 2, 1988.
  13. ↑ Don Heckman: Trends: New Age Enters a New Phase: Call it what you want, but the sound of Yanni and his similarly minded pals… is reaching far beyond its old image of ambient mood music . In: Los Angeles Times , February 27, 1994.
  14. ↑ Jon Pareles: Pop View; New-Age Music Booms, Softly . In: The New York Times , November 29, 1987.
  15. ^ Gregg Wager: Artists Bring a Variety of Styles to New Age Music . In: Los Angeles Times , December 2, 1988.
  16. ↑ Steve Appleford: Playing to Emotions: Kitaro brings his New Age blend of rock, classical and folk to Universal Amphitheater . In: Los Angeles Times , October 28, 1994. “The category he seems least comfortable with is New Age, which remains a mystery to him. 'Who came up with this name?' he asks. It seems to have little to do with the layers of rousing, emotional music he creates with elements of rock, classical and various international folk styles. "
  17. ↑ Steven Rea: New-age Music: Hard To Define, But It Sells It Even Has A Grammy Category Of Its Own . articles.philly.com, February 22, 1987.
  18. ↑ Jon Pareles: Pop View; New-Age Music Booms, Softly . In: The New York Times , November 29, 1987.
  19. ↑ Marini 2003, pp. 180-181.
  20. ^ Roger Catlin: New Age Artists Want A New Label . In: Hartford Courant , April 26, 1992.
  21. ↑ Yanni, David Rensin: Yanni in Words . 2002, pp. 123, 202.
  22. ↑ Jeffrey Lee Puckett: Yanni up close: Musician known for larger-than-life venues also loves the Louisville Palace . In: The Courier-Journal , April 16, 2012.
  23. ↑ Fred Wheeler: Interview with Bradley Joseph . In: Indie Journal , 2002. ".
  24. ^ Roger Catlin: New Age Artists Want A New Label . In: Hartford Courant , April 26, 1992.
  25. ^ John P. Newport: The New Age Movement and the Biblical Worldview: Conflict and Dialogue. William B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1998, ISBN 0-8028-4430-8 , p. 479.
  26. ↑ Jon Pareles: Pop View; New-Age Music Booms, Softly . In: The New York Times , November 29, 1987.
  27. ↑ Steven Rea: New-age Music: Hard To Define, But It Sells It Even Has A Grammy Category Of Its Own . articles.philly.com, February 22, 1987.
  28. ^ John P. Newport: The New Age Movement and the Biblical Worldview: Conflict and Dialogue . 1998, pp. 475-476.
  29. ^ Stephen A. Marini: Sacred Song in America: Religion, Music, and Public Culture . 2003, p. 167.
  30. ^ Brian Luke Seaward: Managing Stress: Principles and Strategies for Health and Well-Being . 2011
  31. ↑ Jon Pareles: Pop View; New-Age Music Booms, Softly . In: The New York Times , November 29, 1987.
  32. ^ Derk Richardson: The Sounds of Sominex . In: Mother Jones Magazine , Nov 1986, 11 (8), p. 60.
  33. ^ Newport 1998, p. 478.
  34. ↑ Marini 2003, pp. 173-175.
  35. ↑ Marini 2003, pp. 166-167.
  36. ↑ Cassette: Adam Martin Geiger - Soul Room cassette Ambient New Age Private 1983, accessed December 22, 2018.
  37. ^ Judith H. Balfe: Paying the piper: causes and consequences of art patronage . University of Illinois Press, 1993, pp. 279-281.
  38. ↑ PJ Birosik: Dreamtime Return . In: Yoga Journal , Active Interest Media, March 1989, pp. 94-95.
  39. ↑ Ellie Weinert: Billboard Vol. 107, No. 9 - Casebook: Enigma. In: Billboard , March 4, 1995, 58; accessed on December 22, 2018.
  40. ^ Steve McClure, Robbert Tilli: New Age Activity In The International Marketplace . In: Billboard , 22. March 1997, Vol. 109, No. 12, p. 45 ISSN  0006-2510
  41. ^ JD: Rebels And Refugees: Artists Express Independence By Establishing Own Labels . In: Billboard , April 1, 1995, Vol. 107, No. 13, p. 68.
  42. ^ John Diliberto, The Year In New Age: Big Changes, Rainless Days' Reign. In: Billboard , December 29, 2001, Vol. 113, No. 52, p. 76.