Out of the ganja-fueled creative ferment of Jamaica came Reggae, and later, a studio remix style called “Dub.” Spacey, psychedelic, fat with drum n’ bass and heavily seasoned with reverb, echo and effects, it inspired English artists to gene-splice Dub with Ambient electronics, and call it “Ambient Dub.”
On this transmission of Hearts of Space, we follow the trail of Ambient Dub on a program called “DUBSHIP EUPHORIA.” Music is by JAH WOBBLE & MARCONI UNION, MOTIONFIELD, S7VEN, SOUNDS FROM THE GROUND, ISHQ, CYBER ZEN SOUND ENGINE & MATT BORGHI, and MIKTEK.
OVER THE LAST 40 YEARS, the music of both MICHAEL STEARNS and ROBERT RICH has earned the highest respect from long-time listeners to this program, as well as serious ambient fans around the world.
Beginning in the 1970’s, STEARNS in Los Angeles and in the 1980’s RICH at Stanford, were among the first to create important original work in those formative days of popular electronic music. Even when the early instruments were frustrating and difficult to work with, they persisted — because electronics opened up vast new realms of creative expression.
Later, they both integrated acoustic instruments and wordless voices into their music, enriching and deepening their sound. In time, Stearns moved into scoring and music supervision for immersive IMAX films and multi-channel theme park rides, and traveled the world recording natural environmental sounds, while ROBERT RICH became a prolific recording artist, collaborator, and mastering engineer for other independent musicians, created high quality sample libraries, and consulted on the design and development of electronic instruments.
In 2026, with Stearns 77 and Rich 63, they´re at the peak of their powers individually, and the only thing left undone was their first full collaboration as mature ambient masters, the mysteriously titled “REUNION OF BREATH AND WAVES.”
Today, the career of an ambient musician is impossible to predict. The old gatekeepers are gone, replaced by powerful personal studios and a digital distribution system that connects composers and performers with a worldwide audience. Success is not guaranteed; you must be motivated, persistent, innovative, and impressively talented. But for those who can live with the uncertainty, time and practice can bring “maturity, ” and with it, the possibility of “mastery”— levels of excellence sought by many, achieved by few.
On this transmission of HEARTS of SPACE, we celebrate the expansion of creative space and artistic freedom, with electro-acoustic music by MICHAEL STEARNS and ROBERT RICH from “REUNION OF BREATH AND WAVES;” by DREAMSCAPIST from “EREMITISM;” by KELLY DAVID from “ILLUSIVE;” and by JEFF PEARCE from “SKYWARD.”
The art of creating value with skill, and doing it perfectly. A program called “MASTERY”…on this transmission… of Hearts of Space.
WHEN THE COMPREHENSIVE HISTORY OF ELECTRONIC MUSIC is written, the period from the arrival of playable synthesizers in the 1960s and the introduction of drum machines in the 1970s until now will seem particularly disruptive. Synthesizers propelled the music out of academic laboratories and on the road to the diverse electronic space, ambient, and atmospheric genres of today. At the same time, drum machines propelled popular music out of the recording studio and onto the dance floor, where DJs produced an endless variety of complex beats that paved the road to EDM—Electronic Dance Music, and IDM—Intelligent Dance Music.
When the summer heat arrives, it stimulates rhythmic activity everywhere. Ironically, ambient is one of the few genres that can live without rhythm, but percussion is so fundamental to popular music that many ambient artists can’t resist using it. On this transmission of Hearts of Space, percussion-powered ambient for late summer, on a program called (with due respect to the song by Peter Gabriel) “RHYTHM OF THE HEAT.” Music is by AES DANA, VIR UNIS, STEVE ROACH, CHRIS MEYER’S ALIAS ZONE, EXTRAWORLD, BIFF JOHNSON, JOYSTICK, and THIERRY DAVID.
BACK IN 2009, I wrote this introduction to a program called ‘INDIA EVOLUTION” :
“Hundreds of years ago, while Western music turned right at polyphony, harmony, and the equal-tempered scale, Indian classical music continued to develop the old modal system of scales and natural intervals, in a vocal-centered, monophonic style.”
“Where we created chords and counterpoint, monumental symphonies, hymns and songs, Indian music continued to evolve the melodic sophistication of raga, the rhythmic complexity of tala, and the patient pursuit of mood and depth.”
On this transmission of Hearts of Space, we return to the sublime world of Indian Classical and Indian-influenced ambient music, on a program called “INDIA EVOLUTION 2.” Music is by JASDEEP SINGH DEGUN, PREM JOSHUA & MANISH VYAS, ANCIENT FUTURE, FILIP HOLM, ROSS AINSLIE, AMELIA CUNI & WERNER DURAND, STEVE GORN & MANOSE, and RAJENDRA TEREDESAI.
Ambient explorations for electronically enhanced guitar
The inventors of the electric guitar were originally motivated by the need for volume, to compete with drums, brass, and other loud instruments. But it didn’t take long for reverb and special effects to transform the electric guitar into a vehicle for space exploration.
Beginning in the 1960s, technically inclined improvisers used tape recorders to create live repetitions, essentially reinventing the Baroque canon, where a musical phrase or melody is repeated at fixed intervals. The need for more portable effects led to the invention of compact tape loop echo processors, and today’s electronic “loopers,” which make possible a more precise and flexible style of contemplative improvisation.
On this transmission of Hearts of Space, recent work in this ambient sub-genre, with another installment of our long-running “space guitars” series, on a program called “SPACE GUITARS 12.” Music is by PETER JACK RAINBIRD, STEVEN GRAHN, CLIVE WRIGHT, JEFF PEARCE, and HAMMOCK.
Downtempo electronic music has been enjoying an unexpected revival. After years of being overshadowed by high-energy Electronic Dance Music, Downtempo has found new cultural value as a sonic counter-weight to our intense, relentless, media-saturated, hyperconnected, fast-paced world.
Today’s downtempo has evolved beyond its 1990’s roots in “Trip-Hop” in the UK city of Bristol and has embraced globalization. It now incorporates multi-cultural folk instruments and so-called “organic electronica,” is promoted as “functional music” supporting productivity, and is heard daily by millions on streaming playlists curated by algorithms.
Global exposure has also inspired more serious use in therapeutic environments as a method for enhancing mindfulness, deep focus, and self-discovery—which completes the circle back to Ambient.
On this transmission of Hearts of Space…it’s a midsummer journey from Downtempo beats to Ambient atmospheres called “DOWNTEMPO TO AMBIENT.” Music Is by TWILIGHT ARCHIVE, MARCONI UNION, AËR, ALEX HAAS & BILL LASWELL, CHRIS RUSSELL, and DIGITONAL.
In the warm, bright days of summer, an ambient fan yearning for travel to exotic cultures will book a flight on Sequencer Airlines. With its steady pulse, it’s a perfect rhythm for moving through space.
The roots go back to 9th century Persia, but the music sequencer idea really got going in the 19th century after the Industrial Revolution, with popular devices like music boxes, mechanical organs, and player pianos. By the first generation of electronic synthesizers in the 1960s and 70s, the Step Sequencer was a machine that turned equal length notes into repeating rhythm patterns. They’re simple, delightfully hypnotic, and fun to work with.
Today things are more complicated, but a lot more powerful. We have audio sample sequencers, loop-based creative music software, phrase samplers, and digital audio recording software many times more powerful than the primitive sequencers of early synths-and hey! They’re still fun to work with.
On this transmission of Hearts of Space…a journey from kinetic sequencer patterns to exotic Southeast Asian ambient soundscapes-on a program called “AMBIENT TRAVELER 2.” Music is by ATOMIC SKUNK, DAVID PARSONS, CHRISTEL VERAART, CHRONOTOPE PROJECT, LOREN NERELL, ALIO DIE & LORENZO MONTANA, and RICHARD BONE.
It takes increasing effort, but if we can just turn away from the political chaos that has once again overtaken the Middle East, we can still hear the overtones of artistic traditions that have been evolving for over 5000 years.
From source cultures in Arabia, North Africa, and Persia, come instruments and musical traditions. Today, both native and expatriate artists are working to extend these traditions and adapt them to the world of contemporary music. It’s an effort that aims for harmony and understanding in the face of dissonance and division: “cultural” in the best sense — a human treasure to be loved and shared.
On this transmission of Hearts of Space, the hypnotic rhythms, sinuous melodies, and ambient atmospheres of the Middle East—on a program called ARABIAN NIGHTS 2. Music is by MICHEL BANABILA and MEHMET POLAT, OPIUM MOON, ZIKR PROJECT, NAO SOGABE, FILIP HOLM, RAFAEL KRUX, and ANOUAR BRAHEM.
The “progressive” label is growing, and it has nothing to do with politics.
In music, the term has a history that goes back to Progressive Folk in the 1930s. After that came Progressive Jazz from the 1940s to the 1970s, Progressive Rock, Pop, and Bluegrass in the 1960s, Progressive Country in the 1970s, Progressive Metal in the 1980s, and Progressive Electronic and Progressive House in the 1990s.
Progressive is what happens when a genre has matured, and there’s an abundance of highly skilled musicians who want to stay creatively challenged.
On this transmission of Hearts of Space—if the progressive label means expanding stylistic and conceptual boundaries and synthesizing cultural influences—then I’m gonna say we’re overdue for a genre…and a program…called “PROGRESSIVE AMBIENT.”
Music by NOYA, GODWIN, & JÜRJENDAL, BRIAN ENO & J.PETER SCHWALM, MASSERGY, CRAIG PADILLA & MARVIN ALLEN, JON DURANT, MANUEL GÖTTSCHING, HAMMOCK, and EYES CAST DOWN.
The term “World Music” was invented by an American ethnomusicologist in the 1960s. Originally intended to refer only to folk or ethnic music from non-Western cultures, over time its frame of reference expanded to include any form of popular music with ethnic instruments, style, or texture. A good example is Reggae music from Jamaica.
The 1970s introduced the radically new sounds and techniques of electronic music. Traditional World Music was, of course, 100% acoustic. Electricity wasn’t widely available until the late 19th century, but it grew fast. And by the 1980s, the ethereal atmospheres of electronic and ambient music were converging with the expressive acoustic sounds of traditional folk and ethnic music.
At the same time, electronics were expanding the spatial and tonal dimensions of World Music. And where musicians had formerly been identified by their instruments as “acoustic” or “electronic,” a new term was invented to capture the new, hybrid genre: “Electro-Acoustic” Today it’s becoming the dominant approach to all genres of popular music.
On this transmission of Hearts of Space, an Electro-Acoustic journey in musical time and cultural space called AMBIENT WORLD.
