Music Composers Unite!

What makes music to be a new age track/song ?

What do you guys think ?

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Jason Ward on February 13, 2009 at 10:44am

I was thinking about this the other day after some clown left a comment on one of my YouTube videos about how he would have rated a song 2 stars even if I didn't consider myself "New age" (Even though he never did rate it). If you look at new age music in the industry it has such a wide range. Everything from nature sounds accompanied by soothing pads and light instruments to upbeat fast moving scores with lots of percussion to songs with lyrics. I personally don't like being lumped in with nature sounds accompanied by music, to me this isn't really new age. It's more like meditation or sleep music, not something I would listen to every day while working.

I guess it's really just in the feel of the music. A cross between classical and jazz or celtic? Lots of depth with some nice hooks and syncopation. I don't think there is a definite definition for new age. Some sounds close to classical, some sounds almost like pop, some like smooth jazz, celtic, trance, and more. Maybe consider it an abstract music form.

Wikipedia has a somewhat terrible definition of new age music which I partially but don't wholly agree with.

Some of the most renowned new age musicians which I frequently listen to:
Ray Lynch, Yanni, Enya, Kitaro, Vangelis, Gnomusy, "The early" David Foster, Exchange, David Lantz, David Arkenstone, Mychael Danna, Jean-Michel Jarre

Permalink Reply by Anton Botes on February 13, 2009 at 8:45pm

Mmmm...interesting question. I've never really thought about this one, but I guess we all recognize a song as New Age when we hear it. I agree with Jason on the soothing pads and light instruments. One observation: I've never decided to compose New Age music, it just kind of happened. I mean, if you're a rock or pop musician, you set out to make that kind of music. But it seems like New Age composers just drift into it by playing around with sounds and ideas, without following strict rules or pre-sets. It's more a case of following your instincts.

Permalink Reply by Andy Schofield on February 21, 2010 at 8:55am

Hi guys
I've written and performed music for many years and I have to admit to still not knowing all the jargonistic styles that seem to emerge over the years. New Age to me is like Anton suggested......you sort of know it when you hear it. I think there are many styles of new Age and who's to say that you / we are not right to call it that if that's how it feels both to you or to others. Artists like Enya epitomised it to start with but it's moved on from there I think and can be a fusion of styles, Ethnic, Classical, Mood, Easy Listening and/or the inevitable whale and dolphin stuff. If it's 'New', ageless, unusual, fits the bill loosely, and is appreciated by those who like new age styles, then it's New Age.......isn't it? I agree with Justin that Celtic plays a big part in NA, but equally it can incorporate, African, South African, Maori etc etc within a western feel.

Permalink Reply by David Naranjo on March 14, 2010 at 3:33pm

I agree with all of you guys ! there are a lot of influences lately for new age music, till a point that a lot of artists will have a bit of this sweet style within their works, just because of the fact that at the end, we could be in a New Era, New Age.
I wonder then, is it New Age, as name or codename, because we were close to crossover the year 2000 ? Lets say, 1980+ ?
Could it be related, with the spreading of new technologies and massive communications, Internet i.e ?
Cheers -

Permalink Reply by Cari Live on March 27, 2011 at 2:20am

I feel like I'm in a time warp, but I'm new here ... new age music isn't bound by the restrictions and forms of traditional western music. The music has a trance like quality, allowing your mind to quiet itself in a hectic world - repetitive, simple, beautiful melodies with little development, few meter or dynamic changes ... am I repeating what everyone else has said? I've not looked yet ... is anyone else here?

Ok, I peeked - Ray Lynch is a strong influence in my music .... thanks for listening ....

Permalink Reply by Dominic Hodson on June 28, 2012 at 11:58am

They say art should be a mixture of light and dark; but when someone I knew in Cork, Ireland, John O'Sullivan, tried this in a new age music album, he got mixed reactions: most considered too much of a mixture of light and dark, and they wanted just happiness and light. Personally I liked the refreshing sophistication of his music, and anyway, one should never add sampled bird song as this in fact indicates birds being aggressive towards other birds, hardly new age, lol.

Recently, I composed a track for a scene out of the movie Paradise Lost; I kept on adding dark undertones into the general new age floaty-ness because I knew what was coming next; but then my teacher said I was guilty of giving away too much of the plot causing a break between movie and score, always a bad idea and Directors hate it.

Generally, it is much harder to compose good ambient new age music than you thik, because of the tendency to go too sci-fi or even into mild horror!! On the other hand, one can sound just sooo bland ...