The Ambience Creators that Can Transport You to New Worlds
Come with me as I explore some of the most relaxing videos on the Internet ☕️
In my last post, we were exploring ASMR — the love-it-or-hate-it phenomenon that is all over YouTube and TikTok these days. However, there is another type of content that I seek out in my search for relaxation and focus on the Internet, and I would be remiss if I only ended up discussing one side of the coin. So, we are now tackling the category of ambience.
Just a little while ago, I joined a stunning livestream by one of my favorite ambience creators on YouTube — T E R A V I B E — who had prepared a feast of atmsopheric visuals and soundscapes. The video is stated in the description to be for “stimulating your creative inspiration”, with the caveat that you should watch it in the best resolution. Why? Because then you will be able to fully attain the promised experience of floating around a mystery time traveler’s grand mansion while the rain pitter patters on the windows, the owner of the home being missing in action, and “Les Feuilles Jaunes” by Franz Gordon plays in the background from a ghost piano.
Of course, the community is hugely supportive — not a surprise for either the ambience or ASMR lovers, both of whom tend to be quite mellow and in search of much-needed relaxation, not drama. The eager audience of this particular livestream expressed their appreciation fo the videos in the chat, and also celebrated the channel’s first real time video with some virtual champagne 🥂 🍾
The ambience community is also creative, whichever nook or cranny you look in. In this particular video, there were a range of interpretations from the audience, including short narrative pieces from the perspective of the visitor waiting for the time traveler to return home, and pithy statements such as:
“You can’t be a time traveler, if you don’t take the time to travel.” — Abraham Lincoln
Undoubtedly, the audience are encouraged to give their own literary spins on the content due to the nature of these types of channels, where a short “ambience story” usually lays out the scene in the description of the video, for the viewer to gain access to a roughly developed plot.
Then, half the fun is simply existing in this microcosm, suspended in time along with the thousands of others who are watching, all of you doing your own things in your own spaces, yet very much connected as one through this intimate link. The interactivity of adding to the rough plot in your own way, as if constructing a collective fan fiction, is just as enticing as the sounds of the ambience themselves.
It is also important to note that these kinds of videos most often seem to be used as background noise for writers wishing to gain some inspiration. In a community with that type of demographic, it is easy to understand the abundance of metaphors and spontaneously crafted character backstories in the comments section.
In a similar vein, we have Ambience of Yesteryear — a channel that it further along in its YouTube career, and attracts the same general audience. Here, the eager listener can find mini-worlds ranging from “Bedouin Tent & Fireplace, Sunset, Windy Sahara Desert” to “Medieval Monastery, Ethiopian Orthodox (14th Century/Solomonic Dynasty)” to “Maharaja’s Royal Palace (Mahal), 18th Century India”.
Sound intriguing? Like all of the other channels that I have known to do ambience content, they have exquisite visuals to boot! There are countless details to observe in the dynamic scenes that are used for the hours-long videos. In one particular creation — “Victorian Parlour at Christmas (with Fireplace & Snowfall)”, I became so entranced by the familial objects that lined the mantlepiece, that I suddenly appeared to be a curious visitor on a first visit to a friend’s house, perusing the family secrets while the room was empty.
As far as literary descriptions go, Ambience of Yesteryear takes the cake, with the hefty, novel-quality list of sounds that come in the description of each video. Far from an ordinary list for reference, this chunk of text can easily set the scene for the reader as they begin to orient themselves in the video’s atmosphere. In “Ottoman Courtyard Garden & Fountain, 18th Century Syria”, one of the many beautifully described sound layers is as follows:
“…the intermittent bubble and gurgle of a water-pipe, smoked contentedly from a shady corner of the courtyard by the young man of the house and his circle of friends, a coterie gathered today for the leisurely playing of backgammon…”
Switching over now to a striking take on the ambience genre, we have Miracle Forest, who specializes in neon visuals and slightly more fantastical scenarios. A never-ending Halloween pervades this channel and inspires its contents, which include smoke, drifting ghosts, small beasties, and other, less identifiable phenomena. She informs us on a video that she uncovered a soundscape idea through reading Slavic mythology.
While the sounds themselves are not as distinctive as their visual counterparts, they do situate you in new, unfamiliar locations in ways that are too intimate for you to be a mere tourist in them, and having a sense of where you are before you begin listening ensures that you get there with your wits about you and it helps you keep your bearings as you dissolve into the auditory idiosyncrasies of the locations.
Some videos that just have to be mentioned are: “Murky Swamp”, “Japanese Cyberpunk City Rooftop”, and “City of Fish”. As you can see from the titles, the creative juices in this channel keep flowing like a fountain — and have no indication of stopping, as the last video, “Car Ride in the Clouds”, was published two days ago.
All of the illustrations are as stunning as the thumbnail seen above, so I can safely say that this is probably the most aesthetically pleasing (and visually creative) ambience channel that I have come across.While there are not as many sound layers as in Ambience of Yesteryear — who goes above and beyond in auditory complexity — there is always a sound to appreciate in Miracle Forest’s videos, as well as surprises thrown in, such as a meowing cat that sneaks up behind your left ear and withdraws just as quickly.
Until my next post tomorrow, I can only say wish you happy listening! I believe that a good ambience that one can return to again and again serves as a sort of nostalgic coming home experience each time that it is played. It begins to pick up the activities and thoughts that took place under its wing.
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