Drifter: Soothing Ambient Soundscapes - Mixed by DJ Seroton

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Genre: Ambient
Tracks: 14
Duration: 01:00:30

Inspiration

What puts you to sleep?

I bet the answer to this question will vary from one person to the other. For me, I like total darkness, comfy pillow, and believe it or not, the constant sound of AC, which I’ve grown to appreciate as a way of eliminating little on-off noises from around the building. On top of that, when I’m in the mood, nothing beats a good playlist of pure and peaceful ambient music.

I first came to discover this wonderful style of music back in 2007, when I accidentally stumbled on a great site called Ambient Nights. Not knowing what this style of music was all about, I decided to give it a try and downloaded few of the mixes, created by Alex Hephaestion. I was in the middle of preparing a public speech at the time, my first one ever, and while researching my material, I would put these mixes on.

To my surprise, these mixes magically helped me focus and zone into my work in a weird but awesome way. I said weird because when you’re listening to ambient music, the idea is not to listen intently, but in a passive way. You just let it play in the background, and it’ll do its thing. This is best described by Brian Eno, one of the most influential artists in this genre and the one believed to have coined the term “ambient music“, who was quoted describing it as the kind of music that can be “actively listened to with attention or as easily ignored, depending on the choice of the listener”, and that exists on the “cusp between melody and texture”.

Not all ambient music is created equal. Over the years since my discovery, I’ve been curating my collection of ambient music that’s truly relaxing and in no way disturbing or weighs too much on the dark side. I think all that boils down to what you’re going to listen to in this 1 hour mix.

But mixing this style of music has proved a little challenging for me. When I sat out to create this mix, I wanted a mix that’s perfect to sleep to. This is easier said than done, because when you’re trying to sleep to music, the slightest off beat or melody can wake you up. So the mix must flow seamlessly from start to finish, and not have any surprises in the middle since the person listening to it might, and most likely will, drift off in the middle.

Also while creating this mix, it’s not just enough to make sure tracks flow seamlessly into each other. You’ve got to listen over and over to the entire mix to make sure you’re setting and maintaining the right mood, in this case sleeping mode, throughout the mix.

Overall, I think I’ve done a pretty good job with this one. I’ve even took it for a spin and tried sleeping to it. After a few tweaks, I think I’ve managed to perfect it. Well, at least I hope you do think so.

Let me know what you think of it in the comments.

Good For

Aside from sleeping like a baby, which is the main inspiration for creating this mix, you can put it on whenever you need to quite down your mind and world to an absolutely serene level. It also works magically like I said at work, blocking outside noises but still managing to keep you focused and not distracted by the music. That’s the sweet spot of work music, isn’t it? :)

But remember, the best way to listen to this mix, and ambient music in general, is to not listen to it, if you know what I mean. That’s when the magic happens!

Tracklist

1. Danny Elfman – Friendship (The Kingdom OST)
2. Brian Eno – The Real
3. Christopher Short – Twilight
4. Aeolian String Ensemble – Eclipse
5. Sven Väth – Ballet Dancer
6. David Brunn – Crater Lake (Hephaestion Edit)
7. Chris Spheeris – Passage
8. ATB – Under The Sky
9. David – Ruhe
10. Harold Budd, Brian Eno – Failing Light
11. Mind Over Matter – Brahman
12. Byron Metcalf, Mark Seelig, Steve Roach – Gone...Beyond
13. Transambient Communications – Ocean Waves At Sunset
14. Moby – Overland

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Genres: Ambient, New Age, Drone
Tracks: 12
Duration: 01:01:26

Inspiration

The world is quiet, up here by the sky. The wind lingers, filling my nostrils with the smell of the mountain. The clouds wrap around me caging me in a thick white box. The cold misty air brushes over my bare skin sending shivers through me. The trees wave me to come closer and shade me from the whipping air. But I don’t go. The sudden gusts lift me off my feet and sway me back and forth like a feather in the breeze. The grass dances, brushing against its self, humming, singing. The stream slithers through the soft rocks crumpling as it brushes the earth. The rain starts to play as it runs through the field. Then the dark falls on the mountain, and the moon blazes in the night, lighting up the stars. And the world is quiet, up here by the sky. – Colleen Mulcahy

Tracklist

1. Paul Winter – Rain Blessing
2. Constance Demby – Chakra #1 (DJ Seroton Edit)
3. Jonn Serrie & Gary Stroutsos – Earth Sky
4. Alio Die & Mathias Grassow – Winds From The Other World
5. Bliss – Diamond Rain
6. Adham Shaikh – Zero G
7. Hammock – Maybe They Will Sing For Us Tomorrow
8. Steve Roach, Kevin Braheny, Michael Stearns – From The Heart Of Darkness
9. Rudy Adrian – At The Edge Of The Desert
10. Alio Die & Aglaia – Cirrus
11. Rudy Adrian & Ron Boots – Ancestral Graves
12. Sola Translatio – The Gate

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Genres: Ambient, New Age
Tracks: 16
Duration: 01:02:47

Inspiration

It’s usually the case that a great track I discover becomes the seed and inspiration to one of my upcoming mixes. However, for this mix it was actually a person. His name is Dave Michuda and he creates (mostly) Ambient mixes under the name “low light mixes“.

If you’re a Mixcloud regular listener, it won’t take you long to discover him. His mixes are popular for a very good reason: they are quite the most highly polished, finely curated ambient mixes I’ve ever heard! I have quite a few favorite mixes from him that have become my go-to ones for relaxing and falling asleep.

He is also a very approachable guy. I recently messaged him asking about ambient music suggestions and he took the time to write me a very thorough list of them that I have started discovering ever since. Go ahead and check out his work over on Mixcloud and follow him on Twitter if you want.

I’m pretty sure his mixes will continue to provide active inspiration for my Drifter series for the future to come, much like how Ambient Nights introduced me to this wonderful style of music and inspired me to begin mixing Ambient music in the first place.

Tracklist

1. Andrew Bayer – All This Will Happen Again
2. All India Radio – Surf On The Malecon (DJ Seroton Edit)
3. Arcade Fire – Dimensions (“Her” Soundtrack) (DJ Seroton Edit)
4. All India Radio – Losing Houston
5. Rudy Adrian – Watery Moon
6. Jonn Serrie – Annie by the Sea
7. Chicane – Fin De Jours
8. Wavestar – Landfall (DJ Seroton Edit)
9. Tim Hecker – Boreal Kiss, Part 1
10. Ólafur Arnalds – Lokadu Augunum
11. Erik Wollo – Sphere (Into the Dream)
12. Bliss – Spun Glass
13. Alio Die – Intramundia
14. Stars Of The Lid – The Kraut
15. Pete Namlook & Tetsu Inoue – Morning Spirit (DJ Seroton Edit)
16. Gulan – Abstracto

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MP3 320 Kbps CUE Sheet

Genre: Ambient
Tracks: 11
Duration: 1:00:00

Inspiration

It’s been almost a year since I’ve released Volume 1 of the ‘Drifter’ ambient series. I had the artwork for this mix designed ever since, but I kept putting off working on it till I decided recently that I’m going to do my love of ambient music justice by releasing this second volume.

This one bears resemblance to the first volume in that it starts with another great track from the “The Kingdom” movie and slowly progresses into dreamy ambient soundscapes that are carefully chosen one after the other to put you into a complete state of relaxation. I even took this mix for a spin and put it on while going to sleep, it was perfect!

Tracklist

1. Danny Elfman – Finale (“The Kingdom” Soundtrack)
2. Jon Hopkins – Opalescent
3. Jeff Pearce – The Hidden Sky
4. Cliff Martinez – He Had A Good Time (“Drive” Soundtrack)
5. Global Communication – 12:18
6. Tetsu Inoue – Low Of Vibration
7. James Johnson – Minimum #5
8. David Helping – All Things End
9. Alio Die – The Circular Development Of Time
10. Suspended Memories – Saguaro
11. Aeoliah – Whispers Among The Stars