Illbient
Ambient · 1992 · 70 to 100 BPM · also known as Ill Bient, Illbient Dub
Illbient is ambient music filtered through hip hop, born in Brooklyn in the mid 1990s: urban synth pads, slowed down breaks, spectral scratches, and the aesthetic of a New York loft after midnight. DJ Spooky acted as its theorist, and the label WordSound as its world in miniature. The name is a pun on ill and ambient, and the scene itself was short lived, but its blend of concrete and haze left a lasting trace.
11 reference tracks
- Scorn: Deliverance (1992)
- DJ Spooky: Galactic Funk (1996)
- Sub Dub: Dancehall Malfunction (1996)
- Byzar: Gaiatronyk (1997)
- Spectre: The Ill Saint (1997)
- Techno Animal vs Dalek: Megaton (2000)
- DJ Spooky: Phase Interlude
- Scorn: Check the Sonic
- DJ Spooky: The Terran Invasion of Alpha Centauri Year 2794
- Techno Animal: Hypertension
- DJ Spooky: Anansi Abstrakt
At a glance
- Tempo: 70 to 100 BPM
- First appeared: around 1992
- Machines: Platines vinyle, Akai S1000, Roland RE-201 Space Echo, Console de mixage
- The sound: Platines et scratches ralentis, Basses dub urbaines, Nappes granuleuses, Samples de ville
- Labels: Asphodel, WordSound, Home Entertainment, Matador
- Key artists: DJ Spooky, Sub Dub, Byzar, We (trio), Scorn (parenté UK)
Producing Illbient
Illbient runs 75 to 95 BPM, the tempo of slowed down hip hop rather than reggae, its feel coming from an MPC style swing of 54 to 58 percent and sampled breaks dragging slightly behind the grid. Hip hop breaks get slowed, filtered, pitched down a few semitones, chopped and reassembled, with the turntable treated as an instrument, a slowed scratch, a vinyl rumble. The bass is an urban dub bass, a long, distorted 808 sub held on the root, crushed harder and left dirtier than in ambient dub, a pressure rather than a line, deliberately overlapping with the break's kick. City field recordings, subway noise, sirens, conversations, recorded on a phone and pitched low, along with stretched vinyl chords and radio voices, give illbient its identity.
The full production course, in French: tempo, drums, bass, sounds, arrangement, mix, plugins and machines, and a step by step start.
Frequently asked
What is Illbient?
Illbient is ambient music filtered through hip hop, born in Brooklyn in the mid 1990s: urban synth pads, slowed down breaks, spectral scratches, and the aesthetic of a New York loft after midnight. DJ Spooky acted as its theorist, and the label WordSound as its world in miniature. The name is a…
What tempo is Illbient played at?
Between 70 and 100 BPM.
Who are the key Illbient artists?
DJ Spooky, Sub Dub, Byzar, We (trio), Scorn (parenté UK).
