Space Music
Roots · 1972 · also known as Space Ambient, Cosmic Ambient
Space music is the mainstream cosmic electronic sound of the 1970s: clear melodies floating over planetary pads, somewhere between science popularization and pop reverie. Jean-Michel Jarre filled stadiums with it, Vangelis wrote it for film, and Space made planetariums dance. It was the door through which millions of ears first walked into the synthesizer, grand and accessible at once, turning it from a laboratory curiosity into a household sound.
12 reference tracks
- Klaus Schulze: Bayreuth Return (1975)
- Jean-Michel Jarre: Oxygene Part IV (1976)
- Vangelis: Pulstar (1976)
- Ashra: Sunrain (1976)
- Steve Roach: Structures from Silence (1984)
- Jonn Serrie: And the Stars Go with You (1987)
- Steve Roach: Rest of Life (2023)
- Spacetime Continuum: A Low Frequency Inversion Field
- Tangerine Dream: Origin of Supernatural Probabilities
- Spacecraft: Satellite Dispatch
- Tangerine Dream: Birth of Liquid Plejades
- Vangelis: Movement 2
At a glance
- First appeared: 1972
- Machines: ARP 2600, Eminent 310, Yamaha CS-80
- The sound: Eminent 310 et phasing, Séquenceurs mélodiques, Réverbérations larges
- Labels: Polydor, Disques Dreyfus, Vogue, Ohr
- Key artists: Jean-Michel Jarre, Vangelis, Space, Didier Marouani, Tomita
Producing Space Music
Space music keeps the kosmische pulse but pops it up, 100 to 125 BPM with eighth or sixteenth sequences built around a melody you remember; Oxygene Part IV sits near 120 with a discreet drum machine and a slight human lead on the main melody to keep it alive. The drum machine stays in the background, modeled on Jarre's toy-like Korg Mini Pops: a simple kick on 1 and 3, snare on 2 and 4, eighth-note hats, all near subliminal. The real rhythm comes from arpeggiated sequences, sixteen notes on a minor chord run through an up-down arpeggiator. The bass is a held or eighth-note line following the chord progression with slow portamento. The signature comes from the ARP 2600, the Eminent 310 and the Yamaha CS-80, wrapped in long, wide reverb.
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 Space Music?
Space music is the mainstream cosmic electronic sound of the 1970s: clear melodies floating over planetary pads, somewhere between science popularization and pop reverie. Jean-Michel Jarre filled stadiums with it, Vangelis wrote it for film, and Space made planetariums dance. It was the door…
Who are the key Space Music artists?
Jean-Michel Jarre, Vangelis, Space, Didier Marouani, Tomita.
