Ambience...

Okay, let’s talk about ambient music for a bit. I’ve had several conversations with Adam in this regard (and he would theoretically know, seeing as ambient is what he makes) but he hasn’t actually answered my questions. I figure with the couple thousand regular readers here, at least a couple five of you make ambient music. Here’s what I’m wondering:

1. What actually comprises the genre of ambient? As far as I can tell, it is just as varied as any other electronic music sub-genre. Obviously shit like Music For Airports, which is apparently the Led Zeppelin IV of ambient music, is a gimme, but it seems to me that the definition is broad enough to say “this music is electronic and doesn’t have drums. Therefor it is ambient.” I have, however, heard plenty of music on the various ambient intardweb streams that has drums.

2. Is ambient music made with, e.g., found sound just as ambient as tracks made with only synths? Is there some sort of hierarchy involved? With electronic music, the artists that use “real” instrumentation as opposed to soft-synthing their way along are at the top of the food pyramid, obviously. (This is demonstrable fact, so don’t bother arguing with me.) Is the same the case with ambient artists?

3. I went to see Unrecognizable Now last weekend, and the show was notable inasmuch as it markedly did not consist of someone bent over a laptop with a pained expression. This is, as far as I’m aware, the only “ambient” performance I have attended, despite having watched thousands upon thousands of shows. Is a good ambient show marked by actual performance on actual instruments? Or does it not really matter?

No particular reason for these questions; it’s just my insatiable curiosity.