Roberta Aguirre
Music for Airports is the sixth studio album by English musician Brian Eno, released in 1978 by Polydor Records. It was the first album to be explicitly labelled as 'ambient music', a genre intended to 'induce calm and a space to think' while remaining as ignorable as it is interesting. Eno's interest in ambient music was sparked when he was hospitalised after a car accident in the mid-1970s. His friend left an album playing quietly, and the music blended with the sound of rain outside, creating an ambience that captured his fluctuating attention. Eno's intention with Music for Airports was to design sound environments for public spaces, specifically airports, which he felt played awful music. The album consists of four compositions created by layering tape loops of differing lengths, and was designed to be continuously looped as a sound installation, with the intent of defusing the anxious atmosphere of an airport terminal.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Year of release | 1978 |
| Artist | Brian Eno |
| Record label | Polydor Records |
| Genre | Ambient, electronic |
| Number of compositions | 4 |
| Composition technique | Layering tape loops of differing lengths |
| Composition elements | Sustained notes, 3-4 note phrases, female vocals, piano |
| Composition intention | To defuse the anxious atmosphere of an airport terminal |
| Composition style | Deliberately austere and unemotional |
| Composition inspiration | Time spent in an airport in Cologne, Germany |
| Composition process | Experimentation with tape machines |
| Composition goal | To induce calm and a space to think |
| Composition flexibility | Accommodates various levels of listening attention |
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What You'll Learn
Brian Eno's inspiration for the album
Eno, a self-proclaimed "nervous flyer", also considered the feelings that arise from being at an airport, including the supposed mortality salience, and hoped the album would bring solace. He wanted to create music that would induce calm and a space to think, welcoming in the context of the anxious atmosphere of an airport terminal. Eno also wanted to challenge the conventions of traditional background music, which he felt was produced by "stripping away all sense of doubt and uncertainty" and thus removing "all genuine interest". Instead, he aimed to create music that retained these qualities and could accommodate many levels of listening attention without enforcing a particular type of listening.
The album was a continuation of Eno's experimentation with the tape machine as a compositional tool, a process he had begun with his 1975 album Discreet Music. It also saw further exploration of generative, systems-created music, where Eno would focus on creating a system that would generate ambient music. This involved using small recordings of sustained notes or 3-4 note phrases, and looping them at different rates determined by the length of the tape they were recorded on. The difference in tape lengths between loops would cause them to intersect in interesting ways, creating new phrases and variations on existing themes with each repeat.
Eno's work on Music for Airports was also influenced by avant-garde efforts, including Erik Satie's "musical furniture", John Cage's chance compositions, LaMonte Young's experiments with sustained tones and drones, and Steve Reich's phase works.
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Tape loops and layering
Brian Eno's Ambient 1: Music for Airports is a four-part piece created by layering tape loops of differing lengths. Eno began experimenting with tape machines as a compositional tool with 1975's Discreet Music, and continued this exploration with Music for Airports.
To create the album, Eno used small recordings of music – sustained notes or 3-4 note phrases – and looped them at different rates, determined by the length of the tape they were recorded on. The difference in tape lengths between loops caused them to intersect in interesting ways, with new phrases and variations emerging on each repeat.
Eno used around 22 tape loops, each with a different length of time before the sound repeated. For example, one loop had just one piano note on it, another had two, and another had a group of girls singing one note, sustaining it for ten seconds. There were eight loops of girls' voices and about fourteen loops of piano.
Eno described his process as setting the loops running and "let [ting] them configure in whichever way they wanted to". He saw his role as "hardly interfering at all", acting as the "initial selector of sounds and engineer".
The use of tape loops and layering created a minimalist composition with ebbs and flows, described as sonic waves lapping on a beach.
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The role of the composer
Eno's role as a composer involved acting as an initial selector of sounds and an engineer. He experimented with small recordings of music, using sustained notes or 3-4 note phrases, and looping them at different rates determined by the length of the tape they were recorded on. The difference in tape lengths between loops caused them to intersect in interesting ways, creating new phrases and variations on existing themes with each repeat.
Eno's process built upon his earlier work with tape machines as a compositional tool, which he had first explored with his 1975 album, Discreet Music. For Music for Airports, he recorded single notes sung by a trio of female singers, which he then looped via tape machines. He also made use of spliced tape loops, layering them to create the final compositions.
Eno's role as a composer was also influenced by his interest in ambience, which was sparked by an experience in a hospital room where the sound of an album playing quietly blended with the rain outside. This led to his desire to create sound environments for public spaces, such as airports, which he felt were often lacking in this regard.
Overall, Eno's role as a composer involved creating a unique and groundbreaking album that challenged traditional musical structures and offered a calming and thought-provoking atmosphere for listeners, with the specific intention of defusing the anxious atmosphere of an airport terminal.
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The album's reception
Brian Eno's Ambient 1: Music for Airports, released in 1978, is considered a landmark album in ambient and electronic music. It is credited with coining the term "ambient music", which Eno described as "an atmosphere, or a surrounding influence: a tint".
Eno's intention with the album was to produce music that would enhance the environment of airports, which he believed were often filled with \"awful music". He wanted to create music that would be \"as ignorable as it is interesting", allowing for many levels of listening attention without enforcing one in particular.
The album was designed to be continuously looped as a sound installation, with the intent of defusing the anxious atmosphere of an airport terminal. Eno, a self-proclaimed "nervous flyer", considered the feelings that arise when one is at an airport, including the supposed mortality salience, and hoped the album would bring solace.
Music for Airports has been described as "haunting and comforting", with its ebbs and flows of minimalist composition being slow and deliberate. It has been performed by musicians in airports, including by the Bang on a Can All-Stars ensemble, who performed the first track, "1/1", at the San Diego Airport Terminal. The track has also been used in various media, including the film "The Lovely Bones" and the US public radio program "This American Life".
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The album's legacy
Brian Eno's Ambient 1: Music for Airports is widely regarded as a landmark album in ambient and electronic music. While it wasn't his first foray into ambient music, it was the first album to be explicitly labelled as 'ambient music', a term that Eno himself coined. The album is known for its unique composition style, using tape loops and small recordings of sustained notes or short phrases looped at varying rates to create interesting intersections and variations.
The album has had a lasting impact on the music industry and has been described as a "seismic moment in musical history" by Ivan Hewitt of The Telegraph in 2016. It has influenced a broad spectrum of music that is now classified as ambient, with artists such as Bang on a Can and Psychic Temple creating their own renditions and performances of the work. Even forty years after its release, Music for Airports continues to surprise and inspire, with Eno himself still exploring the concepts he pioneered with modern iOS apps.
Music for Airports has also found its way into popular culture, with excerpts featured in films such as "9½ Weeks" and "The Lovely Bones", as well as in documentaries like "The Shock of the New". The album's impact extends beyond music, functioning as background music for activities like reading or tidying up, and even as a form of conceptual art that prompts reflections on the nature of music, the composer, and the act of listening.
The album's cover art, featuring four abstract graphic notation images representing the structure and instrumentation of each track, has also become iconic. Bruce Brubaker's "Eno Piano" and "Eno Piano 2" albums, released in 2023 and 2024, included piano transcriptions of "Music for Airports", further solidifying its place in musical history.
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Frequently asked questions
'Music for Airports' was made using spliced tape loops of differing lengths, layered to create a sound installation. Brian Eno, the creator of the album, used small recordings of sustained notes or 3-4 note phrases, and looped them at different rates.
Brian Eno was inspired to create the album after spending several hours waiting for a flight at Germany's Cologne Bonn Airport. He found the atmosphere uninspired and the music annoying. He then conceived of an album of music "designed for airports".
Eno wanted to create an album that would defuse the anxious atmosphere of an airport terminal. He wanted to create "ambient music" that would induce calm and provide a space to think. He also wanted to create music that could accommodate many levels of listening attention without enforcing one in particular.
