Enhancing winter ambience…
Week 2 of winter arrives on the last day of November this year with forecasts of rain, rain, rain heading into December. There’s nothing like the patter of rain on the roof and breath of chilly air through a cracked window to make me breathe deep and burrow into the covers. It’s sweeter than a sedative. The best nights of sleep are winter nights. When it pours outside it feels oh so right to be inside, whether in bed or bundled in blankets on the couch it is glorious to let the gentle rhythm of the rain send you dreaming wintertime dreams.
No matter the weather, winter ambience exudes relaxation. Snowfall, rainfall, crisp clear light blue skies, or softly lit city nights invite you inside, into warmth and gathering. The interior mood gives you permission to settle into that book or that game, that movie or puzzle. Take your time, there’s no rush, and there’s nowhere to go in weather like this. Stay in. Get comfortable. Just be here, relax, and enjoy.
I love winter ambience so much that I put it on all year long, including in the winter. Sometimes winter is just not wintery enough for me, and I need more of that crackling fire, whispering wind, falling snow, or cozy cabin feeling. And the times in which we live have an answer to that desire at the stroke of key or click of a mouse. YouTube is loaded with ambient music and scenery videos! Nearly anything you could wish for is already there. In today’s post I’d like to share a few of my favorites with you.
Winter Music and Scenery:
- Music Energy, Jeremy Soule [SKYRIM] Tundra: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UG_tDitgNII
- Blue Turtle, Winter Ambiance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nsDm36osJW8
- Fantasy Medieval Music, Winter in a Medieval Village: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-AGqAP7TzTw
- Restful Realms, Relaxing Skyrim music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hFd1Kqkh2-k
- Daydreaming of Persephone: Winter Journey to Baldur’s Gate: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R5d1-r3h9dQ
- Blue Turtle, Mountain Pass: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ocJlogyxxNY
- Fantasy Medieval Music, The Northern Hut: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1lcQCXVIJw
Winter Ambient Sounds and Scenery:
- Cozy Timez, Wind and Crackling Fireplace in a Cozy Winter Hut: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZWtUqHX2Uw
- My Ambience, Cozy Cabin Ammbience: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KTTdhmt8yH0
Music and Wintery Interiors (or interiors that would be nice places to be in the winter, of which apparently I mean fantasy and medieval taverns…I’m sure libraries and studies would be nice too, but they didn’t make my list, just taverns):
- Fantasy Medieval Music, Soothing Tavern Music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dy7d5cn7A94
- Daydreaming of Persephone, Medieval Fantasy Tavern 3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_qSupGEik4
- The Resting Bard Channel has many cozy tavern videos to check out: https://www.youtube.com/@TheRestingBard
Ambience of another kind…
Northern cultures and their music traditions offer another winter mood that stands in contrast to coziness and interiority. Instead of gentle strings and glowing hearths, the blasts of horns intone like icy gales raising the hairs on your arms. Drum beats reverberate slow then fast and guttural or throat singing rumble and drone and roll and lurch. Melancholic singing, chanting, and kulning caress and nip at your ears. It’s mysterious, sometimes lonely, sometimes unsettling, sometimes chest pounding music. I find similarities in northern music traditions across content labeled as Mongolian, Siberian, and Viking. This kind of music fuels me to go out into the cold, to be active, to do physical work. It gives me fortitude. It makes me want to feel the sting of wind on my face. It is not music for relaxing, it is music for being bold and fearless and powerful. It’s great for a workout. My favorite YouTube videos of this type are listed below.
Braving the Winter Music:
- The HU, Wolf Totem: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jM8dCGIm6yc
- Ummet Ozcan, Ummet Ozcan X Otyken Altay: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aXsLlOPwe48
- OTYKEN, PHENOMENON: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nD1f1Ian0kA
- Danheim, Mannavegr: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8tilKaOINmE
- Danheim, Domadagr: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zLSKgqULxyY
Bring on the night…
Winter ambience sustains me all year long, and when the winter comes, I only want it more. Whether the wind whistles through the cracks of my home or out of my computer speakers, I will be listening to the sounds of arctic breath long into the deepening night.
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