When searching for new age cds or relaxing music you need to be sure of what you are looking for. The term ‘new age’ now has several different meanings.
At first it refered to the relaxing and dreamy synthesizer music which was created in the 1970s by artists such as Kitaro, and to a certain extent Tangerine Dream. Now it can encompas a whole range of styles.
The most common interpretation of the genre is music which is designed to relax and open the mind. It normally contains a low bass drone, monotonous rhythmic sequences and simple modal melodies. This combination of sounds can be very relaxing and almost hypnotic in its nature.
Today you can also find many New Age CDs that are performed by solo instruments such as piano, flute or sitar.