Ambient 3: Day of Radiance

Ambient 3: Day of Radiance (1980) is an album by the American ambient musician Laraaji (alias Edward Larry Gordon), which was produced by Brian Eno.

This album is the third entry of Eno’s Ambient series, which began in 1978 with Music for Airports followed by The Plateaux of Mirror. Eno encountered Laraaji as a street busker playing in Washington Square Park in 1979.^[7]

Compared to the rest of the series, Day of Radiance features very little in the way of electronics. Laraaji uses a variety of acoustic stringed instruments such as a hammered dulcimer and 36-stringed open-tuned zither, with treatments by Eno.

The first three tracks are variations on a theme named "The Dance", and are delivered in a fast, hypnotic, gamelan-like, rhythmic pace on a hammered dulcimer. The final two tracks ("Meditation 1 & 2") are more in keeping with the "ambient" style featured on the rest of the series. These are slow, meandering beatless compositions performed on the zither with occasional dulcimer.

All tracks are written by Laraaji.

Side one

1. "The Dance #1" – 9:06
2. "The Dance #2" – 9:39
3. "The Dance #3" – 3:15

Side two

1. "Meditation #1" – 18:42
2. "Meditation #2" – 7:50

• Cover art and production – Brian Eno
• Music – Laraaji
• Instruments – treated and amplified zither; hammered dulcimer

• Interview; 2002
• Stylus article on the Ambient series
• Discogs.com entry
• dwij entry