Electronic ambient music is a genre of music that emerged in the 1970s, characterized by its use of electronic instruments and its focus on creating a sense of atmosphere and space.

The origins of electronic ambient music can be traced back to the work of experimental composers such as Brian Eno, who began experimenting with electronic music in the 1960s. Eno's early ambient pieces, such as "Discreet Music" (1975), employed tape loops and other electronic techniques to create a sense of timelessness and spaciousness.

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, other musicians began to explore the possibilities of electronic ambient music, including Tangerine Dream, Steve Roach, and Harold Budd. These musicians used various electronic instruments, including synthesizers, drum machines, and samplers, to create complex and immersive soundscapes.

In the 1990s and 2000s, electronic ambient music continued to evolve and diversify, with new subgenres emerging, such as IDM (intelligent dance music), ambient techno, and dark ambient. Today, electronic ambient music continues to be a popular genre, with many artists and musicians experimenting with new sounds and techniques to push the boundaries of the genre.

Modular synths can be used to make ambient music by creating slow, evolving sounds that create a sense of space and atmosphere. Generative patches with slowly evolving sounds are second-nature to modular synths. When in doubt, running almost any sound through a low pass filter and reverb or delay will push it toward being an ambient sound.

Some specific sounds that can be made with Eurorack that work well with ambient music include:
1. Long, slowly evolving drones: These can be created using oscillators and filters that are modulated by envelopes or LFOs.
2. Textures and pads: These can be created using a combination of oscillators, filters, and effects such as delay and reverb.
3. Ambient noise: This can be created using noise generators and filters.

Modular synths, and Eurorack in particular, have been so influential on ambient music that it would be more difficult to name an ambient artist today that doesn't use modular synths. The 21st century is truly the golden age of analog synthesis and electronic music of all genres. The technology available in Eurorack has influenced and even created entire electronic music genres.