The Artificial and the Reflective

To perceive the aural environment, listen without the presence of music.

The contrast with the musical environment, or with "environmental" music, is instantly apparent.

Sound imagery may be constructed in an aesthetic way without the stylistic elements that commonly define music, and in doing so the composer creates a more authentic reflection or representation of the "atmospheric" environment.  But make no mistake: such sound art is no more created randomly than actual environmental patterns are random in nature.  There must be cause and effect processes that the composer may influence and replicate in compositional terms; these techniques and methods are the unique intellectual property of any composer working in these peculiar experimental modes.

Perception is revelation.

Simple, Involuntary Nervous Movements

Foot shaking and the like.  Fidgety, repetitive, rhythmic patterns.  Nervous energy, perhaps.  Restlessness.  Do these things result from external sound patterns?  Are they carried on after those patterns are removed?

Interesting questions.

Rhythm, melody, and percussion are expected in music.  It may be these things are essential to most listeners, and that music not dominated by these does not qualify as "music" at all, but is then, maybe, something like a "tone poem" or a sort of atmosphere established with sound.

That's up to the judgement of the listener, certainly.

From the album Elevation: