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This paper introduces a framework for the creation and analysis of sonic spatialization and proxemics in audiovisual media. The authors apply the framework to three public service announcements to show how sonic proxemics can be used as a rhetorical device that may be used to strengthen political aims.

This article presents an overview of the use of binaural recording and experimental headphone mixing for a short film. Drawing loosely on theories of proxemics, the article illustrates how sound mixing can be used to create a unique subjective perspective. In particular, the authors sought to experiment with and to use the peculiarities of stereo headphone mixing and binaural sound to reinforce visual elements of a film designed for horizontal viewing on tablets.

When a stereophonic track is heard through headphones or over loudspeakers, the image of a virtual performance is created in the mind. This virtual performance, which exists exclusively on the record, can be conceptualised in terms of the ‘sound-box’ (Moore 1993), a four-dimensional virtual space within which sounds can be located through: lateral placement within the stereo field; foreground and background placement due to volume and distortion; height according to sound vibration frequency; and time. From the mid-1960s, the increasing shift from mono to stereo meant that producers and engineers had to contend with the notion and potential of a song's sonic arrangement or mix, resulting in a disparity of sonic placement and a diverse range of sound-box configurations. By 1972, a normative positioning of sound sources within the sound-box was established, which we term the ‘diagonal mix’. This article focuses on the consolidation of this norm by means of a ‘taxonomy of mixes’ and the utilisation of visual representations which detail the sound-box configurations of a variety of pop/rock, easy listening and psychedelic tracks from 1966 to 1972.

Analysis of the spatial elements of popular music recordings can be made by way of the ‘sound-box’, a concept that acknowledges the way sound sources are perceived to exist in four dimensions: laterality, register, prominence, and temporal continuity. By late 1972 producers working across a range of styles and in different geographical locations had adopted a normative positioning of sound sources across these dimensions. In 1965 no such norm existed. This article contextualizes the notion of the sound-box within academic discourse on popular music and explores the methodology employed by a research project that addressed the gradual coming-into-existence of the norm, which the project defined as the diagonal mix. A taxonomy of types of mix is offered, and a chronology of the adoption of the diagonal mix in rock is presented.

This article is one of a series exploring the spatialization of sound sources in recorded songs and how they may be understood (see also ‘The Virtual Performance Space in Rock’, twentieth-century music 5/2). Its theoretical basis is multi-faceted, utilizing notions of ecological perception, of the sound-box, of the singer's persona, and of interpersonal distance in communication, as well as further concepts from cognitive science. It focuses particularly on image schemata and proxemics, exemplifying them across a range of genres, while also addressing them critically, for instance from a feminist perspective. Finally, it explores how this theoretical basis helps us not only to understand the contribution of spatialization to the interpretation of songs and their meanings, but also to shed light on the role of other musical domains.

This thesis focuses on the main attributes of rock anthems. It asks the questions, 'What makes a rock anthem?' and 'How may we define a rock anthem?'. Through textual analysis and paralinguistic analysis, the thesis discusses aspects of multi-modal participation, such as singing, clapping, swaying and waving that have become identifiable features of rock anthems. The musical analysis highlights common musical and lyrical attributes that prove to be conducive in creating vocal participation from audiences. The pedagogical nature of rock anthems is highlighted, through musical analysis and also through an analysis of music video. The world-wide knowledge of the accompanying rock anthem gestures is discussed with reference to the influence of video as a form of mediation in teaching audiences how and when to participate. The gestural participation that is generated in rock anthem performances is discussed in terms of its communicative role and the production of collectivity. The thesis also further explores the idea of band/audience interaction in a live context to create one performer and the notion of the rock community, with particular reference to the 1985 'Live Aid' concert. The musical and social role of rock anthems is considered in new types of anthems. The discussion of other anthems such as football and dance anthems highlights the continuity-change that has taken place, emphasising the community building feature of anthems. While new forms of anthems, as socio-musical practices have emerged, the anthem as a term is also considered. The mass mediation of 'anthem' through CD compilations and the impact media has had on the spread of the 'anthem' as a label is also discussed