Since the birth of film-making, music has played a central role in conveying emotion, action, tension, and tragedy. More recently, with the enormous growth of the gaming industry and the internet, a whole new role for musical composition and performance has emerged. However the use of music within multimedia presents a range of unique challenges.
The Psychology of Music in Multimedia presents a wide range of scientific research on the psychological processes involved in the integration of sound and image when engaging with film, television, video, interactive games, and computer interfaces. Collectively, the rich chapters in this edited volume represent a comprehensive treatment of the existing research on the multimedia experience, with the aim of disseminating the current knowledge base and inspiring future scholarship. The focus on empirical research and the strong psychological framework makes a unique and distinct contribution to the field. The international collection of contributors represents eight countries and a broad range of disciplines including psychology, musicology, neuroscience, media studies, film, and communications. Each chapter includes a comprehensive review of the topic and, where appropriate, identifies models that can be empirically tested.
Part one presents contrasting theoretical approaches from cognitive psychology, philosophy, semiotics, communications, musicology, and neuroscience. Part two reviews research on the structural aspects of music and multimedia, while Part three focuses on research examining the influence of music on perceived meaning in the multimedia experience. Finally, Part four explores empirical findings in a variety of real-world applications of music in multimedia including entertainment and educational media for children, video and computer games, television and online advertising, auditory displays of information, and the impact of surround sound. The closing chapter identifies emerging themes and points to the value of broadening the scope of research to encompass multisensory, multidisciplinary, and cross-cultural perspectives to advance our understanding of the role of music in multimedia.
This is valuable book for those in the fields of music psychology and musicology, as well as film and media studies
