Staging sonic atmospheres as the new aesthetic work

Our primary concern in this paper is to bring attention to the promising, yet largely unexplored concept of atmosphere in sound design. Although this notion is not new, we approach it from a novel perspective i.e., New Phenomenology and New Aesthetics. Accordingly, we review some basic theoretical results in these fields and try to explore their possible application in the sonic context. In particular, the paper: i) compares the concept of sonic atmosphere with the notions of acoustic environment and soundscape by articulating salient elements that constitute each concept, ii) discusses some consequences of the above distinction with respect to the understanding of emotion and immersion, and, finally, iii) provides some initial suggestions about how to design for emotions.