Dalarna University's logo and link to the university's website

 The recent Dolby Atmos releases of older recordings originally released in stereo launch new staging possibilities that were absent in the original recordings. As Zagorski-Thomas formulates, staging is “external to the performances” that we hear “yet contribute to the meaning that we perceive” (2014: 73). Thus, these staging properties have become integrated features of the works now re-released thanks to the developments in immersive audio.

Staging in the realm of stereo recordings can be analyzed with analytical tools such as Moore’s (2012) “soundbox” or Moylan’s (2014) “perceived performance environment”. These tools place the sound stage in front of the listener. However, this is not necessarily the case in the Dolby Atmos mixes. In our work, we have analyzed several Dolby Atmos releases of older works, in different genres and eras, that put the listener in various locations in relation to the sound stage. In some mixes, the listener is placed among the sound sources on stage, hence “the performance” surrounds the listener. In some other mixes, the listener is placed in front of the stage but the room where the audience is situated is portrayed with the help of immersive audio. In some other mixes, some sound sources are on a stage in front of the listener and others surround the listener. Furthermore, some mixes do not fit any of these models, and the position of the sound stage varies throughout the performance.

Our study has raised a few questions concerning the immersive audio phenomena itself, how we can study it, and how this knowledge can be useful for staging and mixing in immersive music production: (1) Where does this leave us when it comes to staging and what Clarke (2005) calls “subject-position” in Dolby Atmos mixes? (2) Are we approaching a convention with regards to staging in Dolby Atmos mixes as a convention in stereo mixes appeared in the 1970’s? And, (3) do these mixes change the original work to such a grade that we can call the Dolby Atmos mixes as new works?