This book explores what speech, music and other sounds have in common. It gives a detailed description of the way perspective, rhythm, textual quality and other aspects of sound are used to communicate emotion and meaning. It draws on a wealth of examples from radio (disk jockey and newsreading speech, radio plays, advertising jingles, news signature tunes), film soundtracks (The Piano, The X-files, Disney animation films), music ranging from medieval plain chant to drum 'n' bass and everyday soundscapes.

Theo Van Leeuwen is Professor of Language and Communication at the University of Southern Denmark, Emeritus Professor at the University of Technology, Sydney, and Honorary Professor at the University of New South Wales, Lancaster University and Cardiff University.

Introduction
Perspective
Time
Interacting Sounds
Melody
Voice Quality and Timbre
Modality
Afterword
Index and Bibliography.