Insight.

Music can help people better tolerate acute pain, according to a first-of-its-kind study supported by pain experts at Nurofen.

This led us to the Tune Out Pain project, devised and developed to bring together the worlds of science and music to uniquely create a soundtrack with the goal of easing people’s pain. 

To make it happen, Nurofen partnered with Dr. Claire Howlin, Psychology Researcher, University College, Dublin, and music producer, Anatole, (AKA Jonathan Baker) a conservatory-trained trumpeter and multi-instrumentalist, to compose the track, All of Us, released on Spotify. 

When played, All of Us was shown to reduce levels of pain intensity and unpleasantness in a way that was clinically and statistically significant. By applying instrumental and orchestral sounds, such as strings, pianos, bells, and minor vocal samples, the track elicits a sense of wonder & empowerment that inspires mental strength to help dissociate from pain.

The track’s cover art was created in collaboration with artist Nicholas Rougeux, who translated the sound into a visual language with data visualization. He altered the traditional representation of scale and used colors to represent each instrument.