Does Sound Heal

This documentary has been in the works for a few years, with Covid proving a hefty stumbling block. It focusses on the work of Tenille Bentley, a musician trying to get to the bottom of the healing qualities of sound and music, specifically in the frequency range. Most music these days is tuned to 440 hertz but Bentley and her En Coda Orchestra play at 432. If this sounds a bit vague, it's purely because I'm a tone-deaf numpty and all this musical jargon is beyond me.

The split between science and the arts is mentioned and the film aims to integrate these fields. There's a satisfying balance between the scientists and professors, talking about brain waves and neuroscience, and the musicians coming at it from a more experiential, more emotional angle. This is one of the doco's strengths - it doesn't actually preach anything to the audience, it's more about informing and recording research.

Another strength is the tightness of the film. Director Dom Giorgi, of Side-B Films, has bags of experience, especially in music docos, and he knows what to leave on the hard drive. It's a very accomplished piece of work that looks and sounds great on the big screen.

The list of interviewees includes; the subject, Tenille Bentley, who has a fantastic voice; Daniel Lane from the Perth Brain Centre; Music Director Mark Coughlan; Neuroscientist Dr. Alan Harvey; Nyungar elder Dr. Richard Walley; Orchestra composer Dr. Stuart James; Music Cognition lecturer Dr. Jon Prince; and En Coda members, January Kultura and Julian Silburn.

The film leads us to the final concert, where a small group of people are wired up and analysed to find how their minds and bodies react to the music, covering several metrics. The surface-scratching of the research hints at more to come from this endeavour and could easily lend itself to a series.

As Daniel Lane says,

"We're starting to understand how sound and music affect the brain. If we can learn how certain sounds and music influence people's brains, we could gather information that might help others. That would be a wonderful achievement."

This seems like just the beginning of a blending of music and science that could uncover some pretty interesting things in the future.

Does Sound Heal is screening at Melbourne's Cinema Nova on Sep 20th, Sydney's Dendy Newtown on Sep 21st, and Adelaide's Piccadilly Cinema on Sep 22nd.

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