Beginning
in the 1940's, French ear nose throat specialist Dr. Alfred A. A.
Tomatis began to investigate how the ear and voice are related. He
began to expand our understanding of the effect of sound vibration on
human life.As a physician, A. A. Tomatis began his research when he was
examining ammunition factory workers to determine the extent of their
hearing losses. He observed a particular pattern of consistent
deficiencies in the high frequencies among the group.
At the
same time, he worked with opera singers who could no longer produce
certain quality of sounds with their voices. When medical treatments
failed to provide an effective solution for the singers' deficient
voices, A. A. Tomatis gave them hearing tests and observed deficiencies
in their hearing similar to those of the factory workers. He further
observed that the sounds missing from the singers' hearing were the
same sounds missing from their voices. A. A. Tomatis hypothesized that
the voice could only produce an emission of what the ear could hear.
To
prove this hypothesis, which became the basis of the Tomatis Effect, he
experimented and described what he observed. A. A. Tomatis had a person
emit a vowel that the person subsequently heard only by earphones after
the harmonics of the sound were manipulated by filters. A. A. Tomatis
observed that the harmonics of the person's voice emission changed
immediately and unconsciously according to the manipulated acoustic
response in the earphones.
The results of this experiment
proved the hypothesis. The results also led to another observation and
the formation of the first and second laws of Tomatis, shown below.
When Tomatis asked whether the observed effect could be the basis of a
permanent new conditioning of the ear's abilities, he conducted
adaptive experiments and noticed desired permanent gains with the
research subjects. The adaptive experiments led to the third law, which
refers only to an anatomically and physiologically undamaged ear.
The
three laws were independently confirmed by the Sorbonne University in
Paris, France in 1957 by the Academies of Medicine and Science.
Law 1: The voice only contains the harmonics that the ear can hear.
Law
2: If you give the possibility to the ear to correctly hear the
distorted frequencies of sound that are not well heard, these are
immediately and unconsciously restored into the voice.
Law 3: The imposed audition sufficiently maintained over time results in permanently modifying the audition and phonation.
A.
A. Tomatis was the first to develop a sophisticated process with
patented technology as its base to develop one's audition and
phonation. He observed that such conditioned subjects changed from one
way of passive listening to another way of conscious active listening.
Tomatis distinguished between hearing and listening and the presence of
a consciousness that differs between the two. He noticed that subjects
who developed their listening also developed their language, learning,
socialization, communication, musical abilities, motor skills,
creativity, and personal growth.
He created the discipline of
Audio-Psycho-Phonology, linking changes in one's uses of the ears and
their connections to the brain and body to changes in one's voice and
one's interactions with self, others, and environment. Dr. A. A.
Tomatis expanded our awareness of the ear's role throughout life,
beginning with his pioneering research findings that listening begins
with the fetus before birth.
The Tomatis Method includes
multiple proprietary components of equipment and materials: the
Electronic Ear (EE) or Educational Listening Trainer (ELT), special
earphones for bone and air conduction, Listening Test Machine for
giving a Listening Test, enhanced proprietary recordings (music
tapes/CDs, including Mozart, Gregorian Chant, and a variety of active
voice tapes), and program protocols for machine settings and audio
recordings to use with different types of applications with individual
users. The most essential part of the Tomatis Method is the EE or ELT.
These devices are connected to a good quality CD or tape player or
other media that allows high frequencies up to at least 20,000 Hz to be
heard. The EE and ELT can filter recordings of music and voice, and the
sound travels through two channels, with different settings. A gating
mechanism alternates the sound between the channels when it reaches a
specific intensity.
Through a microphone connected to the EE
or ELT, one's ear can receive good quality audio-vocal feedback of
one's voice. The EE and ELT are designed to educate the ear to its full
functioning, generally as a cerebral stimulator and specifically as a
discriminator and a balance mechanism. The right ear is trained to be
the leading or dominant ear to make for the most efficient processing
of speech directly by the speech centers in the left hemisphere of the
brain. The Tomatis Method continues to evolve as technology changes and
research expands the field.
The Tomatis Method expanded
worldwide throughout the second half of the 20th century and led to the
emergence of a new professional field of Sound Training. The field
continues to expand from the original conceptions of Tomatis.
Some
other methods and materials have been developed, most of them claiming
to be like Tomatis and describing pertinent parts of his technique and
research to validate their own method. This Code of Ethics and
Standards of Practice is only applicable to those who have undergone
the extensive professional training and completed the certification
process through an authorized Tomatis Développement (previously through
Tomatis International) trainer. A list of these is attached, along with
information on the International Association of Registered Certified
Tomatis Consultants and any associated National Associations of
Registered Certified Tomatis Consultants. Registered Certified Tomatis
Consultants from many backgrounds work with different applications of
The Tomatis Method and make claims of many types.
As the field
expands and as the Standards of Practice and Ethical Principles for
Registered Certified Tomatis Consultants are accepted worldwide, claims
will be documented with research ranging from single subject studies to
double blind protocols. Registered Certified Tomatis Consultants are
limited to those claims that can be made within the regulations of
their country and the published research. Registered Certified Tomatis
Consultants are developing research protocols and reporting methods in
alignment with professional standards for practicing the work.
© International Association of Registered Certified Tomatis Consultants unless otherwise stated