Original Documents

Documents in this section

• The Tomatis Effect 1952

  Presentation of the three laws of the Tomatis Effect by Louis Longchambon, professor emeritus at the University (booklet, ca. 1952, 4 pages).

• The Musical Ear February 1953

  Communication by Alfred Tomatis (12th Congress of the Société Française de Phoniatrie, Paris 15 October 1952, published in the Journal Français d'Oto-Rhino-Laryngologie in February 1953): description of the concept of the 'musical ear' and of the 'reserve potential' drawn from audiometric examinations carried out at the Arsenal de l'Aéronautique.

• Deafness at the D.E.F.A. 1954

  Alfred Tomatis's communication to the D.E.F.A. Congress (May 1954) on occupational deafness among armament workers — the wind tunnels at Vernon and Meudon, and gun and machine-gun firers — published in Le Médecin d'usine.

• Stammering 1955

  Founding article by Dr Alfred Tomatis (June 1955), prior to the Electronic Ear: study of 50 stammerers at the Hôpital Saint-Michel (Miss Dinville), demonstrating the directing ear and the transcerebral transfer.

• The Nuisances of Noise 1957

  Synthesis by Alfred Tomatis for LE MÉDECIN D'USINE (November 1957): the four periods of occupational deafness, plant audiometry, objective audiometry based on the 'Tomatis effect', the directing ear, auditory and vocal scotomata, and racial auditions (Italian, French, Russian).

• Objective Audiometry: Results of the Phonation-Audition Feedback May 1957

  Founding memoir by Alfred Tomatis (J.F.O.R.L. May-June 1957): discovery of the directing ear, distinction between receptive and expressive musical ear, transcerebral transfer (1/15th sec) and pathogenesis of stammering, occupational deafness of singers, auditory and vocal scotomata, racial auditory selectivity, and the first description of the apparatus for objective audiometry.

• Somatic and Psychic Reactions to Industrial Noise 1959

  Communication by Alfred Tomatis published in the Archives des Maladies Professionnelles (1959): three phases of occupational deafness (awakening, alarm, exhaustion), inco-malleolar block and stapedial block, education of the ear to noise, asthenic syndrome with weight loss, reactions independent of auditory impairment (130-170 dB) and vibratory physics of noise.

• Resonance in Musical Scales 1960

  Trilingual communication by Alfred Tomatis (1960) on the physical, physiological and psychological nature of resonance in musical scales — summaries in English and German, main text in French.

• The Tomatis Effect and the Electronic Ear for the Acquisition of Modern Languages March 1960

  Alfred Tomatis's lecture at the UNESCO Palace (11 March 1960) on the Tomatis Effect and the AURELLE Electronic Ear for the acquisition of modern languages: the audition-phonation loop, listening conditionings, integration of foreign languages.

• Results of the Examination of Hearing in 180 Children Hospitalised at the Centre de Psychothérapie infantile in Armentières 1962

  Audiometric communication by Bruno Castets, R. Lefort, A. Tomatis and M. Reyns to the Annales médico-psychologiques (June 1962): systematic audiometric examination of 180 children placed in child psychiatry at Armentières — significant hearing impairments evidenced, reflection on their place in the genesis of psychic disorders in the child.

• The Voice (1962) 1962

  In-depth article by Alfred Tomatis (1962) on the human voice as audio-vocal servomechanism: directing ear, transcerebral transfer, time and gain adapter, stammering and delayed feedback, musical audition, vocal scotomata, sonic relief.

• The Otorhinolaryngologist Before the Problems of Language (1964) 1964

  Article by Alfred Tomatis (L'Hôpital, April 1964) pleading the central role of otorhinolaryngology in the study of language: delivery, quantity, quality of phonation and auditory laterality.

• Use of the Tomatis Effect Electronic Ear in the English Class 1977

  Pedagogical report by Gaston Vanthuyne, José Denuyne and Roger Scheuer (Athénée Royal de Comines, September 1977): application of the Tomatis Effect Electronic Ear to the English class of a fifth-year Renovated stream (31 pupils, GE/GT) — selectivity, sibilants, FM 8000 Hz, MSR, EF, SBM/SBE, immediate auditory memory, rhythm.

• Phonic Preparation for Childbirth

  Phonic preparation for childbirth at Foch in 1991

• Basic Principle of the Functioning of the Electronic Ear

  It all began, thirty years ago, with the juxtaposition of two series of observations. As an otorhinolaryngologist and son of a singer, Alfred Tomatis had to…

• Phonemes in the Spotlight

  On the occasion of a status review of the speech-therapy work of a member of the network, the sonographic analysis of certain phonemes was carried out by…

• The Integration of Modern Languages

  As its title specifies, the present work does not pretend to set out all the resultants of the Tomatis Effect. Only the consequences…

• Language

  To envisage the clinical examination of language is to consider it as an existing entity, clinically observable. It is not customary at present…

• Psychic and Sensory Life of the Foetus

  The various researches carried out in the course of the last ten years concerning foetal life allow us to reinforce the theories…

• Finding One's Voice

  Article published in the magazine Psychologie in 1982, by Catherine Dreyfus. Working on one's voice to know oneself better — re-education, the Tomatis method, semiophony, psychophony.

• In the Beginning is the Sound

  Interview with Dr Alfred Tomatis in Santé Magazine (ca. 1982) on foetal listening and the maternal voice, followed by an interview with Marie-Louise Aucher and Dr Michel Odent on prenatal singing at the Pithiviers maternity hospital.

• The Re-education of the Voice

  Article by Dr Alfred A. Tomatis published in the journal Vie Médicale (no. 20-2, May 1974): comparative study of the traditional method and of the audio-vocal method in the treatment of dysphonia.

• Modern Languages

  The three Tomatis laws applied to the learning of modern languages: the voice contains only what the ear hears. Presentation of the Electronic Ear and its pedagogical application.

• The Auditory Universe

  Lecture by Pr Alfred Tomatis (1976): the ear as cortical charge (dynamo effect) and organ of equilibration. From Hermes Trismegistus to the pedagogy of Listening, foundations of audio-psycho-phonology.

• Music, an Indispensable yet Supposedly Superfluous Notion

  Article by Alfred Tomatis in Diapason 25th Anniversary (1981): music as neuro-physiological preparation for language. Why Mozart, the role of Gregorian chant, of nursery rhymes and folk songs.

• On the Test Bench

  Reportage by Bernard Montelh recounting his experience of Alfred Tomatis's listening assessment (French magazine, 1985), accompanied by the sidebar 'The Imaginary of the Ear' by Jacques Bril on the mythology of the ear.

• Detailed Description of the Posture (Audiogenic Training)

  Practical manual of audiogenic training posture according to the Tomatis method, by Guy Baleydier, speech therapist in Montbrison (March 1983). Sacrum, ligament of Bertin, posture of the cross, larynx, peau bun, coronal point.

• Association of Developmental Techniques in the Re-education of the Dyslexic

  Anne-Marie Bauduin (paediatric nurse, Belgium) at the 3rd AFAPP Congress: combining Tomatis's audio-psycho-phonology, Carl Delacato's sensorimotor re-education and Lefèvre's Visiology for dyslexic children.

• Approaches to a Care of Epileptic Phenomena through the Electronic Ear

  Communication by Dr E. Derrien (Montpellier, ca. 1976): clinical follow-up of 10 cases of epilepsy under the Electronic Ear, psychosomatic hypotheses and results on essential epilepsies.

• Densified Sounds (Technical Sheet No. 10)

  Technical Sheet no. 10 (December 1983) of Dr Alfred Tomatis's Centre du Langage: pedagogical presentation of the concept of densified sounds and their clinical indications (hypoacusis, Ménière, depression, autism).

• The Problem of Access to Language

  Communication by Dr Jean Raynaud (neuropsychiatrist, Toulouse Military Hospital) at the 3rd AFAPP Congress (Pau, May 1976): semiological study and therapeutic evolution of a stammer and a psycho-neurosis under the Electronic Ear.

• The Education of the Dyslexic under the Electronic Ear

  Chapter by Professor Alfred Tomatis from his book Éducation et Dyslexie (ESF, 1972): the educational cure in three stages (filtered sounds, performing, training), from the maternal voice to audio-psycho-phonological self-monitoring.

• The Electronic Ear, an Auxiliary Technique in Psychotherapy

  Communication by Dr Jean Sarkissoff (Centre du Langage, Geneva) at the 4th International Congress of Audio-Psycho-Phonology in Madrid, May 1974: the Electronic Ear in support of psychotherapy, the birth fantasy and healing as rebirth.

• The Multidisciplinary Aspects of Audio-Psycho-Phonology

  Communication by Léna A. Tomatis to the 5th International Congress of Audio-Psycho-Phonology in Toronto (1978): a panorama of the fields of action of APP, from the school to sport, from psychoanalysis to physiotherapy.

• From Speech Therapy to Audio-Psycho-Phonology

  Testimony of Elizabeth Dorignac, speech therapist of the SAPP (Amiens): why and how she moved from classical Borel-Maisonny re-education to Tomatis's Audio-Psycho-Phonology for dyslexics.

• The Audio-Psycho-Phonological Assessment

  Practical manual of the Audio-Psycho-Phonological Assessment of Dr Tomatis's Centre du Langage: case history, listening test, laterality test, audio-lateral metering, final consultation.

• Study on Stammering

  Compact clinical note from the AFAPP archives: compilation of constants observed in 18 listening tests of stammerers in BAPP — closed selectivity, flat AC, dome/peak in the language zone (paternal problem), peaks at 8000 Hz AC and 4000 Hz BC (search for the ideal mother), scotoma-peak couple at 500/750 Hz (anal sphere).

• The Correction of the Sung Voice

  Memoir by Alfred Tomatis on the correction of the sung voice (S.F.E.C.M.A.S.): fourfold examination protocol, syndrome of auditory incompatibility between master and pupil, spectrographic autopsy of Caruso's voice (1901-end of career), and re-education apparatus with low-pass / high-pass filters.