Gérard Depardieu
French cinema and theatre actor, says in his biography, “Jean-Laurent Cochet opened for me the craft of acting, and Alfred Tomatis opened me up to language.
Before Tomatis, I could not complete any of my sentences. It was he who helped give continuity to my thoughts, and it was he who gave me the power to synthesise and understand what I was thinking.”
“We were lucky with Gérard,” Tomatis says. “As we re-established his proper ear and as we liberated his mental energy, the improvement was stark; he refound his voice and his memory.”
Benjamin Luxon
English baritone
“I now have a much stronger technique. It’s ironical but, at 56, I really think I am approaching a time when I can sing better than I ever did before.”
Sting
Former member of The Police, now world renowned as a solo performer
Struck by the same loss as Beethoven and Caruso, Sting visited Tomatis on a regular basis in Paris to improve the deficiencies of his eardrums caused by the level of noise on stage and his recordings, not an unusual occurrence within the world of musicians.
“Before meeting Tomatis,” said Sting, “I visited many American specialists who told me that I wasn’t lucky. However, I had earned a fortune and had great success in my career, so I should accept the way things were.” Fortunately Sting did not ‘hear’ their advice!“
What do these celebrities have in common?
They all suffered from a voice problem, a hearing problem or difficulties in processing their thoughts. They all eventually found a solution to their difficulties by visiting Dr Tomatis, a French ear, nose and throat specialist, who designed a listening program to overcome difficulties with speech, singing, memory and attention.
Tomatis’ first principle is, “The voice can only reproduce what the ear hears”, which is extremely important for singers, musicians and actors. How can they reproduce sounds and express themselves if their ability to process the information is not 100% accurate?
To help people overcome their difficulties and access their true potential, Tomatis designed the Tomatis Listening Device also known as the ‘Electronic Ear’, which exercises the whole ear through air and bone conduction. It is a great tool for increasing and fine-tuning the perception of sounds and therefore improving one’s vocal and instrumental posture.
Voice, Music and Singing
lfred A. Tomatis was led to discover, thanks to research undertaken with comedians, singers and professional musicians, the fundamental connection between the ability to hear sounds and the ability to reproduce them vocally or with a musical instrument.
Voice and speech can be changed by influencing the way a person hears.
The implementation of a proper listening posture, thanks to the use of the Electronic Ear, enables participants to:
- increase the chance of analysing sound
- improve vocal posture by influencing timbre, rhythm and intensity.
By using the Tomatis Listening Device, providing gymnastic exercise for the ear, the participant heightens his or her sensitivity to sound perception. Any change in listening patterns leads to an immediate change in speech, singing or instrumental output.
“We sing with our ear” – Alfred A. Tomatis
