To turn singing on its ear the singer s voice and the tomatis listening curve part1

To Turn Singing on Its Ear: The Singer's Voice and the Tomatis Listening Curve, Part 1 Author: Pauley, John-Bede Article from: Journal of Singing 63, no. 4 [March/April 2007]: 405-413 Article date: March 1, 2008 Copyright National Association of Teachers of Singing Mar/Apr 2008 Reproduced by kind permission of Richard Dale Sjoerdsma, PhD, Editor in Chief, Journal of Singing, 7206 - 5th Avenue, Kenosha, WI 53143 Figures have been omitted in this reprint About the author: Br. John-Bede Pauley, OSB, is a Benedictine monk of St. John's Abbey. He is currently studying for a PhD in Musicology at Durham University, U.K. His areas of research interest are twentieth century British music; the relation of music to theology, spirituality, and liturgy; and the role of acoustics in performing and listening.

INTRODUCTION IN TRAINING THE VOICE, should teachers and students be concerned with training the ear--not in the sense musicians usually understand "ear training" (identifying intervals, chord progressions, and so on), but training the ear to a stronger acuity to high partials?

It could be argued that the role of the ear is given relatively short shrift in contemporary Western culture. Many observe that ours tends to be a society preponderantly oriented towards the visual. This is not to deny that the aural also is important in contemporary culture; but is it an exaggeration to say that the general populace is more finely attuned to the visual than to the aural? Electronic amplification of sound, in spite of the benefits it brings, has rendered a finely tuned perception of overtones more a matter of personal preference than a necessity.

In the arts, the aural seems, at first glance, to be as vibrant as the visual. Here too, however, a closer look leads one to ask whether this, unlike earlier periods in history, is not the era of the eye. Is it a coincidence that oration was a highly regarded art form in ancient Greece and Rome; that the general populace in Elizabethan England loved the very sound not only of Shakespeare's and Marlowe's prose, but also of the oratory in courts of law; or that the latest symphony in nineteenth century Vienna was a "media event"? Today, on the other hand, the art form that excites the greatest interest on all levels of society, in the largest cities as well as the smallest towns, is film.

Articles and dissertations are written on cinematography and the visual sophistication of this or that camera angle; but how many film scores stand up as works in their own right? The better film scores are considered to be those that do not detract from the visual.

If one concedes this shift from an emphasis on the aural to the visual, how has it happened? A full consideration of that question is beyond the scope of this article. But

it is worth keeping in mind as we consider the central question in this study--How does the ear affect singing?--since singers and their audiences are part of this very visual society.

While culture and language might indeed be factors that influence an entire society's awareness of sound, there are those who look to psychological reasons for individual differences in listening. An extreme example of listening affected by a psychological state is autism, which is the purest form of "nonlistening." (1) The relation of psychology to listening is an aspect of the work of the late otorhinolaryngologist, Dr. Alfred Tomatis. Here, too, we raise an issue beyond the scope of the present study; but the psychological factors are likewise worth bearing in mind as we consider the relation of the ear to singing.

Whatever the causes of a less aurally centered awareness might be, whether in individual cases or in society as a whole, the work of Tomatis has opened up the possibility of rediscovering the importance of sound, particularly high frequency audition. Tomatis underlined the fact that the ear is the first of the sensory organs to develop and mature. The ear is fully functional by the fifth month of gestation. (2) Listening--already in the womb--is the first sense we develop. (3) Not only is the ear first in time; it is, according to Tomatis, the first in importance. Tomatis claimed that the brain receives more stimuli through the ears than any other sense organ. "He considers skin to be differentiated ear rather than vice versa." (4) One of the benefits of his work may well be to reveal an aural malnutrition that is more pervasive than we have heretofore realized. Tomatis not only identified the effects of this malnutrition, he devised a method to address the situation. His method is used, for instance, to treat children with delayed or disordered language development, children with autism, people of all ages who find it difficult to learn a language, people who experience decreased mental alertness, and so on. (5) Bradford Weeks offers a more exhaustive list of maladies successfully treated with high frequency auditive therapy: stuttering, tinnitus, otitis media, scotamas, neurological disorders (toe-walking from vestibular nuclei problems, drooling, strabismus), psychiatric disorders (depression, attention deficit disorder, hyperactivity), learning disorders (dyslexia, inability to concentrate), and a variety of balance/coordination problems related to the ear's vestibular disorders. (6) In addition to treating disorders (pathogenic conditions), the Tomatis method has been used to improve and sharpen potential (fortigenic). This notably has been the case with actors and musicians. The present study, the findings of which will be presented in Part II of this article, concerns itself with the application of Tomatis's work to the use of the voice in singing--a fortigenic use of the method, in other words.

The relation of "l'Effet Tomatis" to singing has received little research attention. This is remarkable since Tomatis developed his theories precisely because of his work with opera singers. Moreover, Tomatis's L'Oreille et La Voix (recently made available in an English translation, The Ear and the Voice, through Scarecrow Press) is devoted entirely to the relation of the ear to the singing voice.

Anecdotal evidence about the value of Tomatis's method when applied to singing abounds in his own books. He refers to the conclusions he has drawn from his many

years of applying his method. One looks in vain, however, for a systematic presentation of the data. Likewise, there is a paucity of such research from other sources. One can find a number of articles and books that explain, or at least allude to, the Tomatis method and its relation to singing, but they also lack detailed accounts of research.

This observation should not be taken as a criticism of either Tomatis or the many Tomatis practitioners. Tomatis's focus was clinically oriented, as is that of the Tomatis practitioners. As one writer observes, "Tomatis practitioners are primarily running private Listening Centres, devoid of research-related infra-structure." (7) Moreover, enthusiastic support from a number of Tomatis practitioners who have helped in the present study attests to their desire for further research in the Tomatis method.

The work of Tomatis has its critics, two of whom have published their point of view in an article, "Le Mythe Tomatis." (8) This is the only published critique of Tomatis I was able to find. Disappointingly thin, the article questions Tomatis's psychological/ideological outlook and challenges the way Tomatis allegedly used the audiometer (a mere machine, in other words) as the last word in diagnosing patients.

The first point takes us well beyond the scope of the present study. The second, whether it was true of Tomatis (though the assertion is not documented) is definitely not true of the Tomatis practitioners with whom I have worked. One Tomatis therapist does not use the audiometer at all; others see it as one heuristic device among others.

Moreover, Gomez and Tomkiewicz make no effort to prove or disprove scientifically the unreliability of audiometric data. Whether they are correct, they do not prove that they are.

What we are left with, then, is a field ripe for research. The present study is a modest effort to address that need and to encourage further work in this area. In Part II, the methodology and findings of studies relating Tomatis's audiometric procedure to singing will be presented. In this part of the article, however, I present an introduction to the unique contribution Tomatis has made to our understanding of the ear and how that understanding relates to singing.

All of this must be preceded, however, by at least a passing mention of the singer's formant, since the present study is basically a consideration of the question: Is the presence or lack of a singer's formant in a subject reflected in his or her listening curve? In other words--and from a pedagogic point of view--if singers with the singer's formant have a different listening curve than singers without the singer's formant, training the ear might be an important aspect of training the voice.

Readers of this journal are already well versed in the research and literature on the singer's formant and are aware that an exact explanation of how the singer's formant occurs is still being studied. (9) Perhaps, then, it is sufficient to mention only that the singer's formant is acquired by amplifying the overtones that are roughly within the range of 2,800 to 3,200 Hz. (10) The benefit of the singer's formant is that it gives the singer's voice a colorful "edge" and allows it to carry over an orchestra or background noise.

TOMATIS, THE EAR, AND L'EFFET TOMATIS Using Weeks's discussion of "orthodox" and "unorthodox" notions of the ear, let us survey several contemporary questions concerning this organ.

Three or Two? Common understanding in the scientific world has been that the ear is divided into three parts: the external ear (pinna and meatus or canal), the middle ear (tympanic membrane, ossicles, middle ear muscles), and the inner ear (vestibule and cochlea).

By considering the way in which the ear develops embryologically, however, we arrive at the view held by Tomatis, viz., the ear should be seen in terms of a polar rather than a tri-partite distinction. (11) The ear develops in the embryo from two of the five brachial arches. The first brachial arch develops into the first two ossicles (the malleus and incus--and attendant muscles), and is innervated by the trigeminal nerve (5th cranial nerve). The second brachial arch produces the third ossicle (stapes), and is innervated by the facial nerve (7th cranial nerve). When considered from this perspective, the ear is divided functionally into two parts, the division being in the middle ear, between the malleus and incus, on the one hand, and the stapes on the other.

This distinction is important where high frequency audition is concerned. (12) Essentially, it is a question of balance between the muscle of the hammer (malleus) and the muscle of the stirrup (stapes). When the hammer muscle contracts, it tightens the tympanic membrane. Tightening the tympanic membrane weakens vibrations transmitted via the tympanic membrane. The stapes muscle, when contracted, pulls the stapes away from the oval window. This lessens the vibration to the inner ear.

Tomatis claims that when one of the two middle ear muscles dominates the other, it can be seen immediately in the listening test he developed. (13) If, for instance, the muscle of the stapes dominates, high frequencies are lessened. (14) Excessive tension in the muscle of the hammer eliminates too many low frequencies. (15) Transmitting or Dampening?

The commonly accepted notion of the ossicles of the middle ear has been that they transmit vibrations at the tympanic membrane to the oval window. (16) Tomatis contends, however, that the role of the ossicles is not to transmit but to dampen. The incus and the stapes are separated by the space of as much as one millimeter, and are bridged by collagen. Both the distance and the medium argue against the transmission of sound commensurate with human hearing. Tomatis argues that the function of the ossicles is actually to dampen tympanic membrane vibratory energy via a kinetic negative feedback loop originating at the endolymph. This fluid force moves from stapes to incus to malleus in order to reduce vibratory sensation headed to the ear.

(17) The role of the cochlear fluid (endolymph) likewise has been regarded as that of a transmitter. It commonly has been considered to be a conductor of kinetic energy to the cells of Corti. (18) Endolymph, however, is a fluid. As such, it does what fluid

does best; it buffers. As with the fluid in the joints and in the brain vault, so cochlear fluid absorbs kinetic energy and protects contingent structures from damage. (19) Moreover, since endolymph is always moving, it is too turbulent to carry specific waves. (20) Tomatis's contention is that osseous conduction is the major route of sound conduction to the inner ear, not air conduction. Air vibration hits the tympanic membrane. This vibration spreads outward along the tympanic membrane's radiating fibers to the tympanic sulcus at which point it encounters compact bone (the petrous pyramid). This kinetic energy is then conducted to the cochlea and finally to the basilar membrane. (21) The Vagus Nerve In Tomatis's view, the commonly accepted notion of the ear's neurological role has been underestimated. Tomatis turns this commonly accepted notion "on its ear" by arguing that our sense corpuscles are differentiated organs of Corti. Skin is differentiated ear rather than vice versa. (22) The ear precedes the nervous system.

(23) Moreover, it is involved with cranial nerves 2 through 11. (24) Of these nerves, the 10th, the vagus nerve, is especially important; it serves all of the autonomic vital organs of the body. (25) The relation of the ear to the entire body as well as to singing might become more evident by tracing the route of the vagus nerve. True to its name, the vagus nerve "wanders." A sensory antenna from the vagus presents on the outer surface of the tympanic membrane. The inner surface of the tympanic membrane is sensitized by the vagus via an anastomosis with the glosso-pharyngeal nerve (9th cranial nerve). The vagus then contacts the postural back muscles via an anastomosis with the spinoaccessory nerve (the 11th cranial nerve). It then sensitizes the upper laryngeal nerve, which is responsible for vocalization. Motor innervation is then delivered to the recurrent laryngeal nerve. The vagus continues on its path, innervating the bronchi and heart. It joins the opposing vagal nerve and makes its way through the diaphragm to the entire viscera, including the gastro-intestinal tract from esophagus to anus (via anastomosis with sacral nerves 2, 3, and 4; see Figure 1). (26) Hearing, Listening, and the Cortical Charge Tomatis is given credit for identifying the important neuro-physiological distinction between hearing and listening. (27) Hearing is nonselective; listening is a selective focusing on one of the many sounds heard simultaneously. More will be said about the difference between audiological assessments and the Tomatis listening test in Part II of this article; for now, it suffices to say that Tomatis's listening test differs from the audiogram of the audiologist in that the latter tests organic capacities of the ear while the former takes the assessment further by testing the degree to which the ear's potential is being used. (28)

Not only was Tomatis concerned with what the ear is capable of listening to, he was particularly interested in the ear's ability to attend to high frequencies.

The ear is primarily an apparatus intended to provide a cortical charge in terms of electric potential. In fact, sound is transformed into nervous influx by the ciliform cells of the cochlear-vestibular apparatus. The charge of energy obtained from the influx of nervous impulses reaches the cortex, which then distributes it throughout the body toning up the whole system and imparting greater dynamism to the human being.

All sounds cannot effect this process of charging. I pointed out that on the basilar membrane, the ciliform cells of Corti are much more densely packed in the part reserved for the perception of high frequencies than in the one where the low frequencies are distributed; so that the transmission of energy that is caught up towards the cortex is much more intense when it comes from the zone of the high frequencies than when it comes from the part reserved for the low frequencies.

Thus the high sounds supply a more concentrated nervous influx and thus increase the effect of charging. This is the reason why I called the sounds rich in high harmonics the "charging sounds," in opposition to the low sounds or "discharging sounds." These low sounds supply insufficient energy to the cortex, which may even exhaust the individual, so much that they conduct corporal motor responses which actually, in themselves, absorb more energy than the labyrinth can furnish. The implication of this fact at the psycho-dynamic level explains that a depressed person tends to direct his hearing more intensively towards low frequencies which are the sonic range of visceral life: she actually becomes more aware of the noise of her heartbeat, and so on. It seems as if her ear has lost its ability to be used as an "antenna" for communication; instead, it is directed to the inside life.

The aim will be to provoke, with sonic training made of high-frequencies heard in a listening posture, this cortical charge to energize the individual. (29)

The Tomatis Method Given this background, we are ready to consider how Tomatis applies his understanding of the ear to a clinical method. An initial assessment is made of an individual, and usually includes a case history (including a questionnaire), the Tomatis listening test, laterality testing, figure drawings, and a clinical interview with the director. This assessment determines whether an individual will benefit from the Tomatis Method and, if so, how it should be conducted.

The Tomatis Method is applied in two phases, the passive phase and the active phase.

These phases are subdivided into stages that simulate the various stages of listening and language development from the earliest stages of life to maturity. The rate at which an individual moves through the stages will vary according to the findings of the initial assessment.

All of the phases involve the "electronic ear." This is a sound-gating mechanism with a set of earphones that conveys sound in the conventional manner (air conduction) as well as through a bone conduction device. The "gating" of sound means that the sound rapidly fluctuates between low and high frequencies. The rate of fluctuation varies according to where one is in the program. This kind of auditory stimulation conditions the muscles of the middle ear to attend to sound in an improved manner.

(30) The Passive Phase The first stage of the passive phase consists of a gradual introduction to filtered sound. The individual listens to music rich in high frequencies (usually Mozart's violin concerti) that is progressively filtered so as to diminish the low frequencies.

(31) The second stage of the passive phase continues with filtered music, further accentuating the higher frequencies. For children who are going through the program, it is at this stage that the mother's voice, completely filtered of the low frequencies, is introduced. (32) The third stage of the passive phase involves the gradual defiltration of the auditory stimulation, whether music or the mother's voice. This is what Tomatis refers to as "sonic birth," since it simulates the individual's transition from the liquid prenatal acoustic environment to the air postnatal acoustic environment. (33) The Active Phase The active phase serves to reintroduce the individual to spoken language in two stages, "prelinguistic" and "linguistic." In the first stage, the individual hums or sings, usually following short excerpts from Gregorian chant. Children use nursery rhymes or other children's songs. (34) Again, the individual's voice is heard through the gating system of the electronic ear.

Still in the first stage of the active phase, the individual repeats words and sentences rich in "whistling" language sounds (/s/, /f/, and so on). The low frequencies are progressively filtered out.

The second stage is the written language stage of the program. The client reads a written passage, but does so slowly, clearly enunciating the sounds. Daily reading aloud is recommended as the primary follow-up exercise to maintain the effects of the program.

TOMATIS AND SINGING Having considered some of the salient features of Tomatis's understanding of the ear and his method, let us turn to the way in which his ideas are applied specifically to singing. To distill Tomatis's theories--at least as they affect singing--into one phrase, "la voix ne contient que ce que l'oreille entend"; (35) or, as Moulonguet records the axiom, "La voix ne contient que les harmoniques que l'oreille est susceptible d'entendre." (36) In other words, if one's ears are not attuned to the frequencies that

account for a resonant, ringing tone in one's singing (in the area of the singer's formant, 2800-3200 Hz), one should not be able to produce such a tone. The opposite should likewise be true: if one's ears are attuned to frequencies in the range of the singer's formant, one should be able to produce a resonant, ringing tone.

At this point, some clarifications are in order. First, it should be noted that Tomatis did not use the term "singer's formant." It is not known whether he was aware of the research in this area of vocology. Nonetheless, as will be seen in the discussion of Tomatis's theories concerning Enrico Caruso, amplification of the high frequencies in singing is the focus of Tomatis's interest. This places us squarely in the defining characteristic of the singer's formant.

By way of a second clarification, we hasten to add that Tomatis does not minimize the value of good vocal technique. A good ear and a strong, resonant voice are not enough.

We must learn to detach from the seduction of a voice that is powerful, modulated and colorful if we want to appreciate technique ... A professional singer with a great technique causes us to breathe fully, our pharynx opens, our larynx moves without tightening ... With the inexperienced singer with poor vocal quality we can easily detect his technical weaknesses. (37)

For Tomatis, however, utilizing the ear well is part of good vocal technique. (38) Not only should the singer's ear be attuned to high frequencies, he should have a right-ear dominance and should rely more on bone conduction than air conduction.

Right-ear dominance is important for singing because of cerebral contralaterality, in other words, the relation of a given ear to the opposite side of the brain. "The contralateral [opposite side] projections from ear to brain are stronger than the ipsilateral [same side] pathways." (39) Combine with contralaterality the functions of the two spheres of the brain. It is the left side of the brain that processes language. Therefore, the right ear signal travels directly to the left hemisphere of the brain; the left ear signal must make a detour, as it were, to the right hemisphere before crossing the commissure to the left brain for processing.

Again, language is processed by the left side of the brain. Music, however, is its own kind of language, and is thus a bit more complex. Experienced listeners process music differently than "naive" listeners.

In a memory recognition task, non-musicians showed a left-ear advantage, whereas listeners with musical training showed a right-ear superiority. The investigators suggest that naive listeners focus on overall melodic contour, whereas experienced listeners perceive a melody as an articulated set of component elements. (40)

Tomatis had reached the same conclusion. "The left ear is adequate for [amateur] listening, but only the right ear empowers the [musician and music-lover]." (41)

The limitations inherent in listening to our own voices solely through air conduction are apparent to anyone who has heard his voice played back on a recording. His voice sounds alien to him. The reason for this is due to the physics of sound. High partials travel in a straight line; hence, the upper partials in the sound we produce when speaking or singing travel away from our ears. Low frequencies, on the other hand, expand in a circle; the low frequencies in our own voice will therefore return to the ear. So what we hear in our voices through air conduction is a preponderance of lows.

(42) Bone conduction, on the other hand, filters for higher sounds at the expense of the lows. (43) It is also more direct and efficient than air conduction. "It is a law that when one vibrating object comes into contact with another, the second object will start vibrating of its own accord." (44) So it is that, according to Tomatis, the larynx, when it resonates correctly, sets the spinal column and the ear in motion as a tuning fork on a crystal goblet. This conduction to the ear and the entire body is fed back to the larynx in an auditory loop that regulates itself efficiently and with a penchant for particularly rich and dense sounds.

Perhaps the best way to illustrate Tomatis's view of the ear's relation to singing is to discuss his theory concerning the great tenor, Enrico Caruso. Since Caruso and Tomatis were not contemporaries, the audiologist never had the opportunity to work directly with the tenor. Nonetheless, Tomatis made a careful study not only of Caruso's voice but of the various circumstances in Caruso's life that might have affected the way Caruso listened to his own voice.

Drawing from recordings, Tomatis made spectrographs of Caruso's voice. (45) The spectrographs recorded a clear distinction between high frequencies and low, "with an almost complete absence of frequencies between 500 Hz and 2000 Hz." Continuing from Tomatis's own account, Additionally, the slope of [Caruso's] hearing curve presents a drop of more than 12 decibels per octave starting at 200 Hertz toward the lows, which is a considerable drop.

Certain of the higher notes show a difference of 18 decibels per octave. This is all the more remarkable because I have not found it in other singers. It is truly unique to the voice of Caruso. (46)

From Tomatis's assertion that only the right ear controls singing, he concluded that the spectrographs of Caruso's voice reproduced the responses of Caruso's right ear.

"In view of the steep slope the graphs present, we can only conclude that Caruso's right ear was deaf to the transmission of low sounds!" (47) In other words, Tomatis theorized that Caruso had a beneficial deafness--beneficial, at least, for the purposes of producing a stunning tenor voice. This theory was further bolstered by the fact that several colleagues of Caruso told Tomatis that Caruso always asked them to stand on his left when conversing, that is, when phonating at the lower, conversational frequencies, so that his left ear would be able to perceive those frequencies his right ear apparently could not. (48) Tomatis does not conclude from the Caruso phenomenon that we need to be partially deaf in order to sing well. Nor does Tomatis overlook the influence of Caruso's own

anatomical characteristics on his sound. (49) Tomatis believed, however, that the good singer must be able to listen in the way Caruso did. "[Y]ou do need to train your ear so that you hear yourself the same way that Caruso listened to himself when he sang. When you have Caruso's kind of [aural] control in place, your singing will follow." (50) Tomatis insisted, moreover, that results are immediate. "[S]i l'on restitue a l'oreille traumatisee la possibilite d'audition correcte des frequences mal entendues, celles-ci se trouvent, retablies dans l'emission phonatoire, instantanement et a l'insu du sujet."

(51) Part II of this article presents two studies that examine whether this correlation between high frequency audition and singer's formant phonation can be scientifically established.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank Dr. Scott McCoy of Westminster Choir College of Rider University for his expert guidance in carrying out this study. An immense debt of gratitude is likewise acknowledged for the generous help of the Tomatis therapists of Pediatric Therapeutics, Inc., Sheila Allen, Sue Beasley, Joanne Swanson, and Ann Toolajian as well as the help and interest of Roberta Prada of Vocal Images. Paul Madaule of the Listening Centre in Toronto, Canada was also very generous in providing material and sharing information. I also thank my fellow students at Westminster Choir College of Rider University who participated as subjects in this study.

NOTES (1.) Timothy Gilmor and Paul Madaule, "Opening Communication: A New Perspective on Autism," in Timothy Gilmor and Paul Madaule, About the Tomatis Method (Toronto: The Listening Centre, 1988), 69.

(2.) Alfred Tomatis, The Ear and the Voice, trans. Roberta and Pierre Sollier (New York: Vocal Images, 2002), 48.

(3.) Joshua Leeds, The Power of Sound (Rochester, VT: Healing Arts Press, 2001), 46.

(4.) Bradford Weeks, "The Therapeutic Effect of High-Frequency Audition and Its Role in Sacred Music," in Gilmor and Madaule, 125.

(5.) Gilmor and Madaule, "Introduction," to About the Tomatis Method (Toronto: The Listening Centre, 1988), 5.

(6.) Weeks, 122-123.

(7.) Wynand du Plessis, Stefan Buger, Marth Munro, and others, "Multimodal Enhancement of Culturally Diverse Young Adult Musicians: A Pilot Study Involving the Tomatis Method," South African Journal of Psychology 31 (August 2001): 36.

(8.) M. Gomes and S. Tomkiewicz, "Le Mythe Tomatis," Neuropsychiatrie de l'Enfance 30 (1982): 681-689.

(9.) Jean Callaghan, Singing and Voice Science (San Diego: Singular Publishing Group, 2000), 72. "Current research indicates that production of the singer's formant is associated with a long closed phase in the vocal fold vibratory cycle, narrowing of the vocal tract immediately above the larynx, a wide pharynx, and adjustment of the articulators to maximize close cavity coupling. It may also involve aryepiglottic constriction and narrowing of the ventricular folds."

(10.) Sundberg records findings that locate the center frequency of the singer's formant between 2.3 and 3 kHz in basses, and 3 and 3.8 kHz in tenors. Johan Sundberg, The Science of the Singing Voice (Dekalb: Northern Illinois University Press, 1987), 119. Callaghan, referencing Sundberg, identifies the center frequencies for the various voice types as follows: "The center frequency of the singer's formant is around 2.2 kHz for basses, around 2.7 kHz for baritones, around 2.8 kHz for tenors, and around 3.2 for altos. Sundberg ["Vocal Tract Resonance," in Robert Sataloff, ed., Professional Voice: The Science and Art of Clinical Care (New York: Raven Press, 1991), 49-68] suggested that in sopranos, it [the singer's formant] is nothing but a perfectly normal third and fourth formant. Nevertheless, the perceptual effect of clear, ringing quality independent of vowel or pitch is certainly present in accomplished soprano singing." Callaghan, 68-69.

(11.) Tomatis, 64; Weeks, 119.

(12.) Weeks, 119.

(13.) Tomatis, 56.

(14.) Ibid., 57.

(15.) Ibid.

(16.) Weeks, 120.

(17.) Ibid.

(18.) Ibid.

(19.) Ibid.

(20.) Ibid.

(21.) Ibid.

(22.) Ibid., 125.

(23.) Ibid.

(24.) Ibid, 121.

(25.) John Lander, "What Role Does the Ear Play in Singing?" Australian Voice 2 (1996): 61 (26.) Tomatis, 68-69; Weeks, 121-122.

(27.) Weeks, 123.

(28.) Ibid.

(29.) Alfred Tomatis, Lecture before the International Kodaly Symposium, Paris, 1978. Quoted in Weeks, 126-127.

(30.) Gilmor, "Overview of the Tomatis Method," in Gilmor and Madaule, 18.

(31.) Ibid.; Madaule, "When Listening Comes Alive," in Gilmor and Madaule, 22.

(32.) Ibid.; ibid.

(33.) Ibid., 19; ibid., 24.

(34.) Ibid.; ibid.

(35.) "The voice produces only those sounds the ear can hear," L'Effet Tomatis Publications, http://www.tomatis-paris.com/ effet_tomatis2.htm, March 18, 2003.

(36.) "The voice produces only those frequencies that the ear is capable of hearing."

R. Husson, "Modifications Phonatoires d'Origine Auditive et Applications Physiologiques et Clinques" (Presentation to the Academie Nationale de Medecine, June 4, 1957. Partially reprinted at L'Effet Tomatis Publications, http://www.tomatisparis.com/effet_tomatis4.htm, March 18, 2003).

(37.) Tomatis, Ear and Voice, 14.

(38.) Ibid., 15.

(39.) S. Springer and G. Deutsch, Left Brain, Right Brain (New York: W. H. Freeman and Co., 1985), 73.

(40.) Ibid., 171.

(41.) Alfred Tomatis, The Conscious Ear (Barrytown, NY: Station Hill Press, 1991), 52, quoted in Lander, 63.

(42.) Tomatis, Ear and Voice, 76.

(43). Ibid., 101.

(44.) Ibid.

(45.) The fact that Tomatis used early recordings raises the question as to whether recording technology during Caruso's career was able effectively to capture high frequencies. Tomatis, unfortunately, does not supply details concerning the recordings he used or how he might have adapted them for his own investigation.

(46.) Ibid., 32.

(47.) Ibid.

(48.) Ibid., 34.

(49.) Ibid., 32. Caruso's palate reportedly had a pronounced dome, and his larynx was asymmetrical.

(50.) Ibid., 34.

(51.) "If one restores to the traumatized ear the possibility of correct audition of frequencies heretofore poorly perceived, these frequencies are instantaneously present in phonation, without the subject's being aware of it." L'Effet Tomatis. Publications, March 18, 2003 (http://www.tomatis-paris. com/effet_tomatis.htm). See also, R. Husson, "Etude Experimentale des Modifications Eventuelles de la Fourniture Vocalique sous l'Influlence de Fournitures Auditives Stimulatrices Concomitantes" (Presentation to the Academie des Sciences, March 25, 1957. Partially reprinted at L'Effet Tomatis Publications, March 18, 2003, http://www.tomatisparis.com/effet_tomatis2.htm).

COPYRIGHT 2007 National Association of Teachers of Singing

Title: To Turn Singing on Its Ear: The Singer's Voice and the Tomatis Listening Curve, Part 11 Author: Pauley, John-Bede Article from: Journal of Singing Article date: March 1, 2008 Copyright National Association of Teachers of Singing Mar/Apr 2007 Reproduced by kind permission of Richard Dale Sjoerdsma, PhD, Editor in Chief, Journal of Singing, 7206 - 5th Avenue, Kenosha, WI 53143 Figures have been omitted from this reprint

INTRODUCTION In part 1 of this article (Journal of Singing 63, no. 4 [March/April 2007]: 405-413), the theories and clinical method of the French otorhinolaryngologist, Alfred Tomatis, were presented, with a discussion of how they relate to singing. Briefly put, Tomatis believed that the more attuned a singer's ear is to high frequencies, the easier it will be for the singer to amplify those frequencies--particularly in the area of the singer's formant --in his or her own phonation. The opposite should hold as well: the less attuned one is to high frequencies, the less one should be able to produce strong overtones in the area of the singer's formant.

Part II of this article examines scientific research that explores certain aspects of Tomatis's claim. First we look for studies in the literature; next, we turn to the study conducted by the author at Westminster Choir College of Rider University.

A SURVEY OF THE LITERATURE Much of the available literature about the Tomatis method has to do with presenting and explaining the method in general, and thus has been covered in Part I of this article. There are also a number of studies on the efficacy of the Tomatis method related to issues of child development and learning disorders. (1) The sources that take a closer, more analytical look at the Tomatis method in relation to singing, however, are far fewer in number. Indeed, the article detailing the pilot study of the Potchefstroom University and Pretoria Opera School students (Potchefstroom study) is perhaps the only article of its nature. (2) For in-depth, but nonresearch-based understanding of the Tomatis method, John Lander's "What Role Does the Ear Play in Singing?," (3) Paul Madaule's "The Tomatis Method for Singers and Musicians," (4) and Joshua Leeds's The Power of Sound (5) are excellent resources. The Potchefstroom study cites several case studies and a testimonial of the Tomatis method's effects on singers and musicians. (6) There is also an unpublished dissertation (7) that "tests the efficacy of Tomatis's theory of the 'musical ear' by determining if children with different levels of music aptitude hear differently." (8) Among published material, however, only the Potchefstroom article details a scientific study of the Tomatis method in relation to vocal/instrumental enhancement.

The Potchefstroom study was an interdisciplinary attempt at "demystifying empirically" the Tomatis method's acclaimed efficacy with musicians across three dimensions, "namely listening (auditive), well-being (psychological) and ... singing (phonological) ..." (9) It assessed these dimensions after the subjects took part in the Tomatis program (contrasted with a control group that did not take part in the Tomatis program). Unfortunately, the phonological dimension of the study foundered on the shoals of "methodological obscurities." "[P]roblematic loudness levels during voice recordings and calibration ... nullified pre- and post-programme comparison of vocal emissions within and between groups by means of the [long-term-average-spectrum] analysis." (10) The study did, however, make use of the subjective perceptions of both a voice teacher and the singer-participants themselves. According to these subjective observations, and in contrast with the control group, the Tomatis method was found to have resulted in vocal enhancement. This conclusion was bolstered by the fact that five of the eighteen Tomatis program participants achieved professional recognition within months of completing the program, while "a comparative degree of honour was bestowed on only one control group member" out of the ten from that group. (11) Thus "a postprogramme vocal/instrumental proficiency 'hit' rate of 28% versus 10% was ... obtained within 5 months of programme completion." (12) Helpful though the Potchefstroom study is, the authors acknowledge its limitations.

Aside from the methodologic obscurities already mentioned, the authors of the study stated that the small sample size prevented generalization of findings. Other limitations were listed as well. Nonetheless, the Potchefstroom study clearly points the way to further research. It is a laudable attempt to bring the Tomatis method from purely clinical, therapeutic application to a rigorous research effort.

For purposes of this article, our discussion of the literature must turn our attention to Tomatis's representation of what he refers to as "the musical ear." This is drawn from material that, whether scientifically tested or not, is not presented, in the available literature, in the context of documented empirical evaluation. Nonetheless, it touches on the very core of the present study, since it is precisely this musical ear without which the voice is not supposed to be able to produce resonant phonation in the classical style.

In The Ear and the Voice, Tomatis offers an audiogramatic representation of the musical ear (Figure 1). Tomatis states that the musical ear indicates "a person who loves music, has good pitch control when he sings, and possesses a warm timber [sic] and rich color."13 Such a profile, far from being particular to musicians, is that of good hearing in general. (14) Madaule discusses the musical ear with greater specificity. Optimum perception of musical sound involves: 1. Hearing within normal range.

2. Absence of distortion in the response curve of the ear.

Optimum music analysis involves:

1. An ascending curve up to the frequencies 3000-4000 Hz with stabilization at this level and a slight drop in the highest frequencies.

2. An open "auditory selectivity," which is the ability to analyze and compare sounds of different frequencies as well as the ability to determine the direction of the variation, that is to say whether the one tone is higher or lower than the other ...

3. A precise articulatory spatialization, which is the ability to identify the source of the sound in surrounding space.

4. A right-sided auditory dominance ... (15) "The failure of one or more of these parameters provokes a disharmony which translates into impaired and consequently into deficient musicality." (16) If this representation of the musical listening curve is correct, we should expect to find similar listening curves for individuals who demonstrate strong musicality. The present study considers the relation of listening curves to one aspect of vocal musicality, the singer's formant.

THE PRESENT STUDY Participants The experimental group comprised twenty-four student musicians from Westminster Choir College as well as two Tomatis therapists. (17) Since this study has to do with the singer's formant, singers with substantial voice training were vital to the study.

However, the aim was to include as wide a swath of vocal experience and training as possible and as many subjects as possible.

We note, too, that all students at Westminster Choir College, regardless of whether their primary instrument is voice, are required to participate in one of the choral ensembles of the school and must therefore meet certain vocal requirements. While these requirements do not demand performance quality of every student as a solo singer, the choirs of Westminster Choir College are world class and regularly perform challenging choral repertoire both as a cappella ensembles and with the finest professional orchestras in the world. The level of musicianship of the student participants, therefore, is high.

Instrumentation Listening aptitude To test listening aptitude, the listening test of Tomatis was used. The following is taken from the Potchefstroom study which likewise used the listening test of Tomatis.

The Tomatis listening test is a direct outcome of Tomatis's distinction between hearing--a passive or unconscious awareness of sound, measured by the hearing test (audiogram)--and listening--an act of will or conscious desire to listen, presumed to arise as early as 4.5

months before birth, when the unborn baby can perceive its mother's voice ... The Listening Test tests for threshold evaluation for frequencies ranging from 125 to 8000 Hz., rendering air and bone conduction curves. It also assesses the individual's ability to recognize pitch differences in neighbouring sounds, and spatialization and laterality ... Thus it reflects how the desire to listen is utilized or resisted and reveals listening strengths or listening weaknesses. (18) The listening test records both bone conduction and air conduction. It also records perception in right and left ears separately. Bone conduction on the listening curves is recorded in a solid line; air conduction in a broken line.

A word is in order concerning the distinction between Tomatis's listening test and audiograms used by audiologists. For both Tomatis therapists and audiologists, data typically is recorded graphically and/or tabularly. Since the graphic form is the easiest for describing hearing/ listening status, we will focus on that form of audiometric illustration.

A comparison of the listening curves collected for this study with the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) graphs in Figures 2 and 3 indicates no significant differences between the formats for plotting data. The essential differences are in the manner in which the data is collected.

Dr. Jane Brady, an audiologist of Princeton Otolaryngology Associates PA, said the procedure in her office, and in audiology in general, is to collect the data in a soundproof environment. For the sake of testing air conduction, they use earphones inserted into the ear rather than headphones that fit around the ear.

It is preferable, on the other hand, that the Tomatis listening test be administered with some degree of background noise, since the purpose of the test is to assess listening acuity in a normal environment. The Tomatis listening tests I have observed or taken part in assess air conduction with the use of headphones that fit around the ear.

Essentially, the audiologist tests for threshold hearing in a soundproof environment; the Tomatis therapist tests for listening acuity in a normal aural environment. It is for this reason that the ASHA graphs are more "abbreviated" on the horizontal frequency axis, particularly in the higher frequencies. The Princeton audiologists do use an audiogram (Figure 4) to collect data on a patient's ability to hear vowel and consonant formants. This, according to Dr. Brady, is closer to the Tomatis listening test. Dr. Brady also pointed out that this "banana curve," as it is familiarly called, is "not an exact science." The banana curve is not about threshold hearing; it tests for the more subjective discrimination of sounds-the same focus, in other words, of the Tomatis listening test.

For reasons of doctor-patient confidentiality, the Princeton audiologists were not able to supply an audiogram of a patient with normal hearing. We can get an idea of a normal audiologic curve, however, by looking at the bone conduction data (not the air conduction data) in Figure 5. This is an audiogram of a person with "disruption of the ossicular chain and presumably no other ear pathology (bone conduction is essentially normal)." (19)

Figures 2 and 3 are two sample graphs drawn from a text book in audiology.

According to Dr. Brady, any data recorded in the shaded area from -10 decibels to 20 decibels is considered normal hearing.

In general, the Tomatis listening test seems not to assure the same level of objectivity as an audiologist's audiometric record. At the same time, the present study poses a challenge to those who would dismiss the Tomatis listening test as too subjective.

While not the primary aim of the study, the purpose of assessing the participants on three separate days was to determine whether the audiometric results would be too inconsistent, and therefore show signs of being more subjectively determined than not. Had this been so, the listening test would have to have been discounted altogether. In fact, with only two exceptions out of the twenty-six participants, the listening curves remained relatively constant from day to day. While this hardly proves the degree of objectivity of the instrument, it does indicate enough consistency to allow us to move to the next step in the study, which is to compare the listening tests with the long-term average spectrum (LTAS) data.

Acoustic properties of voice The instrument used to collect voice samples was the Computer Speech Laboratory (CSL). It measures the long-term average spectrum (LTAS) of phonation, averaging a number of power spectra, using the Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) algorithm. (20) This spectrum of phonation is the distribution of acoustic energy across frequencies, usually 0 Hz up to 4000 Hz for speech, and is taken from a voice sample that is ideally about forty seconds long. (21) Voice training enhances amplitude in the higher frequencies (ca. 2400 Hz to 3200 Hz). The style of singing known as "belt" singing can enhance frequencies even higher than the classically trained voice's singer's formant. For this reason, the acoustic energy in the present study was measured across the range of 0 Hz to 8000 Hz (though the spectrogram images indicate only 0 Hz to 5000 Hz). However, the primary focus of this study is on the area of the singer's formant.

Examination of the acoustic properties of classically trained singers by means of the nature and range of amplitude and frequency of the formants, particularly the singer's formant, is a valuable and reasonably objective means of inspection and evaluation.

(22) Weiss applied such an examination to the Tomatis method in a study of three francophone student actors following a course in the Tomatis method. (23) Procedure Informed consent was obtained from the participants. They were asked to appear for listening and vocal assessments on three consecutive days. The listening tests were administered by therapists from Pediatric Therapeutics, Inc., who used audiometers that had been calibrated directly before the data gathering.

As soon before or after the listening assessment as possible, the participants supplied their voice samples in the voice lab at Westminster. They were asked to stand about one foot from the microphone. (A ruler was used to maintain consistency in the distance from mouth to microphone.) The participants were asked to sing up and

down a perfect fifth, diatonically, articulating all of the five vowels /i/, /e/, /a/, /o/, /u/, each vowel being sung on both an ascending and descending five-tone scale.

Participants were asked to sing a connected, legato line. For the purpose of encouraging the participants to sing in as full and resonant a manner as possible, they were given the following instructions: "Endeavor to produce a tone that is resonant.

Sing at a solid mezzo forte. Please do not force or manipulate the tone into a sound that is not what you usually produce when singing. Think of this passage as being one sung in performance on a concert or opera stage."

Results The first observation to be made concerns the shapes of the listening curves themselves. It is immediately clear that the gentle "arabesque" idealized by Tomatis as the listening curve of the musician/singer--the "musical ear"--is indeed an idealization. Whether one looks for this idealized arc in the right ear or the left ear, in bone conduction or air conduction, one finds only approximations to this arc. Dips in the listening curves are more consistently met with than gentle curves.

On which aspect of the listening curve data should one focus? If, according to Tomatis, right-ear dominance and an emphasis on bone conduction over air conduction are preferable for the singer/musician, we should look almost exclusively at the bone conduction curve for the right ear. Paul Madaule, in a letter to the author, offers the following observation concerning right-ear dominance as reflected in listening curves.

In general, the right-sided monitoring of the voice doesn't show on the curves. (It is like handedness, the strength of the hand doesn't indicate if you are right handed or left handed.) The best way to assess it is to observe the movements of the lips of the person singing (not easy to determine in some cases--it requires practice). (24) If right-ear dominance is not reflected in the listening curves, bone conduction in relation to air conduction clearly is. However, Tomatis's emphasis on bone conduction is not as straightforward as at first seems to be the case. Madaule observes that "[s]ometimes musicians can get away with a good air conduction and so-so bone conduction because the monitoring is more (but not only) air-conducted." (25) Indeed, while bone conduction is preferable, it is not enough. "[A] musical bone conduction and non-musical air conduction are not sufficient." (26) Given the complexities involved in reading the listening curves in relation to the idealized representation of the musical ear, let us, as a first step, simply examine the data of one of the participants.

The LTAS data (spectrograms) of Subject I (Figures 6a, 6b, and 6c--collected, respectively, on March 3, 4, and 5, 2003, as will be the case with spectrograms of other subjects as well) indicate substantial intensity in the area of the singer's formant (roughly 2800 Hz to 3200 Hz on the x axis) on all three days that she (a soprano) sang. While Subject I's listening curves do not fall alarmingly significantly short of the idealized singer's curve, they do seem to just miss the mark in several respects (Figures 7a, 7b, and 7c). More often than not, rather than ascending to 3000 Hz, leveling off until 4000 Hz, and then dropping in the higher frequencies, Subject I's

curves tend to have reached their plateau before the 3000 Hz range. Theoretically, then, Subject I should not have the optimum ear for the kind of voice her spectrogram indicates she has.

Let us compare Subject I with Subject M (a tenor), whose spectrograms do not show any activity in the area of the singer's formant at all (Figures 8a, 8b, and 8c). We would expect, therefore, to find a marked difference between Subject I's listening curves and Subject M's (Figures 9a, 9b, and 9c). Not only are there no appreciable differences in the listening curves of the two participants, there is a curious similarity.

The left ear bone conduction of Subject I on March 4 drops from 1500 Hz to 3000 Hz (well before the plateau one should expect to find in the listening curve of a good singer, of which subject I is an example). The left ear air conduction of Subject M on March 4 shows a similar, though less pronounced, dip to the same decibel level (20 dB) at the same frequency. While too much can perhaps be made of this similarity, the striking differences in the spectrograms of the two participants would cause one to expect striking differences in the listening curves. Such differences, however, are not to be found.

Noteworthy is the fact that Subject I's primary instrument is voice and that she has studied voice for eleven years, whereas Subject M has had no vocal training and is primarily a composer. We recall, as well, that Tomatis does not ignore the value of good voice technique; a good ear is not enough to make one a good singer. Still, the literature in support of the Tomatis method argues that the ear plays a determinative role in phonation. It seems, then, that similar listening curves should result in similarly amplified overtones. While there are differences in the listening curves of Subjects I and M, are they significant enough to account for the significant differences in their respective spectrograms? If one is reading the data correctly, the listening curves do not reflect the kind of difference shown in the spectrograms.

Difficult questions are presented by looking at another participant. Subject O shows much consistency in his spectrograms from day to day (Figures 10a, 10b, and 10c).

His listening curves, however, are remarkably varied (Figures 11a, 11b, and 11c).

This is one of the few cases in which inconsistency in listening curves was significant.

Perhaps Subject O's data should be discounted as an anomaly given the fact that nearly all of the other listening curves are relatively consistent from day to day.

Nonetheless, one of the laws of Tomatis comes to mind: "si l'on restitue a l'oreille traumatisee la possibilite d'audition correcte des frequences mal entendues, celles-ci se trouvent, retablies dans l'emission phonatoire, instantanement et a l'insu du sujet."27 While some of the participants were not able to schedule voice samples directly before or after the listening assessment, Subject O was able to do so all of the three days of the data gathering. Given the instantaneous correlation of ear to phonation referred to above, there should have been, theoretically, some indication in the voice of what was being recorded from the ear. Such a correlation is not to be found.

Let us compare Subjects D and I. Subject D (a pianist and sometime alto) has some activity in the area of her singer's formant, but not as markedly as Subject I (Figures 12a, 12b, and 12c). The 3000 Hz point on the x axis of the spectrograms happens to fall neatly within the increased activity in the singer's formant area of both singers.

We would expect therefore to find somewhat similar listening curves, but Subject I's

should show more aural acuity in the 3000 Hz range. Of the two singers, however, Subject D's listening acuity seems consistently to be higher, if only slightly, in the 3000 Hz range (Figures 13a, 13b, and 13c). Again, Subject I is a singer with eleven years of voice training; Subject D's primary instrument is the piano, and she has had only one year of voice training. These are facts a listening curve cannot show.

If these observations argue against a direct correlation between listening curves and phonation, some indications might point in the opposite direction. Consider, for instance, Subject L. She, a soprano with ten years of voice training, has amplified frequencies above the 3000 Hz range (Figures 14a, 14b, and 14c). Note that the leftear bone conduction curves on her charts consistently show a similar peak above the 3000 Hz range (Figures 15a, 15b, and 15c).

Similarly, Subject F, a baritone with eleven years of voice training, has more pronounced activity in the higher frequencies on his spectrogram than one usually finds in classical singing (Figures 16a, 16b, and 16c). (His might be closer to belt singing.) There is, likewise, a peak in the higher frequencies on two days of the rightear air conduction curves (Figures 17a, 17b, and 17c).

One must conclude, however, that all of these readings of the data seem somewhat forced. If there is a correlation between the listening curves and the spectrograms, it is not one that Tomatis's explanations of listening curves make apparent.

Nonetheless, it is worth mentioning again the Potchefstroom study. Post-Tomatisprogram curves "not only reflected ascending lines in some cases, but included enhancement of other listening parameters, i.e., replacement of left ear control by right ear control, thus confirming attainment of self-listening, a prerequisite for optimal vocal proficiency, according to Tomatis." (28) Unfortunately, copies of the listening curves are not included with the published article; and again, it is regrettable that the methodologic obscurities nullified preand postprogram comparison of vocal emissions. So the Potchefstroom study brings us no closer to determining whether there is in fact any correlation between listening curves and voice production.

CONCLUSION The data presented in the spectrograms are clear and objective. The data presented in the listening curves, on the other hand, seem to require a significant degree of subjective interpretation. This being the case, the listening curves are of limited help-if of any at all--as a means of comparing listening acuity with phonation for singing.

While this study brings Tomatis's claims concerning the correlation of listening curves to singing into serious question, it does not address the correlation between listening curves and the various disorders to which Tomatis therapy is applied. In other words, this study deals with the use of listening curves for fortigenic (enhancing phonation) rather than pathogenic (addressing disorders) purposes.

Finally, this study neither proves nor disproves Tomatis's basic thesis: the voice can contain only those frequencies that the ear is attuned to. While anecdotal evidence

seems to indicate that Tomatis's basic thesis is correct, the lack of empirical research leaves many questions unanswered.

My hope is that this study will help to clear away some of the extraneous claims in Tomatis's works, leaving the way clear for focused research on his basic thesis.

Tomatis may indeed prove to be a revolutionary and influential thinker, as revolutionary, in his way, as Darwin or Freud. But just as aspects of the systems of those thinkers have been discredited and discarded, so might it be with some of Tomatis's claims.

If Tomatis's basic theory is correct, what does it mean pedagogically? Apart from the question of whether one has the resources to go through the Tomatis method, the simplest application of Tomatis's theory to the teaching of singing would be to require that students listen daily to singers whose voices are rich in the singer's formant. This will attune their ears to the frequencies they themselves will want to emulate in their own singing. As part of the requirements for private voice lessons in my studio, I have students follow a series of selected recordings and submit weekly descriptions of what they hear (not only in terms of resonance, but also diction, phrasing, interpretation, and so on). Some students who, at the beginning of the semester, seemed uninterested in classical repertoire are now beginning to "get it" because their ears are becoming attuned to the richness of vocal timbre in this style of singing.

Another use of Tomatis's method has been suggested by Ben Allen, Lecturer in Voice at Carleton College. (29) He has prepared his own digital sound samples, filtering out the lower harmonics. In the course of a lesson, he will have students listen briefly to one of these tracks, contrasting spectrograms taken before and after the listening exercise. Drawing from Tomatis's theory on right-ear dominance, Ben also has his students focus in the right visual field while singing to strengthen right-ear and thus left-hemisphere activity to enhance pitch perception.

Several teachers who use these simple applications of Tomatis's theories attest to noticeable results. Many in the voice pedagogy community, however, would prefer to see the kinds of results that flow from rigorous scientific research. I offer one additional piece of data that bolsters the basic thesis of Tomatis and might help point the way to further research. Figures 18a and 18b show spectrograms of my own voice before and after the passive phase of the Tomatis method. I took no voice lessons during this period of time. Furthermore, due to an unusually hectic schedule, I was unable to maintain my usual routine of vocal warm-ups and practice. In other words, the change in the area of the singer's formant from pre- and post-program is not due to any concerted attention to technique during this period of time (May 12, 2003 to May 27, 2003). The difference in pre- and post-Tomatis method is clearly observable. As evidence, this data rises above the level of the anecdotal, while falling far short of being scientifically irrefutable. I offer it as yet one more piece of evidence that, at a minimum, urges further research in this area.

Again, Tomatis's theories on singing in no way obviate the need for the same voice techniques and methods that have been in use for centuries. Is it possible, however, that his theories could make the mastery of singing somewhat more accessible to more people, and that such mastery could fall into place more rapidly? Moreover, might his theories help to cultivate a wider, more appreciative, more aurally attuned

public? For those of us who love singing and wish to share that enjoyment with others, such possibilities are worth further inquiry.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS In addition to those mentioned in the acknowledgements of Part I of this article, I owe an immense debt of gratitude to Keiko Ishikawa, voice pathologist, who generated publishable images of the spectrograms. Thanks also to the voice faculty of the College of St. Benedict, St. Joseph, Minnesota, of St. John's University, Collegeville, Minnesota, and to Ben Allen of Carleton College, Northfield, Minnesota for sharing their ideas on applying Tomatis's theories in the voice studio.

NOTES (1.) Wynand du Plessis, Stefan Burger, Marth Munro, et al., "Multimodal Enhancement of Culturally Diverse Young Adult Musicians: A Pilot Study Involving the Tomatis Method," South African Journal of Psychology 31, no. 3 (August 2001): 36, lists the following sources in reference to the pathogenic paradigm: Learning difficulties--H. A. Stutt, The Tomatis Method: A Review of Current Research (Montreal: McGill University, 1983); Anxiety--W. F. du Plessis and P. E. van Jaarsveld, "Audio-Psycho-Phonology: A Comparative Outcome Study in Anxious Primary School Pupils," South African Journal of Psychology 18, no. 4 (December 1988): 144-151; Mental retardation--C. de Bruto, Oudiopsigofonologiese opleiding en die erg geestesvertraagde kind: 'n empirises ondersoek (Potchefstroom: Verhandeling [MA]--PU vir CHO, 1983); Autism--T. Gilmore and P. Madaule, "Autism: Opening a New Perspective on Autism," in T. Gilmore, P. Madaule, and B. Thomson, eds., About the Tomatis Method (Toronto: The Listening Centre Press, 1988).

(2.) Du Plessis, et al., "Multimodal Enhancement," 35-42.

(3.) John Lander, "What Role Does the Ear Play in Singing?" Australian Voice 2 (1996): 57-65.

(4.) Paul Madaule, "The Tomatis Method for Singers and Musicians," in Gilmore, Madaule, and Thomson.

(5.) Joshua Leeds, The Power of Sound (Rochester, VT: Healing Arts Press, 2001).

(6.) Jessica Manners, "Professional Voice Training," in Music to the Ears: Tomatis Method Case Studies (Lewes: A. A. Tomatis Foundation, 1996); cited in du Plessis, et al., "Multimodal Enhancement," 36.

(7.) Roger Anthony Mason, "Audiation, Cochlear Function, and the Musical Ear of Alfred Tomatis" (PhD dissertation, University of Miami, 2001); cited in du Plessis, et al., "Multimodal Enhancement," 36.

(8.) PsychINFO, Dissertation Abstract: 2001-95017-043.

(9.) Du Plessis, et al., 36.

(10.) Ibid., 38.

(11.) Ibid., 40.

(12.) Ibid.

(13.) Alfred Tomatis, The Ear and the Voice, trans. Roberta Prada and Pierre Sollier [prepublication ms.] (New York: Vocal Images, 2002), 133.

(14.) Ibid.

(15.) Madaule, "The Tomatis Method for Singers and Musicians," 57-58.

(16.) Ibid.

(17.) Given the nature of the findings, only the data of participants specifically discussed in this article are presented. If the reader is interested, a copy of the data of all 24 participants can be made available by contacting the author at St. John's Abbey, Collegeville, MN 56321. The relatively small number of subjects--similar to the number in the Potchefstroom study--is a limitation of the present study. However, since this study was not compromised by technical difficulties, it constitutes a further step toward a more thorough scientific study we hope will be undertaken in the future.

(18.) Du Plessis, et al., 36.

(19.) Willard Zemlin, Speech and Hearing Science: Anatomy and Physiology (Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 1998), 459.

(20.) R. Kent and C. Read, The Acoustic Analysis of Speech (San Diego: Singular Publishing Group, 1994); cited in du Plessis, et al., 37.

(21.) Du Plessis, et al., 37.

(22.) Cf. Johan Sundberg, The Science of the Singing Voice (Dekalb: Northern Illinois University Press, 1987); cited in du Plessis, et al., 37.

(23.) W. Weiss, "Long Term Average Spectra Before and After Tomatis Audio-Vocal Training," Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 78, Suppl. 1 (Fall 1985): 56.

(24.) Paul Madaule, letter to the author (April 13, 2003).

(25.) Ibid.

(26.) Ibid.

(27.) "If one restores to the traumatized ear the possibility of correct audition of frequencies heretofore poorly perceived, these frequencies are instantaneously present in phonation, without the subject's being aware of it." L'Effect Tomatis Publications (March 18. 2003 http://www.tomatis-paris.com/effet_tomatis.htm). Cf. also, R. Husson, "Etude Experimentale des Modifications Eventuelles de la Fourniture

Vocalique sous l'Influence de Fournitures Auditives Stimulatrices Concomitantes" (Presentation to the Academie des Sciences, March 25, 1957, partially reprinted at L'Effet Tomatis Publications, March 18, 2003 http://www.tomatis-paris.com/ effet_tomatis2htm).

(28.) Du Plessis, et al., 38.

(29.) http://apps.carleton.edu/curricular/music/faculty/ Br. John-Bede Pauley, OSB, is a Benedictine monk of St. John's Abbey. He is currently studying for a PhD in Musicology at Durham University, U.K. His areas of research interest are twentieth century British music; the relation of music to theology, spirituality, and liturgy; and the role of acoustics in performing and listening.

Br. John-Bede has studied voice with Carolyn Finley, Elizabeth Mannion, Elem Eley, and John de Haan. He holds an MM in Vocal Pedagogy from Westminster Choir College of Rider University in Princeton, New Jersey.

During his studies at Westminster, Br. John-Bede made the transition from baritone to countertenor. During his "baritone years," he performed the roles of Don Alhambra in The Gondoliersand The Learned Judge in Trial by Jury, both of which were productions of the St. John's University Opera Workshop. He also performed the role of Col. Calverly in the St. Cloud, Minnesota Quite Light Opera's production of Patience. As a countertenor, he sang the alto part in the role of the Evangelist in the Indiana University Contemporary Vocal Ensemble's 2005 production of Part's Passio, has given recitals at St. John's University and Durham University, and currently sings in the University College Chapel Choir at Durham University.

He taught applied voice and music theory at St. John's University at Collegeville, Minnesota before resuming graduate studies at Indiana University and transferring to Durham University.

Br. John-Bede is also a member of the Advisory Board of Vocal Images, a nonprofit entity that promotes excellence in the performing arts with a particular emphasis on classical singing.

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