Drumhead resonant modes I |
Sat Apr 20
Cleaned house madly till eleven; gave Millie a lesson, had luncheon, practised a bit and then went down for a lesson. It was epoch making. "Now,'' Mrs C. said "today you are singing as you never have before!'' And all the high notes came so easily. Well we were both delighted. Oh if I can only do as well for Mr. S. But I always have said that if I could satisfy Mrs. C. I would have absolute confidence, so now I have done it. Afterwards I went to Ella's musicale and sang and ate ice cream and had a nice time. Met Mila and we walked home thro' the park and talked over our blessings. In the evening Frank Sovak called on me and we had a pleasant chat. He is an amusing boy and I enjoy seeing him occasionally.
Sun Apr 21
A lovely day, so I walked a great deal. Expected Mr. D. to be "waiting at the church'' but he did not appear all day. Queer! Miss McGrew sang the Brahm's music, and oh her voice was so flowing and lovely, altho' she had a cold and felt quite ill. Her high notes are the most perfectly placed I ever want to hear. In the morning Mr. Beddoe and the men sang Schubert's "Gross ist Jehovah'' Both services were very beautiful. But Dr. Parks is a real pill. He preached such a lovely sermon on tolerance and patient endurance of the troubles that visit us; then, as we met and marched down the altar, he glared, and said in his most threatening tone " Now you march slowly! '' It nearly floored me.
Mon Apr 22
Did theory most of the morning, and found that I had made some very primitive mistakes. Had a note from Mrs. C. asking me to come to Mr. Sch.'s tomorrow for a "hearing'' Oh I do so want to do my best! I simply cannot conceive of my state of mind if this hope of singing should be really taken from me. Had a very good lesson with Miss Thursby, and she offered to give me an extra lesson tomorrow. Very sweet of her. I must never allow myself to go back to the effort, it is so utterly unnecessary. Mother had quite a crying spell this morning when Camille called; she was very nervous all morning. I hardly know what to do to help her.
Tues Apr 23
Went to Krehbiel's lecture and afterwards to Miss Thursby's for a lesson. It went quite well, altho' she says I forget to stand correctly very often and to take the deep breath. Personally, I don't like to think too much of the latter. Had luncheon with Miss Thursby and Miss Ina and then rushed home to change my dress and go to Mr. Sch's. Expected to do very well; and was terribly disappointed when, after singing the "Light of the World'' aria he said that he scarcely understood a word, did not know in fact whether I was singing French or English at first. And Mrs. C. said "your shoulders are up and you are dropping your jaw and going back to all the old tricks!'' Then they told me to try to enunciate more clearly, and I tried "Meine Liebe ist grun," and it went much better. But I was so disappointed, for I had wanted to do so well. The quartette came in afterward and we all had tea and I went home home, a thoroughly disgusted and discouraged girl. Had church rehearsal and I telephoned to Mrs. C. to find out if any comments had been made, but she was out.
Wed April 24
Slept off my discouragement and got up ready for work. Mother felt ill, but I induced her to sit up in the parlor, and in a little while she was much better and, in fact had the best day I remember for ages. Telephoned Mr. Spicker but he said there was no vacancy in the choir. I am going to sing for him anyway, in order to get used to performing. I shall keep the clear enunciation in mind persistently from now till June, and of course it will help bring the voice forward. Miss Thursby and Mrs. C. have drummed it into my ears steadily, but somehow it never made so strong an impression as when I saw that nothing else would satisfy Mr. Schirmer. The one thing that keeps up my courage is that Mrs. C. told Mr. S. that my singing last Saturday had absolutely convinced her that the voice could be made into something fine! and that what I could do once I can do again, and in time, always. But in the next two months I must forge straight ahead, with no backsliding.
Thurs Apr 25
Oh! what a dreadful morning! Mother, after her splendid day yesterday had a perfectly dreadful spell, shaking and moaning and raving from 8 till 12 with scarcely a stop. I was nearly distracted and finally broke down and nearly cried myself sick. I sometimes feel she will never be her old self. And so intangible a malady! There is no way of getting at the trouble for her mind distorts everything. At noon she suddenly quieted down and I went down to school, feeling quite worn out. Holbrook Curtis' lecture was very interesting; showing how the overtones of Miss Connors voice formed perfect circles in the salt scattered over a tense piece of rubber. Sang "Fors e lui'' for Miss Thursby, with the high commendation that it was "not so bad at all.'' The extreme high notes come easily; it is from F to A that the trouble lies.
Fri Apr 26
The Tapper lecture this morning was simply delightful. It was a review of the ground covered, but interspersed with such delicious humor that he was irresistable. The "chameleon'' story and Mark Twain's publisher's discount story I shall not forget soon. He spoke chiefly on what he called the "hopelessly trite but ever-important'' subject of physical education; saying that we must study our own constitutions in order to know how to run the engine so as to get 100 % of power out of it. Wasted three hours at Miss Thursby's arranging for an evening dress which she is going to get for me from Mrs. Hewitt. Had a very stormy rehearsal as Leopold had the "duffer team" sing without the "expoits" and then told them that when they sang so, they were detrimental rather than beneficial to the choir. The girls were furious and Poor Miss Jaffray began to dispute and protest; but she got no satisfation. N.B. I am an "expoit."
This dynamic visualization is from the Institute for Sound and Vibration Research at the University of Southhampton, England. The salt would gather at the circular nodes that did NOT vibrate.