[tt] Frank Forman, Cochlear Cyborg, update for 2008.2.3
Premise Checker
<checker at panix.com> on
Sun Feb 3 22:40:52 UTC 2008
Frank Forman, Cochlear Cyborg, update for 2008.2.3
This is a running diary of an operation that gave me an artificial ear and
of my relearning how to hear. What makes my case different is that I am a
keen lover of classical music and am self-experimenting on struggling to
relearn how to hear music speech and vice versa. Go down to PART ONE:
INTRODUCTION at the end to get an overview. Excuse the typos. I'm writing
all this in a file, and the spell checker insists on running through the
whole document in a seemingly random fashion, which by now is quite time
consuming. When I'm doing an e-mail it goes from top to bottom, which is
very fast. "Don't ask me why. Go ask your pop," says Dr. Seuss in one of
his books I have heard over and over again.
Upshot for the first year, in comparison with before the operation: better
in hearing people in person or watching teevee, though I can't really say
by how much, worse on the Fone, and much worse with music. I studiously do
hearing exercises for an hour a day. It can be up to two years before the
effects of training cease to matter. A year to go, then.
Sarah is my wife. Andrea Marlowe is my audiologist at Johns Hopkins. Greg
Frane is a fellow graduate of the University of Virginia who came up from
his office for ten minutes and helps me go through some exercises every
day at work during the first several months. It was my right ear that was
operated on.
Tuesday (January 1):
For many years now, I start the New Year by listening to a set of
cassettes I compiled to take with me, not to a desert island, but to a
space capsule. I listened to the stereophonic recordings before my
operation, since I wasn't sure whether I'd be able to hear in stereo
again. Even if I didn't have my current problems with the scale sounding
so badly, it could well be that with much improved frequency response in
my (right) cyber ear, I'd hear the overtones of the instruments coming in
from the left channel mostly in the right channel.
I included no Beethoven sonatas or symphonies, in fact, nothing but the
Middle and Late Quartets and the Diabelli Variations. I didn't want to
take only Beethoven with me in my space capsule! The four B's, Bach,
Beethoven, Brahms, and Bartok (the three Bs being originally Bach,
Beethoven, and Berlioz, by the way) made up twelve of the sixteen tapes as
it is.
What would I most miss, besides the Beethoven sonatas and symphonies? The
Musical Offering of Bach The German Requiem of Brahms The Clarinet Quintet
of Brahms The Third Symphony of Mahler
Here's the listing:
THE SIXTEEN SPACE CAPSULE CASSETTE TAPES
Twenty-Four Hours of Music
Compiled by Frank Forman
TAPE 1
BEETHOVEN, LUDWIG VAN 1770-1827
MIDDLE AND LATE QUARTETS. Loewenguth Quartet [Alfred Loewenguth, Jacques
Gotkovsky, Roger Roche, Roger Loewenguth]. $Vox Box.SVBX 543/4/5:
Quartet 7 in F, Op. 59.1 (1805-6). Track B:
Quartet 8 in e, Op. 59.2.
Quartet 9 in C, Op. 59.3: 1.
TAPE 2
Quartet 9: 2-3.
Quartet 10 in Eb, Op. 74 (Harp) (1809): 1. Track B: B: No. 10: 2-4.
Quartet 11 in f, Op. 95 (Serious) (1810).
Bonus: Quintet Fugue in D, Op. 137 (1817). Endres Quartet [Heinz Endres,
Josef Rottenfusser, Fritz Ruf, Adolph Schmid] and Siegfried Meineke, 2nd
viola. $Vox Box.SVBX 579.
Bach to the Loewenguth Quartet:
Quartet 12 in Eb, Op. 127 (1823-5): 1.
TAPE 3
Quartet. 12: 2-4.
Quartet 15 in a, Op. 132 (1825): 1-2. Track B: 3-5.
Quartet 13 in Bb, Op. 130 (1825-6): 1-2.
TAPE 4
Quartet 13: 4-5.
Quartet 17 in Bb, Op. 133 (die Große Fuge) (1835-6).
Quartet 13 in Bb, Op. 130: 6 (new finale, 1826). Track B Quartet 14 in c#,
Op. 131 (1826).
TAPE 5
Quartet 16 in F, Op. 135 (1826).
TCHAIKOVSKY, PETER ILLICH 1840-1893
Francesca da Rimini, Op. 32 (1876). Albert Coates (1882-1953), anon.
Symphony Orchestra. Recorded 24.10.22,24. Matrices Cc
5272-2/5273-2/5274-1/5290-1. G.D 951/2. Track B
BEETHOVEN, LUDWIG VAN 1770-1827
(33) Variations on a Waltz by Anton Diabelli in C (1822-3). Wilhelm
Backhaus (1884-1969). Recored 54.10. #London.LL 1102.
TAPE 6
BARTÓK, BÉLA JANOS VIKTOR 1881-1945
STRING QUARTETS. Ramor Quartet [Andreas Sándor, Erwin Ramor, Zoltán
Thirring, Vera Nógrády]. $Vox Box.SVBX 519.
Quartet 1 in A, Op. 7, Szóllósy 40 (1908).
Quartet 2 in A, Op. 17, Sz. 67 (1915-7): 1. Track B: Quartet 2: 2-3.
Quartet 3 in C#, Sz. 85 (1927).
Quartet 4 in C, Sz. 91 (1928): 1-4.
TAPE 7
Quartet 4: 5.
Quartet 5 in Bb, Sz. 102 (1934).
Quartet 6 in D, Sz. 114 (1939): 1. Track B: Quartet 6:2-4.
Concerto for Orchestra, Sz. 116 (1943). Ernest Ansermet (1883-1969),
l'Orchestre de la Suisse Romande. #London.STS 15,110.
TAPE 8
Concerto for Orchestra: 4-5.
Piano Conerto 3, Sz. 119 (1945). Géza Anda (1921-76), Ferenc Fricsay
(1914-63), Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra. Recorded 1960. $DGG.2535 262.
Sonata for Solo Violin, Sz. 117 (1944). Tibor Varga (born 1921). $DGG.GEMA
415 995: 1. Track B: 2-4.
MOZART, WOLFGANG AMADEUS 1756-1791
Concerto 23 in A, K. 488 (1786). Wilhelm Kempff, Ferdinand Leitner (born
1912), Bamberg Symphony. $DGG.138 645.
+BARTÓK, BÉLA JANOS VIKTOR 1881-1945
Violin Concerto 2 (1938). Zoltán Székely (b. 1903), Josef Willem Mengelberg
(1871-1951), Concertgebouw Orchestra of Amsterdam. Recorded at the world
premiere, 39.3.23 Thursday. #Hungaraton.LPX 11573. First 5'44" only.
TAPE 9
BACH, JOHANN SEBASTIAN 1685-1750
SONATAS AND PARTITAS FOR VIOLIN ALONE, Schmieder 1001-6 (1720). Joseph
Szigeti (geb. Singer, 1892-1973). Recorded by Columbia in 1955 and edited
by Vanguard in 1962. #Bach Guild.BG 627/9.
Sonata 1 in g.
Partita 1 in b. Track B: Sonata 2 in a.
Partita 2 in d: 1-4.
TAPE 10
Partita 2 in d: 5, Chaconne.
Sonata 3 in C.
Partita 3 in E: 1. Track B: Partita 3: 2-6.
Klavierübung: Teil IV (Gouldberg Variations), B.W.V. 988 (Leipzig, 1741-2).
Glenn Herbert Gould (1932-82), piano. Gould's first studio recording of the
work, 1955. #Columbia.ML 5060
TAPE 11
Gouldberg Variations: end.
BRAHMS, JOHANNES 1883-1897
Piano Quintet in f, Op. 34 (1861-4). Harold Bauer (1873-1951), Flonzaley
Quartet [Adolfo Betti (1873-1950), Alfred Pochon (1878-1959), Nicolas
Moldavan (1891-1974), Iwan d'Archambeau (1879-1955)]. Recorded 25.12.
Victor.M 10. Track B: Piano Quintet: 4.
Violin Concerto in D, Op. 77 (1878). Joseph Szigeti (geb. Singer,
1892-1973), Hamilton Harty (1879-1941), Hall, Orchestra. Recorded
28.12.3-5. Matrices WAX 4420-1/1-3/2-3/3-3/4-2/5-2/6-1/7-2/8-2 (9 sides).
Columbia.M 117.
TAPE 12
Symphony 1 in c, Op. 80 (1855-76). Josef Willem Mengelberg (1871-1951),
Concertgebouw Orchestra of Amsterdam. Recorded in concert 40.12.13 Sunday.
#Philips.W 09,907L. Track B:
Piano Trio 1 in B, Op. 8 (revised version of 1891). Myra Hess (1895-1965),
Isaac Stern (b. 1920), Pablo Casals (geb. Pau Carlos Salvador Casals y
Defill¢) (1876-1973). Recorded 1952.6 Prades in concert. #Columbia.ML 4719.
SCHUBERT, FRANZ SERAPH PETER 1797-1828
Impromptu 3 in Gb, Op. 90.3, D. 899.3 (1828). Wilhelm Kempff (1895-1991).
$DGG.139 149.
BRAHMS, JOHANNES 1883-1897
Piano Trio 1 in B, Op. 8 (original version of 1854). Odeon Trio [Leonard
Hokanson, Kurt Gunter, Angelica May]. $MHS 4215. Last minute only.
TAPE 13
SCHUBERT, FRANZ SERAPH PETER 1797-1828
Symphony 9 (Old No. 7) in C, Op. Posth., D. 994 (?1825-8). Josef Willem
Mengelberg (1871-1951), Concertgebouw Orchestra of Amsterdam. Recorded in
concert 40.12.19 Thursday. #Philips.PHM 500,191 in set SPS4 905. Track B:
TCHAIKOVSKY, PETER ILLICH 1840-1893
Symphony 5 in e, Op. 64 (1888). Evgeni Alexandrovich Mravinsky (1903-88),
the Leningrad State Philharmonic Academy Symphony Orchestra, Named after
Dmitri Dmitrovich Shostakovich [1906-75], Honored Collective of the Russian
Soviet Federated Socialist Republics. Live 78.6.13 Vienna.
$Ariola/Melodiya.300,666 in 300,668-440.
bonus: end of Symphony 5. Josef Willem Mengelberg (1871-1951),
Concertgebouw Orchestra of Amsterdam. 39.11.26 Sunday live. From the master
tape of recording broadcast over French National Radio.
TAPE 14
MOZART, WOLFGANG AMADEUS 1756-1791
Mass 19 in d, K. 626 (Requiem) (1791). Hermann Scherchen (1891-1966),
Vienna State Opera Orchestra and Akademie Kammerchor. Magda Laszlo,
soprano; Hilde Rössel-Majdan (b. 1921), contralto; Petre Munteanu, tenor;
Richard Standen, bass. Probably 1953. #Westminster.WL 5233. Track B: end.
DVORÁK, ANTONIN LEOPOLD 1841-1904
Quartet 12 in F (Old No. 6), Op. 96, ("American") (1893). The Bohemian
String Quartet [Karel Hoffmann (1872-1936), Josef Suk (1874-1935), Jirí
Herold (1875-1934), Ladislav Zelenka (born 1881]. 1928. Polydor.95.084/6.
BACH, JOHANN SEBASTIAN 1685-1750
Fugue in g, S. 578, ("The Little") (Weimar, about 1709). Helmut Walcha
(1907-91), Schnitger Organ in Cappel, Germany. 52.9.16. #DGG.ARC 3021.
Cantata 105, "Herr, gehe nicht ins Gericht" (Leipzig, premiere 1723.7.25):
5, Aria for Tenor, Horn, Strings, and Continuo, "Kann ich nur Jesum mir zum
Freunde machen, so gilt der Mammon nichts
bei mir" (Bach's Anti-Capitalist Manifesto). Helmut Krebs (born 1913),
tenor; Fritz Werner (born 1898), Pforzheim Chamber Orchestra. $Muscial
Heritage Society.516.
TAPE 15
BRUCKNER, JOSEF ANTON 1824-1896
Symphony 4 in Eb, ("Romantic") (1874, rev. 1878-80 and 1886). Prof. Hermann
Abendroth (1883-1956), "Leipzig Symphony Orchestra," in fact the Leipzig
Radio Symphony Orchestra. Recorded in concert 54.12.8 Wednesday. Probably
the 1886 version. #Urania.URLP 401: 1-2.
bonus: Symphony 4: 3 (1st ver. of 1874). Eliahu Inbal (born 1936),
Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra. 1982. $Philips.042,921. Track B:
Back to Abendroth: Symphony 4: 3-4.
WAGNER, WILHELM RICHARD 1813-1883
Die Walküre (1850): act iii: Ride of the Valkyries. Joseph Willem
Mengelberg (1871-1951), New York Philharmonic. Recorded 26.1.4 Carnegie
Hall. Matrix XE 17330. Brunswick.50161 to cdPearl
[England].GEMM CDS 9922.
Die Götterdämmerung (1876): act iii: Siegfried's Funeral March. Albert
Coates (1882-1953), Symphony Orchestra. 26.3.26 and 1.26 Queen's Hall.
Matrices CR 217-2/141-3. Victor 9449.
Lohengrin: Prelude to act iii. Albert Coates (1882-1953), London Symphony
Orchestra. 29.10.23. Matrix Cc 17832-1. Gramophone D 1815B.
TAPE 16
SCHUMANN, ROBERT ALEXANDER 1810-1856
Piano Quintet in Eb, Op. 44 (1842). Myra Hess (1895-1965), Isaac Stern
(born 1920), Alexander Schneider (born 1908), Milton Thomas, Paul
Tortellier (born 1914). Recorded in concert 1952.6 Prades. #Columbia.SL
182.
HAYDN, FRANZ JOSEPH 1732-1809
Symphony 100 in G (1793-4), ("Military"). Hermann Scherchen (1891-1966),
"Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra of London" (London Philharmonic
Orchestra). Recorded 1956. half-track Westminster/Sonotape.SW 1042. Track
B: Symphony 100: 4.
FRANCK, CÉSAR-AUGUSTE-JEAN-GUILLAUME-HUBERT 1822-1890
Violin Sonata in A (1886). Alfred Dubois (1898-1949), Marcel Maas. English
Columbia.LFX 77/80 or American Columbia.set M 158 to fake stereo LP:
Artisco [Japan].YD 3006.
WAGNER, WILHELM RICHARD 1813-1883
Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (1868): act iii: Morgenlich leuchtend in
rosigem Schein (Preislied des Walther von Stolzing). Helge Roswaenge,
tenor, Franz Alfred Schmidt, Orchester der Staatsoper, Berlin. Recorded
1933. Telefunken SK 1297 to #Telefunken 6.48,016.
Das Rheingold (1869): Scene iv: Entrance of the Gods into Valhalla. Albert
Coates (1882-1953), Symphony Orchestra. 26.1.26. Queen's Hall. Matrices CR
138-1/9-1. Gramophone D 1117.
Siegfried (1876): Act 2: Siegfried's Horn Call. Dennis Brain. 47.5.14 Abbey
Road Studio, London. May never have been issued on 78s. #Toshiba
EMI[Japan].EAC 77,378.
NOTE: I managed to include twelve of my sixteen favorite artists, including
all three of my very, very favorites (*): Conductors: Willem Mengelberg*,
Albert Coates, Evgeny Mravinsky, Hermann Scherchen.
Pianists: Glenn Gould*, Wilhelm Backhaus, Wilhelm Kempff, but not Artur
Schnabel.
Violinists: Joseph Szigeti*, but not Adolf Busch, Albert Spalding, or
Jacques Thibaud.
Other: Pablo Casals* (cello), Helmut Krebs* (singer), Helmut Walcha*
(organ), and Dennis Brain* (horn).
Quartets: My two favorites, the Loewenguth and the Flonzaley, are both
represented.
# means monaural LP; $ means stereophonic LP. Otherwise 78 r.p.m. discs.
Started compiling in 1992 July. Revised 1993 June 13.
end of listing of space capsule tapes.
The seventh quartet didn't resonate with me. Getting ahead in my diary, I
did get the fugue of the ninth quartet pretty well, the harp movement of
the harp quartet, and der heiliger Dankgesang. Die Große Fuge came in
nicely. I backtracked to the Cavatina walking home from the subway. This
was my second attempt and with much better results than the first time.
The best was the sixteenth quartet. As I reported on November 15, the fine
affirmation that opens the full work Beethoven was to complete moved me
again. The Tchaikovsky Francesca di Rimini just didn't come through. Next
up was to be the Diabelli Variations, a test work for me, since I know its
rhythms so well, as I have said earlier. I was anticipating getting the
best spiritual uplift since activation.
Alas, I just wasn't in the frame of mind desperately wanting such an
uplift and even Backhaus' playing didn't force me into the proper mood.
Bartok Quartets: I heard recognizable passages of this most familiar music
here and there, none of it in tune. The pizzicato movement of the fourth
quartet did grab me unmistakably and so did the openings of the four
movements of the sixth. I did recognize the second movement of the
Concerto for Orchestra and, barely, the Andante Religioso. (I continue to
marvel as the miracles that can be found in slow movements, which do not
have a recognizable form, like sonata form, variations, rondo, and fugue.
I am simply unable to pinpoint what it is about the great slow movements
that makes them work.)
I did nicely with the Bartok Sonata for Violin Alone. I got to wondering
whether this is greater music than Bach's solo violin works (which I rank
alongside the Musical Offering and the Goldberg Variations). I've become
dubious about Bach. He does a superb job of depicting the emotions of
others, as is so obvious in the choral works. I strongly sense that
certain emotions (sub-sub-emotions, the Big Five being joy, surprise,
fear, disgust, and anger--guess which one only humans have) had not
emerged in Bach's world. Even so, the emotions of Bach himself don't find
their way into his music. In this, he was very much like Shakespeare. I
read a biography of Bach, saying that he and Shakespeare were the most
unknown to us as authentic persons. To be sure, until Beethoven's time,
most music was composed for others. In fact, half of Beethoven's output
was of this sort, though most of it was not assigned opus numbers. I would
say that Bach did some composing just for himself, the solo violin works
being the most notable. And I'd say that the Goldberg Variations and the
Musical Offering, though commissioned, were mostly done for himself, just
as the Diabelli Variations were for Beethoven, who was asked, along with
fifty other composers, to write a single variation. Beethoven initially
did not submit even a lone variation. Rather, he took Diabelli's simple
tune and turned it into a cosmic masterpiece. I would say that Mozart
really came into his own with the 39th Symphony (his most enigmatic work)
and finally broke away from his patrons. He died when he was 35 but would
have been only 47 when Beethoven published the Eroica! Now I read recently
that Mozart had pretty much composed himself out by the time he died, but
I really don't believe that. On the other hand, Mendelssohn, who also died
rather young did. It is hard to distinguish the MSND Overture and the
Octet from his nearly last work, the Violin Concerto. I miss the later
works of Schubert, who died at age 31, even more. On the other hand, I
don't think Bach, Brahms, Bruckner, Dvorak, Franck, Haydn, Mahler,
Schumann, Shostakovich, or Wagner would have gone on to fundamentally new
directions. I still wonder about Beethoven. In any case, we hear the
personality of Beethoven himself with every work above the stuff he
cranked out to earn a living.
So is the Bartok Solo Sonata "greater" than Bach's solo violin works. I
shan't say. Bartok certainly revealed more of himself, but Bach's works
are masterpieces of musical architecture than Bartok's work is not. I
should report that I have gotten rather bored with Bach's religious music
and far more prefer music that wasn't glued to someone else's story and
emotions. (Not that Beethoven's Missa Solemnis wasn't more about Beethoven
than the Nicaean Creed!) I've been sort of bragging that I listen to the
St. John Passion (am I alone in thinking this is better than the far less
concise St. Matthew Passion), Helmut Krebs, tenor (whose angelic voice
*makes* the music) every Good Friday and so spend more time contemplating
the Savior's suffering than most so-called Christians. The work takes just
over two hours. But then I learned that Mormons spend an entire three
hours every Sunday in worship. What do they do on Good Friday? The don't
have crosses on their churches, regarding His passive suffering as far
less important than his assumption of the sins of the world in the Garden
of Gethsemane the night before. (This is not immediately apparent from the
Gospels but not inconsistent with it. It took a revelation to Joseph to
make this apparent.) Well, if Mormons do spend three hours in church on
Good Friday, I can always listen to the St. Matthew Passion, which takes
more than three hours, as I do every now and then. So there! But to be
truthful, I heard very little of the St. John Passion during the first
year after activation. And to be more truthful, it's been a good many
years since I really thrilled to the music.
To wrap up my listening to my space capsule tapes, so far, I sadly report
that it wasn't until the slow movement of Mozart's 23rd concerto that I
even realized that a piano was playing. To the Bach solo violin music,
next on my space capsule tapes. The striking Bourree of the first partita
came in recognizably. But when I got to the fugue of the second sonata, I
seemed to think I was listening to the Bourree. It isn't always easy to
concentrate when jogging. The great Chaconne came across poorly. I did get
some pleasure from the Gouldberg Variations (1955 recording). The tape of
the Brahms Piano Quintet and Violin Concerto got stuck. The Brahms first
symphony and first piano trio didn't go well.
Very good news: We went to the annual New Year's Day potluck put on by
Larry and Lynn Posorske, most for other members of Sarah's church choir,
plus other friends of the Posorskes. I can report that, even though there
were a lot of people there, I was able to hear Antony Ody (bass in the
choir) better than I did before the operation. I was using a directional
external microphone, even though Andrea told me firmly that the
omnidirectional one supplied by Advanced Bionics works just as well. This
is simply and utterly not so!
Wednesday (January 2): Hopper exhibit. I just couldn't concentrate on the
watercolors, which earlier I thought were up there with his oils.
Thursday (January 3):
iSong: I can hear Glenn Gould himself playing the prelude of WTC 1! Not
perfectly, but I can follow it and recognizably so. Before, the sound was
just too congested. Not so with the bourrée from the first English suite.
I had to use MIDI instead of Gould and slow it down to 25 beats per
measure, instead of Gould's 101. I turned off the right hand. I do worse
in the bass clef. But the notes did seem subjectively to go up and down
when they should, except when they went very low and they sounded an
octave higher. So I practice trying to tell myself this is what the note
*should* sound like. Trying right hand alone F6 sounds awful. I'll have to
remember that note for later practices. I'm not really hearing the music
as I know it, unlike for WTC.
Goldberg aria, with Gould playing the 1955 recording is just barely
recognizable, though I think I have played this more than anything else in
my entire collection, including the Eroica symphony. The much slower 1981
remake sounded a little better. The MIDI of the 1955, slowed down from 51
to 20 isn't much better. But the Piano Breakdown 1 (half the notes of the
score, roughly) but a normal tempo sound better. I have virtually
memorized the snap of the work, and I seem to be wide awake right now.
Piano Breakdown 2 is even better.
Now for Invention 8 in F, Gould at 96 bpm. I basically am latching into
it, but the speed it too fast. MIDI at 50 isn't much better. Train on this
with the bass only at 23, Now rush it through at 170 to see whether speed
helps the notes sound right. That was too fast. Try 100. Still there are a
lot of notes that go up when they should go down and vice versa. An hour
has passed. Good night.
Friday (January 4)
All My Children: Almost everyone is reconciled and happy together at a
party, but Annie is off arguing with Richie at a psychiatric ward where he
was hauled away. A doctor comes in and tells them Richie may not be dying
of cancer after all. Hannah (new to me) handles the sale of property Zach
got from forcing Adam into bankruptcy. I missed whatever went on earlier
this week but Hannah was so enraged at Ryan that she shot him with a
long-distance rifle when he was at the party. Stay tuned.
Jim Lehrer: almost completely taken over by the Iowa caucuses. Stay tuned.
I think I may give up on watching this program to train my ears and find
something on BookTV every week instead. This is the least significant
election since James A. Garfield defeated Winfield Scott Hancock in 1880
by 1898 votes, the closest ever in the irrelevant popular vote. By the
way, Nixon got more popular votes than Kennedy in 1960, contrary to what
the history books, written by those who don't understand the Electoral
College say. The Wikipedia article explains it:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_presidential_election%2C_1960
Tuesday (January 9): Sound and Beyond: My attention can really make a
difference. On Familiar Melodies, I got only 11 of the 16 right, after
hearing the tunes, my worst since my first two sessions. I was having a
terrible time concentrating and just didn't care. But, it goes in the
record. I think only once have I completely started all over again. Is
this cheating, or just striving for a more accurate record? I will, and
do, start over again if I blow the first question, on grounds that I
wasn't ready. Maybe I just finished the numbers module and went on to the
foods module but my brain insisted that I think of an animal, so I scanned
that universe or rather the universe of the animals in Sound and Beyond.
Whatever the honest or the accuracy of insisting that I get the first
answer correct and starting over again if I don't, that's what I've been
doing and to change this tradition will make trends more difficult to
discern. It's trends in results as evidence of the good effects of my
training that counts. I'm not competing against others!
But why do people cheat in solitaire? I have. This is a difficult question
indeed.
Saturday (January 5): Sheer frustration playing tune on the keyboard.
Sunday (January 6): Annual Festival of Lights for Epiphany at Sarah's
church. I could hear the various ministers surprisingly well. We had, as
always, dinner after the short service. I go to a religious service once a
year, to keep up my credentials as an Episcopalian. I needn't have gone,
since I am now going to another short service at the Little Georgetown
Church, which gives a service on the Sunday next to All Saints' Day once a
year to keep the church properly consecrated, as I reported for November 4
last year. We had dinner with Helen Henderson and her mother. Helen is the
mother of twin brothers, Nick and Morgan, who went to Ha'va'd, majoring in
economics and philosophy, or the other way around, I forget which. They
are not only smart but strikingly handsome and athletic. Enthusiastic
rowers, they have postponed post-baccalaureate study to conduct a rowing
team in England. She said they were thinking of going to law school
(earlier, it was medical school). I enthusiastically recommended George
Mason, as *the* most innovative law school in the country, far above any
law school that is ostensibly more prestigious, which Nick and Morgan
could easily get into. Alas, I couldn't come up with any truly good
descriptions of what one gets, fundamentally, from a law school education
and have e-mailed several professors there.
Keyboard: This time the scales sounded mostly right, but Jesus hates me,
as the melody just didn't come out at all. Nor did other thrice-familiar
tunes.
Monday (January 7): Edward Hopper exhibit: I like to spend at least two
minutes looking at a painting, because it takes a while for the painting
to appear whole. Often after half an hour, my brain state is now such that
I see the painting whole almost right away, but still spend the two
minutes. (I can go up to five, esp. with Cézanne.) I was about to view the
last four rooms, but this time I started seeing the paintings whole right
away. Back to really appreciate the watercolors, which I really did. They
are of comparable merit to his oils, I think, which I can't say of any
other painter. I don't know what this has to do with my hearing, but my
state of mind is very important for my hearing, though it is usually
fatigue after concentrated listening. No so for appreciating paintings.
Wednesday (January 9): Sound and Beyond: One module is to hear words
dealing with time. "Fat Tuesday" is one of them. Not Super Tuesday? I have
no idea what Fat Tuesday is. Just Wikipedia-ed it: It's English for Mardi
Gras, which is also among the S&B time words. It is the day before Ash
Wednesday and is called Shrove Tuesday by Episcopalians and Pancake Day by
others. Giving up things begins on Lent. As has been my wont for several
years I am giving up sugar and most of my Internet activity, the latter
being especially addicting.
Thursday (January 10): Sarah Clayton (Sarah Elizabeth Jensen until
December 29) came to my office to see me for about twenty minutes. I have
been urging her to become a public Mormon theologian, a counterpart to the
liberal Protestant, Elaine Pagels, who is always *there* on just about
every teevee program that deals with religion. The two are both brilliant,
beautiful, and believing. Far better to follow her faith than to futilely
try to influence Federal education policy, which being quite conservative
is very dubious about. I said her sheer charm would make Mormonism appear
far more respectable and clear up a lot of misconceptions about it. It all
really depends on what you emphasize. The recently overhauled _Catechism
of the [Roman] Catholic Church_ hardly says anything about the Devil and
witchcraft is mentioned only once. The Devil is all over the Book of
Mormon, but Joseph went on to other things later and (on a secular account
of his revelations) was influenced by exciting rediscoveries of ancient
Egypt that reached even western New York that involved quite polytheistic
elements and went on to speak of men progressing to godhood, as god
himself once did. This is in the sacred works but is downplayed. In fact,
the Missouri Mormons renamed their Reorganized Church of Latter Day Saints
to the bland Community of Christ. Joseph said that polytheistic elements
are straight in the Bible itself.
Sarah told me that, much as she would like to study religion more, this is
likely to be put on hold as her husband finishes law school and they have
lots of kids. She said go ahead and send out the long letter I sent her
reflecting upon the Book of Mormon. My writing it took me completely by
surprise, for I thought I would just tell her that I wasn't convinced, and
she would have done the same in writing me that she wasn't convinced by
Nietzsche's Thus Spoke Zarathustra, which we jointly agreed to read and
write to one another about. (She still hasn't read the Nietzsche book.) If
you don't get my letter, with a goodly background introduction, let me
know.
Sound and Beyond: I finished 30 rounds and tested myself. I'll go into
detail on my progress, which is as objectively measured as by any other
thing I do to train my ears.
Friday (January 11): All My Children: Hannah Nichols didn't kill Ryan, but
she's at large and was apparently not turned into the police. Now she is
threatening Zack with a pistol but Zach gets her to put it down. She
complained that he abandoned her after fathering their child. (I have no
idea whether this is true.) Someone--I didn't get who--shoots Hannah. A
logo says that the "Real Greenlee" will return on January 16. She returned
all right, though in a hospital, but I could not distinguish the real from
the phony Greenlee.
Jim Lehrer: completely forgotten.
Thursday (January 17): The last Beethoven quartet went pretty well. At
least I was able to enjoy it.
Went to the Library of Congress with Sharon. We talked of many things, her
teaching English and my endeavors at work on the learning of English in
non-English speaking countries. She listened to my idea of getting a
thousand cassettes that I got from the estate of Bill Lampe, a grade
school teacher in Huron, South Dakota (small world: my dad was born there)
of the great 78 rpm "M-sets," that is the Victor Masterworks sets and
Columbia Musical Masterpieces sets converted to MP3 files and put on the
server at some university, so that the world could come listen to them. I
told her about copyright problems and she liked esp. the thought of having
Sony/BMG Classical jointly co-sponsor the project rather than start a
dubious suit against the university for copyright violations. There is
little money, sadly, to be had from reissuing these old recordings and it
is nowhere nearly as significant as copyrights in writings. Universities
are itching to digitalize as much as possible and come head to head with
corporate interests. Particularly irksome are the so-called orphan works,
ones for which a valid copyright holder cannot be found but who may come
out of the woodworks and start up a big law suit. So far, the corporations
aren't budging, but if Sony/BMG Classical will agree to support the M-set
project by not only dropping all copyright claims but endorsing
legislation to get rid of cases where, say, the heirs of a conductor start
complaining, then the university will be at the center of negotiations
over copyright issues for things of greater value. Its a crazy situation,
since sound recordings did not come under Federal copyright protection
until the big overhaul of the copyright law in 1976. That law pre-empted
State copyright laws (something a strong decentralist like me can balk at)
for everything *except* sound recordings. So State copyrights in sound
recordings continue. Most records in the early days were made in New York,
whose terms of copyright for sound recordings were extremely generous.
This is just part of the many complications.
Sharon got her work done on folklore for one of her courses but we didn't
get over to the Performing Arts Division so I could make a better xerox of
a listing published in the American Record Guide of the Victor sets before
it was too close to closing time.
She gave me a book by Donald Spotto, _In Silence: Why We Pray_ (Viking
Compass, 2004). All sorts of people are concerned about the state of my
soul! I maintain that, if Christianity is true, Mormonism is true, and
since God can and does change his mind and evolve, Sarah and I will gain
admission to the highest heaven, the celestial. Besides, my sins are
rather minor. For me, religion is mostly about correct belief. I didn't
choose the rules, but there they are, and I can obey or disobey them.
Prayer, the way I look at religion, is not something I would do. But it
looms large in religious practice. A big student of religion, this is a
much missing element in my education, and the book Sharon gave me will be
a major contribution to it.
Listened to the great Albert Coates acoustic of Tchaikovsky's Francesca di
Rimini on the way home. Almost no recognition. It kept going slowly, while
I remember it as being of various speeds. It did speed up, so maybe my
memory of the work is not so great. The acoustic is much more thrilling
than the electric remake. I think you can download the acoustic off the
Web.
Friday (January 18):
It's now time, as I progress through my space capsule tapes, for the
Diabelli Variations, the work I have mentioned as being the one I best
recognize from its patterns rather than from the position of notes on the
scale, esp. in the version of Wilhelm Backhaus, which is strong on the
beats. It's arguably the greatest work for the piano, and I was ready to
reconnect to that great striver after the more-than-human, Ludwig van
Beethoven. When I was running, the music came through very remarkably
well. But I just couldn't pay attention. I just wasn't in the mood for
spiritual uplift!
All My Children: Well, Adam is back, arguing with Crystal. Zach has
shaved. I'm going to continue to watch the thing until two years after
activation, as part of my training routine.
Jim Lehrer: Again, I don't remember anything. If I don't immediately jot
down something to say about this program, I've usually forgotten it by the
next morning. Whether this says more about my brain, my attitude toward
the program, or the genuine paucity of content, I can't quite say.
Tuesday (January 22):
S&B: The very first test, picking out the odd pure tone of three, often
gets me stumped, since my brain imposes its own expectation that lowers
later tones. So if it is in fact, say, AAC, my brain will hear AEC, and I
may choose the first as the odd sound out. Or if its CGG, my brain might
hear CGE and I'll chose the second as the odd sound. If, and only if, I
flub it will I see *hear* the three tones again *see* the actual
frequencies to the nearest Hertz. And I've been making (or trying to make)
my brain hear the two frequencies that are the same *as* the same. The
program doesn't say to do this, in fact, it gives precious little advice,
but I have worked this in to my training routine. Now today, I got
frustrated and started the whole module over again twice (this is
cheating, I realize) and for the first time tried to make my brain regard
two sounds I guess are the same as sounding the same. I get, I think I
mentioned, to repeat each choice thrice more. This works best in case it's
the first two or the last two sounds that I think are the same. So, if I'm
presented with AAC and my brain first hears AEC but I suspect this is just
my brain at work, I'll repeat it, trying to make my brain hear AAC. This
is not right, since I can't identify what the notes are at all well. Just
say I think I hear note lowernote questionnote. I'll *try* to make my
brain hear note note different note. I get two more repeats to decide
whether this works. Ditto for questionnote note lowernote. I'll try to get
my brain hear differentnote note note. When the suspected note is the
middle, it's harder for me to get the correct answer.
I was running a 100% streak for the first 19 out of the 25 tests. But I
missed two out of the last six. When I first got the software, I scored
100% on the test for this pure tone discrimination module (mising at least
one on all subsequent tests!) and was told to start my training at the
highest level (5th). But in December I was frustrate with my lack of
progress (esp. at the highest frequencies) and decided to move down to
level 4 and do my training there. The software, however, shortly began
urging me to go the hightest level, but I have resisted. I think I'll keep
on at the level 4 until I get 100% right. This may come in the next two or
three rounds.
I moved from level 1 to level 2 in environmental sounds and consonants in
November and from from 1 to 2 in male/female discrimination in October.
I've been stuck at 1 in vowels and moved up quickly from 1 to 3 in telling
which of four sentences was being spoken, but with more and more
background racket. In October, I went up to the noisiest level (4) but
back down again the next month. The software begs me to move back up to 4.
In fact it wants me to move up a level in all the modules, but my idea is
to avoid this to maximize my training. At least that's the way I look at
it. I intend to keep on training for no less than two years after
activation, irregardless of whether I seem to be making progress. I don't
want to top out on any of the S&B modules too early. This may be the wrong
thing to do, but I don't think there has been any controlled tests to say
with your cochlear cyborg instant's intuitions are better or worse than
the eggsperts that put together Sound and Beyond.
My seven percent rule. Whether it is wine tasting, dog grooming, or boxing
matches, experts agree within seven percent of one another. So wrote the
inventor of body types (somatotypes), William Sheldon, in his "Varieties
of Human Physique," arguing that trained somatotypers almost always agreed
when typing on a 13 point scale for each component (endomorphy,
mesomorphy, ectomorphy), which is quite remarkable since the subjects may
have gained or lost as much as a hundred pounds, and that therefore, there
is an underlying reality that expert can learn, even though they might not
be able to articulate just what they say.
Tuesday (January 29). Visit for one year after activation with Andrea. It
was actually scheduled for Wednesday, but Sarah had a German calendar on
the wall that starts the week on Monday, so I flubbed it by getting us to
go up on Tuesday. We went by her office and she was delayed, so we got to
Baltimore late. Fortunately, Andrea could see us later (which probably
meant that she would postpone doing paperwork till the time we had
scheduled for Wednesday.
She praised my progress. I opined that I did not hear as well as I did
before the operation, but she said this was just not true. In the
sound-proof booth, I did better on the pure tone tests, of course, since
the implant goes up to 8KHz, far, far higher than I could ever hear since
I can remember, and I have audiograms to prove it. But she recalled tests
in a testing booth of my feeding back words and sentences. I did that
badly but *not* as badly as before the operation.
Back in the office, she fed me spondaic words, which I did far better than
at first. Then she covered her face and asked questions (such as Where
were you born?). I got quite a number correct. Why I can't hear as well
over the Fone as I did before the operation, she doesn't know. What really
counts is that, on my first visit, she often had to type up what she said
to me on the computer screen. No more! Although sometimes I had to ask her
to repeat things or, as hard of hearing people to, don't ask for things to
be repeated.
A delicate balance has to be drawn, so not to exasperate others. My
attitude is that no one owes it to me to repeat things but that I do not
owe it to anyone else and just sit there when I could be reading, which
can be regarded as the height of rudeness or certainly a violation of the
pecking order. (Now Glenn Gould was known to sit reading a magazine at a
concert where he was the pianist while the orchestra played alone for the
first minute or so of a piano concerto.) You could call my attitude
populist, democratic, or egalitarian, though I am often regarded as being
quite the other way. I'm intensely anti-Roman Catholic, not because I care
about transsubstantiation or consubstantiation or even believe in any of
it, but because the very idea that any Pope could know more about first or
last things than a backwoods Baptist preacher, no matter the pomp or
tradition, is just abhorrent. (In fact, they know exactly the same amount,
which is zero.)
I recognize no authority above me. What about inferiors beneath me?
Certainly there are those who are inferior to me in probably every way.
But this, to me, is just recognition of the facts, and I have no urge that
anyone recognize *me* as an unquestioned authority.
Since my audiogram of the pure tone test showed that I did hear as well at
4KHz and 8 KHz, she programmed my sound processors to do three things,
boosting high frequencies in all: 1. regular, 2. noisy places, and 3.
still more high frequency gain. I protested, claiming that I thought I
didn't hear as well with my previous choice between regular and high, but
she insisted that that's what the pure tone test mandated. (I was not
happy with this, but now I realize that she was right and I was wrong!)
Alas, she goofed, as the third program failed to cut out sound from the
mike that also contains the transmitter. I was lucky I caught this on the
stairwell leaving the building. Fortunately, she was still there, and so
she changed the third program to accept only the external input and to
give just the "new" regular boost for high frequencies and not any extra
boost.
I've overjoyed that I can hear conversations better than I did before the
operation, though I can barely, barely hear anything over the Fone. She
gave me an extra Fone adaptor to use at the office. I think it works
better than my previous method of running the sound from the Fone to my
stereo, thence to my RadioSnack attenuating cord, and thence to my
processor. Music continues to be a problem and she feared that it always
might: there are only 16 connections to my brain but 88 keys on the piano.
(There's a missing element in the reasoning here, but she didn't have an
explanation, if indeed anyone has.) She thought I'd hear a whole bunch of
notes as being the same, which is something like what I experience.
Nevertheless, there is an extremely high variability from day to day, hour
to hour, and note to note. I repeated my interest in getting some
training, and she gave me the e-mail address of a sound lab conducting a
research study called "Cochlear Implant-Mediated Perception of Music"
(soundlab123 at gmail.com), that wants volunteers, but I haven't heard back
from them.
Thursday (January 30)
Now here comes the complete record, to date, of my Sound and Beyond
training. Of course each and every result is of great interest to me, but
you can see the general overall progress I've been making, as well as they
day-to-day variability, which says much for my alterness. I suffer, as you
know, from narcolepsy. I tested myself at the beginning and after every
five sequences, but now only every ten. I don't want to move to higher
levels too quickly, so I'll still have room for improvement. Andrea agrees
that, after two years, my improvement thuogh the training will be minimal.
Until then, I'll just keep pluggin' along.
SOUND AND BEYOND TRAINING--2008.1.30
The first six ones here are the ones that have different levels of
difficulty. The other eight do not.
Date Tone Envi M/F Vowe Cons Sent
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.
1. The pure tone test consists of choosing the odd pure tone of three.
I am most likely to miss the higher frequencies, even when they are more
than an octave apart. However, when I play songs I know well on my five
octave keyboard, the top octave oftentimes sound littler higher than the
lowest! But I can miss low frequencies as well. Oftentimes I make a guess
depending on the duration of the sound, which should, but sometimes aren't
the same. I dropped back to level 4 and may go back up to level 5 once I
hit 100%. The software wants me to do so now. The crazy thing is that I
got 100% right on the *test*, the very first test I took, but never again.
For a long time I had this memory of having scored par in the first hole I
ever played in golf, which was about 1955 on a nine-hole golf course Dad
sometimes played when he was stationed at the Valley Forge Army Hospital.
(He was 4F for asthma during WW II, but got caught up in the Doctors'
Draft during the Korean War. He stayed exactly two year. We had come from
Little Rock (I lived in Kansas City the first six years of my life) and
were then to move to Colorado Springs. I think of it as "my" hometown,
though I lived there for only seven years until I went to the University
of Virginia. Dad dies in 1969 at age 51, but Mom still lives there. She is
88 and cheerful. We visit her every couple of years. But, I've had other
imagined memories, some of which I now recognize a completely bogus, and
my par on my first hole of golf is almost certainly one of them.
2. The environment sound test involves hearing a sound (such as dog bark,
lawn sprinkler, snowboard, fax machine) and choosing among two, four, or
six answers, depending on the difficulty of the test.
This is my least favorite exercise, esp. since I have never heard, for
example, a snowboard. So it is very much a matter of my memorizing the
sounds! When my alterness isn't very great, I won't remember past sessions
well, and my score for a particular round will not be good. On a very bad
day, attention-wise, I'll register a new low.
3. The Male/Female identification test involves, in the first level,
choosing the odd voice of three, one being male, the other female. The
second level involves binary choices between high and low female, or high
and low male. The third level involves quaternary choices between high
female, low female, high male, and low male.
So far, I've been only at the second level. The third one will be much
more difficult, and I'm in no hurry to advance to it. Indeed I reached a
new low (for level 2) on my very last trial. Maybe I'll wait till I've
gotten a perfect score before advancing to the highest level, level three.
4. Vowel Recognition involves, in level 1, choosing the odd sound out of
three words that differ in a vowel. Level 2 involves seeing and hearing
two words differing in a vowel, then hearing one of them read by a member
of the opposite sex and having to make a binary choice. Level 3 has one
word being heard and a choice between two shown on the screen. Level 4 is
a more difficult version of level 3. Level 5 has one picking out one of
four words, all differing in a single vowel with background racket added.
5. Consonant Recognition is exactly the same thing. I've advanced to the
second level. I do better with the consonants than vowels. I can now hear
frequencies I haven't heard since I was a child. English being a heavily
consonantal language, unlike Hawaiian, in which every other sound is a
vowel, is not good for me, and distinguishing f, s, and sh is the hardest
of all. Not so much any more. That said, I often make my guesses based not
upon the actual vowels or consonants but upon such extraneous matters as
the length of the utterances. This is not supposed to happen, but it does.
When I make the wrong guess the actual words pop up, the correct answer
and the odd man out. I wish I would always get these. I don't recall my
ever getting the words right, no matter how well I choose the odd man out.
(Half the time it's an odd woman!) I may just give what I think is the
wrong answer just to be able to get the words. This would be a good
exercise, though not one intended by the software makers. Giving the wrong
answer in the Male/Female test does not bring up the correct word, just
the correct voice. Too bad. I should write the software maker, make some
suggestions, and urge it to give me the new version for free, so I can
offer further help.
6. Everyday Sentences consist of choosing which of four sentences
displayed is the one heard. The four levels have progressively more
background racket. Except for the very first test, I have gotten them all
right, there being no background racket at all. I started at level 1,
moved to level 2 the next time, and to level 3 on the first round. I was
up to level 4 in October only and at level 3 every since. I got them all
on level 3 on January 14 but not since. I am going to stick there for a
while.
You can see immediately how I've done on the tests. Vast and steady
improvements, with one exception. I pay attention to each session, of
course, but the detail matters mostly to show the day-to-day variability.
Alas, I seem not to have recorded that starting dates for each round for
the first five weeks. Maybe diligently going through my notes and this
diary would turn up missing dates, but it's no big deal.
# is the low point at any particular level, and * the high point.
Date Tone Envi M/F Vowe Cons Sent
TESTS
#Quest 60 25 48 48 40 25
Chance % (33) (25) (50) (8) (5) (20)
1 0717 100 #44 #52 # 8 # 5 #96
2 0830 93 52 #52 26 18 100
3 0926 93 56 90 30 28 100
4 1030 #89 76 90 *38 35 100
5 0110 97 *80 ALL 33 *43 100
max ALL 80 ALL 38 43 ALL
TRAINING SESSIONS #Q's
25 25 48 50 50 25
No. Date Tone Envi M/F Vowe Cons Sent
Lev5 Lev1 Lev1 Lev1 Lev1 Lev1
Chance % (33) (50) (33) (33) (33) (25)
1 0718 76 #56 #48 58 74
*92
Lev2
2 64 68 64 68 74 #76
3 70 76 76 60 86 80
4 48 88 70 62 #52 *92
Lev3
5 <0815 56 88 80 80 64 64
6 64 60 76 66 80 76
7 #40 80 85 70 78 64
8 0822 52 88 82 64 *96 68
9 0827 80 72 84 64 78 72
10 0829 60 84 *96 68 86 #56
No. Date Tone Envi M/F Vowe Cons Sent
lev5 lev1 lev1 lev1 lev1 lev3
Chance % (33) (50) (33) (33) (33) (25)
11 0904 60 92 88 66 84 *92
12 0911 56 80 82 #56 88 88
13 0917 68 76 88 #56 64 80
14 0919 72 72 86 76 80 76
15 0924 60 80 88 82 76 80
Lev4
Chance % (25)
16 1001 56 76 *96 72 86 #36
Lev2
Chance % (33)
17 1004 68 *96 88 88 *96 *84
18 1016 72 88 *94 *94 94 84
19 1018 84 80 90 92 88 56
20 1024 68 *96 92 74 94 72
No. Date Tone Envi M/F Vowe Cons Sent
Lev2 Lev2 Lev3
Chance % (25) (50) (25)
21 1106 *88 *84 88 68 90 84
22 1113 40 #60 81 60 84 #56
23 1127 56 64 92 76 #74 84
24 1129 76 76 85 78 78 76
25 1204 76 76 77 74 92 84
Lev4 Chance % (25)
26 1211 84 68 79 80 90 72
27 1217 88 64 85 78 84 92
28 1219 #72 72 81 80 82 96
29 1231 *92 68 83 80 *94 76
30 0107 *92 80 81 90 86 76
lev4 lev2 lev2 lev1 lev2 lev3
(25) (25) (33) (33) (50) (25)
31 0114 76 80 88 68 88 ALL
32 0116 88 68 79 80 80 96
33 0122 *92 *96 83 84 92 80
34 0128 *92 80 #75 88 82 88
max(curlev) 92 96 94 94 94 ALL
Maximum at current level, that is.
* marks highest score at current level.
# marks lowest score at current level.
MODULES WITHOUT LEVELS
--WORD DISCRIMINATION-- -MUSIC-
By chance alone, it's 25% for all columns.
No. Date Ani Foo Col Fam Num Tim Ins Mel
The word discrimination tests involve hearing the name of an animal, a
food words, a color, a family term, or a time terms. The player choosed
one of four answers displayed on the screen. The music tests are the same
but involve hearing a orchestral instrument or a familiar melody.
As I have gotten better and better on these, I decided to make life for
difficult for myself (and this to get some real training) to never, ever
ask the software to repeat a selection, and then to not even look at the
choices ahead of time.
For the instruments, the drums and trumpet are unmistakable. I quickly
learned to tell the piano and xylophone apart. The mellow sound of the
clarinet as it dips in frequency is also a give away, but sometimes still
I miss it. Its the French horn that causes the most problems. I confuse it
both with the violin and the cello. And even the violin and the cello! It
depends on how alert I am, not on my hearing, since the sounds are now all
so familiar to me.
For the melodies, here they are:
Amazing Grace: I don't know the tune (it's not in the Episcopal Hymnal)
but because it's slow and takes the longest to play.
BaBaBlackSheep I do know. I almost always get it, but because of the
rhythm not the notes, which are off scale.
Beethoven Fifth: Of course I know it! But I don't exactly hear it.
Listening to it with my meat ear confers immediate recognition. I have to
wait till it's over before I can register my response. It the last five
notes, three Gs and an Eb, that I just wait for. I did get it wrong on
some early rounds.
ClockTick I don't know, but that one is not too hard to guess. (I
sometimes miss it anyhow. So much depends on my concentration.)
HappyBirthday is a problem, since it sounds like it is jazzed up. I miss
it rather often.
ItsyBitsy Spider. Same as ClockTick.
JackAndJill. Know it and usually get it.
JingleBells. Miss it too often.
JoyToTheWorld. Ditto. It's played with heavy chords, which makes me miss
it somewhat often.
PopGoes (the Weasel, of course). I guess I can miss anything, if my
concentration is poor. But this doesn't happen often with this one.
RockAByeBaby: Sarah tells me it's Brahms' Lullaby. I don't much recognize
it, but I've memorized it and get it right, unless I'm not concentrating.
Failure to concentrate is partly my fault, or even mostly my fault.
ThisOldMan: Don't know it but now usually get it.
TwinkleTwinkle: Some confuse with ThisOldMan. Too chordal.
WeddingMarch: I've learned to get it but have no idea whether it's
Mendelssohn's or Wagner's!
WeWishYou (a Merry Christmas, of course): I'm playing it now and it's
quite familiar, but I don't recall it *ever* having turned up on this
module. I'm using Power Desk Pro 6, a nifty file manager. You can buy this
full version from http://www.v-com.com. I think there's a simpler version
in the System Suite. I can listen to one sound after another just by using
my trackball (much better than mice but now hard to find!) or the arrow
keys. Very fast. You can also see the beginning of files if you turn on
that option. MyComputer is just too slow. The Systems Suite catches
viruses and malware, has a firewall, as well as a general computer
manager. This protection is good until a new version comes out. It is
cheaper than McAfee and Norton and easier to use.
YankeeDoodle is extremely familiar, but it is also noisy and so I do
sometimes miss it.
Here's the results. I got everyone of the word discriminations on the last
test, though I still haven't reached 100% on the two music modules.
Here's the best I've gotten on the training sessions, *since* I stopped
looking at the choices:
max 15 16 17 22 23 23 16 7
no. Qs 25 25 25 25 25 25 18 16
So by guessing blindly, I still have a lot more to practice with.
--WORD DISCRIMINATION-- -MUSIC-
No. Date Ani Foo Col Fam Num Tim Ins Mel
TESTS
#Quest 50 50 50 50 50 50 18 16
1 0717 #76 #72 #86 #82 #80 #88 #39 #50
2 0830 92 88 ALL*98 98 94 72 69
3 0926 *96 96 98 96 ALL ALL *94 75
4 1031 *96 ALL 96 *98 all 96 89 *94
5 0110 all all all all all all 89 88
TRAINING SESSIONS
Questions 25 25 25 25 25 25 18 16
No. Date Ani Foo Col Fam Num Tim Ins Mel
1 22 #15 22 22 22 23 # 8 # 8
2 #17 #15 #21 #21 #19 #19 12 # 8
3 19 22 23 22 21 23 12 11
4 *24 21 23 23 23 24 12 11
5 21 20 23 #21 23 24 12 14
6 22 22 #21 24 #19 22 13 12
7 23 23 *24 all ALL 24 *16 15
8 0822 22 24 *24 23 23 24 15 ALL
9 0827 21 22 23 23 20 ALL 15 all
10 0829 *24 ALL *24 ALL all all 15 13
* marks highest score in these first ten sessions, where I repeated
questions as often as I wished. # for lowest.
STOPPED ASKING FOR REPLAYS
No. Date Ani Foo Col Fam Num Tim Ins Mel
11 0904 20 #20 #22 #20 #21 ALL #15 #13
12 0911 21 *23 23 24 22 24 *16 14
13 0917 #19 22 #22 24 24 24 #15 ALL
14 0919 24 22 ALL ALL ALL all *16 14
15 0924 23 22 23 all 24 all #15 14
16 1001 ALL *23 24 all 23 #23 #15 15
* marks highest score in these sessions (11-16), where I repeat no
question but did look at the potential choices beforehand. # for lowest.
GUESSING BLINDLY (NOT LOOKING AT CHOICES). NUMBERS REPRESENT CORRECT
CHOICES AFTER LOOKING.
No. Date Ani Foo Col Fam Num Tim Ins Mel
17 1004 24 22 24 ALL 24 ALL #13 14
18 1016 24 24 24 24 24 24 16 13
19 1018 23 24 22 #22 24 24 *17 14
20 1024 23 23 #21 all #23 #23 *17 15
21 1106 22 24 24 all ALL all *17 15
22 1113 #21 22 24 all all all 15 14
23 1127 22 #20 23 24 all #22 15 10
24 1129 ALL ALL ALL all all 24 16 14
25 1204 23 21 24 all all #22 16 ALL
26 1211 24 24 24 all 24 24 *17 15
27 1217 24 22 23 all all all 15 14
28 1219 all 24 24 all 24 all 15 14
29 1231 22 23 23 23 all all *17 15
30 0107 24 24 24 all all 24 #13 #11
31 0114 24 23 23 all all 24 14 13
32 0116 24 24 all all all 23 16 15
33 0122 all all 24 24 all 24 *17 15
34 0128 24 22 24 all 24 24 ALL 14
max all all all all all all all all
* marks sessions (from no. 17 onward) , where I listened blindly but then
looked at choices. # lowest. Now that I have gotten all questions correct
at one time or another, I will not record the correct number anymore but
deliberately click a wrong answer in case I cannot guess the right answer
when looking blindly. The software will record this accordingly.
GUESSING BLINDLY (NOT LOOKING AT CHOICES). NUMBERS REPRESENT CORRECT
CHOICES BEFORE
LOOKING.
No. Date Ani Foo Col Fam Num Tim Ins Mel
17 1004 10 10 9 17 14 15 #13 9
18 1016 8 9 #7 13 18 15 #13 8
19 1018 # 7 12 11 15 19 18 14 9
20 1024 13 14 #7 14 22 *23 14 9
21 1106 11 8 12 14 16 18 *16 12
22 1113 11 #4 10 13 #13 16 #13 # 7
23 1127 9 6 8 #10 14 #10 15 # 7
24 1129 12 *16 8 *18 15 13 14 12
25 1204 8 8 15 14 #13 16 15 11
26 1211 *15 10 *17 13 14 12 14 11
27 1217 *15 *16 15 13 18 19 #13 9
28 1219 9 12 12 15 18 21 14 9
29 1231 *15 12 10 14 18 19 15 11
30 0107 12 9 15 *22 #13 19 #13 8
31 0114 9 10 11 18 *23 22 14 10
32 0116 13 14 15 20 20 19 13 12
33 0122 13 11 14 18 19 18 *16 *13
34 0128 9 12 13 16 16 18 *16 14
max 15 16 17 22 23 23 16 # 7|
* marks highest score in these sessions, where I neither repeated choices
nor looked at the potential answers beforehand. # for lowest.
Friday (February 1): All My Children: Three people are in the hospital.
This may be a record. Greenlee is near death and keeps having visions of
past events, current imagined conversations. Ryan has amnesia and can't
remember anything for the last four years. Adams's twin Stuart is back.
Quite funny.
Jim Lehrer: forgotten.
Saturday (February 2):
This is our fortieth wedding anniversary! Richard and Debbie McClintock
came up from Hampden-Sydney College, where he has managed it publications
since 1970 or so. They were the only ones who came who were at the
original wedding, except the participants, that is. Both Sarah's mother,
my mother, and the best man (Sterling Phipps, my second year college
roommate) couldn't come because of their health. A great many have died,
including two relatives of Sarah who attended the wedding of her
great-grandparents in the same farm house we were married in. (The house
came into her family in 1830 and was sold just a couple of years ago, as I
can't afford it, even I weren't a city boy who wants to be close to book
shops.) Two others were college friends we continue to have contacts with
but who now live two long days' drive away, so we didn't think to invite
them up just for a party. We've lost contact with all the others, but
still it's remarkable how many we still have contact with. There were 39
in attendance at the wedding itself, as far as Sarah and I have
reconstructed from memory and photographs, though we may add to the list
later.
There were twenty-one at our party, by current count. Several came from
Sarah's church choir and chorus (with spouse and sometimes friends). Four
from our apartment building. My daughter Adelaide, her boyfriend Brian and
his son. Sharon Hamilton. (Her husband had to work on a Saturday
afternoon!) Only one person from work, Frances Moran, whom I've known for
only a couple of weeks, but we instantly started liking each other's
company. The McClintocks.
We are responsible for that marriage! I took Sarah over to see Richard on
my first date. The next time I saw him, he excitedly jumped up and down.
"Marry her, Forman, marry her!" (He and Sarah are the only ones who call
me by my last name. I often call Sarah either Banks or the Banks-Woman.
She has exactly the same hair style as she did on her wedding day and uses
no make up. Go getting ready involves just getting dressed an running a
comb through her hair. I have a passion against make up. The following
paragraph proves that my general Christian heritage has ground itself into
my world view, even if I no longer have the faith:
Early Christian writers argued that, since God had created man in his own
image, the modification of this image was necessarily a deviation, and,
more specifically, a sin. Insofar as a man is not his true image, that is,
the image of God, he must be fallen, alienated from God, so that masks
necessarily embody man as sinful. By the same arguments, a person's
appearances should not be different from the inwardness God has created.
More generally, masks embody sin itself, and in the Middle Ages ancient
theatrical masks became the patterns for devils or demons, associated with
Hell. Such arguments (and the deep-seated assumptions to which they are
related) are clearly variants on the themes stated above. The mask makes
manifest a reality, which is not just an absolutely false self, but an
evil one, dangerous because it is a possible transformation, rooted in
human freedom and in original sin itself. By implication, the true image
is the person's own visage, which might, however, be seen as the mask of a
truer, higher, spiritual reality, regarded as both individual and divine.
This view presents the constancy of the inner , of our *selves*, which we
feel cannot be changed, or should not be changed, by a change in outer
appearance. We are, or should be, we believe, essentially the same person
with a mask or without. Modern Western actors no not wear masks, although
they may be 'character actors' or type-cast, just as ancient comic masks
represented many 'characters'. The actor is successful when convincing
identity is achieved with the role, although such skills continue to be
regarded with ambivalence at the same time that the actor has become a
more and more important example in modern life. It is not hard to see why
portraiture (often from life masks) has been such an important genre in
Western art; appearance is the unique mask of the self. But for [present
purposes it is sufficient to note that our own attitudes are culturally
specific, that masks point toward some of our most fundamental questions
regarding self-identity and authenticity, and such beliefs are themselves
deeply involved in cultural choices about the significance of masks and
masking.
--David Summers, _Real Spaces: World Art History and the Rise of Western
Modernism_ (London: Phaidon Press, Ltd., 2003), p. 305.
Well, Richard wound up marrying one of Sarah's roommates, and a truly
happy marriage it has been. When Sarah has cautioned against marriages,
they have turned out badly. I'm a poor judge of character, partly do to my
hearing. It's best to admit these things. I wouldn't *quite* say Richard
is in love with Sarah, and would not admit it to himself, but they
certainly chatted up a storm.
So how well did I hear, which is supposed object of this diary. Well, it
varied, depending on who I was talking to. There were quite a number of
people there in a small space. Would it have been better than before my
operation? I do think so, but how much I can't say. So that's it for my
first year.
More information about the tt
mailing list