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Ms. Stillwell:
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Now, this one was the doozey. I got this one with the music on it last Friday and was totally confused. It looks weird, don't you think? I was feeling a bit creepy about all these notes, so I told our security chick, Brenda, about it. She thought it was just some kind of prank my co-workers might be playing on me. Evidently, she doesn't think we computer geeks are very mature.
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Dr. Balis:
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This one with the music does look a bit odd.
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Ms. Stillwell:
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Yeah. I played the violin for years. When I looked at it, I could tell that something was off, but I just couldn't figure it out. I was reading a book on Saturday and was using this card as a bookmark when I noticed something. The timing is 7/8, but it's not seven beats per measure like it should be. Besides, 7/8 is such a weird timing to use. It was the 7/8 timing that clued me in to the rest of it.
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Dr. Balis:
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What do you mean?
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Ms. Stillwell:
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Well, look at this. Wait, let me explain a few things first. The timing tells the number of beats per measure. Each section of this--everything up to that vertical line--is called a measure. Inside each measure, the sum of the length of all the notes--the length of a note is the duration it is played--must equal the number of beats per measure stated in your time signature. This piece of music says that there should be seven beats per measure.
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Dr. Balis:
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But these notes don't measure up to seven beats in each measure?
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Ms. Stillwell:
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Nope. Now, each note has a numerical value that tells you how long or short the note is. The most commonly used time signature is 4/4. That means there are four beats per measure, and the measure is divided into four equal beats: one, two, three, four; one, two, three, four; one, two, three, four. This first note is called a quarter note because in 4/4 time it's equal to one quarter of the measure. The values change numerically based on the time signature. Follow me so far?
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Dr. Balis:
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I think I follow you.
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Ms. Stillwell:
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Now for this, we'll pretend that doesn't happen. Even if you change the note values to compensate for the 7/8 time, it still doesn't equal the correct number of beats per measure. Did you get that?
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Dr. Balis:
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Yes, I believe so.
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Ms. Stillwell:
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Okay. This second note is the sixteenth note--one quarter of a quarter note is a sixteenth note. You can tell it's a sixteenth note because of its two little tails. For each additional tail, you square the value or something, so it goes: quarter note, eighth note, sixteenth note, thirty-second note, and so on. These next two notes are also sixteenth notes. They are played consecutively because they are hooked together by the bar on top.
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Dr. Balis:
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I see.
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Ms. Stillwell:
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Now, if this was real music, all three of those sixteenth notes would have been hooked together by a bar.
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Dr. Balis:
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Hmm?
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Ms. Stillwell:
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I'll get to that in a second. So based on all of this, you can plainly see that in the first measure we have one quarter note and three sixteenth notes. The quarter note is one beat, the sixteenth notes are a quarter of a beat each. If you played this you'd have dum, du-du-du. Long, short-short-short.
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Dr. Balis:
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I think I'm with you.
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Ms. Stillwell:
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So if you add up a quarter note and three sixteenth notes, you get one-and-three-quarters beats. I think that's right.
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Dr. Balis:
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One beat for the quarter note, and a quarter of a beat for each of the sixteenth notes.
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Ms. Stillwell:
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Yeah. I'm not good at articulating the math. But I can read it, and it's nowhere near the seven beats it's supposed to be.
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Dr. Balis:
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Okay.
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Ms. Stillwell:
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The longer I thought about it, the more perplexed I became. And I was really bugged about the three sixteenths notes not being hooked together. I just couldn't figure it out.
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Dr. Balis:
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Is this important, Olivia? We've spent almost half a session analyzing this note.
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Ms. Stillwell:
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Indulge me, Doctor. So let's continue. Each note also has a name. A letter that represents it and the location of the note on the scale tells you its name. So I wrote out all the notes: A, B, C, D, E, F, and G. There are sharps and flats as well that slightly modify the sound. But they aren't used here, so I won't explain them.
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Dr. Balis:
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Good.
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Ms. Stillwell:
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So in this note, the letters for the first measure are B, B, C, C. The second measure reads G, A, E, D. The third measure is E, F, B, B, C, C, G, A, E, D, E, F. I tried rearranging these letters all sorts of ways, but couldn't come up with anything that made sense. Then I did this. Take a look.
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Dr. Balis:
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What is it?
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Ms. Stillwell:
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I made a table of the alphabet based on the letters used in music. Now, you see that first note? It's a quarter note--one beat--on the B line. The second note is a sixteenth note--it's a quarter of the length of the quarter note and has two little flags--and is on the B line as well.
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Dr. Balis:
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Okay.
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Ms. Stillwell:
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Well, if you look at my chart, the second line under the B is the letter I.
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Dr. Balis:
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So it is.
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Ms. Stillwell:
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So far, we have B, I. This next one had me confused. It's two eighth notes on the C line. B, I, C, C? Nope! It's an X. See? Two sixteenth notes--two notes together each having two little flags--equal four!
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Dr. Balis:
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Hmm?
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Ms. Stillwell:
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Four under the letter C is an X. If you do the rest of it, it reads BIX GOLD ST. I looked in the phone book and found that there is a restaurant on Gold Street called Bix!
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Dr. Balis:
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I'm amazed.
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Ms. Stillwell:
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Someone took the time to make up this code, and I figured it out. It's great!
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Dr. Balis:
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Well...
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Ms. Stillwell:
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Well, an invitation is no good without a date and time. 7/8 is too obvious for a date and is too far away. I think it means the time--between seven and eight o'clock. Of course, I'm assuming PM.
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Dr. Balis:
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That sounds reasonable.
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Ms. Stillwell:
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I was stumped on the date, until I got this last card on my chair this morning with these flowers: "Will I gaze into your eyes tonight over a glass of wine?" It is romantic enough to be unassuming if I didn't figure out the code. But it also gives me the date of the invitation if I did figure out the code.
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Dr. Balis:
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Do you have any idea who might be sending you these cards?
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Ms. Stillwell:
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None whatsoever. I'm at a complete loss for ideas. I can hardly wait for seven o'clock to come!
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Dr. Balis:
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Do you think it's okay to meet this mystery person alone?
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Ms. Stillwell:
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Oh, I'll be safe, Doc. I've asked Caren to come with me. I told her that I'd treat her and her husband to dinner at the restaurant even if no one shows up to meet me. I wouldn't dare meet someone like this without a backup. I'll have them in the restaurant with me, and they'll get a free dinner.
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Dr. Balis:
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That sounds good. You have your bases covered. What will you do if this secret admirer is someone you don't care to have as an admirer?
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Ms. Stillwell:
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Hmm, good question. What if it's that gross guy, Gary Hindle, in accounting? Phew! He's all sweaty and nasty. I'll have to work out a signal with Caren. If I give her the signal, she'll pretend to come running in and will whisk me away on some emergency. Or maybe she can call me from her cell phone and I can make my excuses and leave. That sounds like a good idea, too. Speaking of Caren, do you know her, Doc? I know you can't say whether or not she's a patient, so let me rephrase: I think Caren knows you.
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Dr. Balis:
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Oh?
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Ms. Stillwell:
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I was telling her about last week's session, and she asked who was my therapist. When I said your name, she just kind of blinked at me and gave me a blank stare. Then we picked up the conversation and chit chatted away about other stuff. I got the impression that she might know you.
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Dr. Balis:
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Hmm.
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Ms. Stillwell:
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Well, anyway, I wanted to talk to you about my memories for a little bit, Doc. I don't want to run out of time, so can we change the subject?
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Dr. Balis:
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Sure, Olivia.
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Ms. Stillwell:
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I had to do a lot of concentrating to come up with some of those early memories. Every time I remembered something, I tried to make myself remember something before that event. The memories are about the car accident, falling into the hole in the hill, swinging on the vines, and...I don't know who are the people in these memories. Should I?
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Dr. Balis:
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Are they familiar to you?
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Ms. Stillwell:
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Yes, I guess so. I feel like I should know who they are, but I can't remember. I can't remember faces, just that they were there.
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Dr. Balis:
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That's not uncommon. You were very young during these events.
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Ms. Stillwell:
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Yeah. I guess worrying about it won't make me remember. It's really not a big deal. I'll ask my father about them, he was there for one of those memories. Maybe he'll remember.
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Dr. Balis:
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Sounds like a good idea. On that note, why don't we wrap up for the afternoon.
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Ms. Stillwell:
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Time sure does fly.
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Dr. Balis:
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Thank you for the music lesson, Olivia.
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Ms. Stillwell:
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Hey, no problem, Doc! See you next week.
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Dr. Balis:
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Be careful this evening. Have a good time.
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Ms. Stillwell:
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See you, Doc!
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Dr. Balis:
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Goodbye, Olivia.
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###
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Doctor Balis' Notes on this Session
Transcripts of Olivia Stillwell's Communications
