The lake in Richmond Park had frozen over for the first time this winter. People were breaking off pieces of ice from the shore line or picking up stones from the paths, and skimming them over the frozen surface of the water.
To my amazement, each stone played the same musical note as it bounced, the note D. ‘Chook-chooka-chooka-chooka-chooka-chhhhhh’, sang the stones on D as they skittered to a stop far out on the ice. All around the lake, in the brilliant winter sunshine, the ice rang out like tuned percussion. I had not thought of the lake as having ‘a note’ before.
Strangely enough, I once wrote a blog entry with a similar theme – about a dish bouncing in F sharp. It’s:
http://ivan-makingmusic.blogspot.com/2010/02/bouncing-dish.html
Susan, that’s amazing!!! So does it follow that if the sea froze and you did the same with pebbles you would hear a C???????????
Ivan, an equally extraordinary story!! You asked if anyone had any similar experiences of the note produced by a dropped dish – I’m afraid the only one’s that I’ve dropped have been china or glass and smashed, and so unrepeatable!!
Paul, I love the idea that the sea would sound the note C!
I’ve often noticed that concert halls seem to respond more to one note than another. Sometimes they seem to have a favourite note which makes them ‘ring’. Sometimes there are several such notes. Occasionally I’ve thought that a certain hall is ‘in F’ or whatever.