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Duet

This evening Eleanor went down to practice viola. As soon as she started playing, (the Tallis Cannon, if you're interested) another vibration started up. At first, I thought it might be the speakers for the TV or something. However, it hadn't been going on before I went downstairs so that didn't make sense. I made Eleanor stop playing so I could hear the noise better, and the noise went away. She started again, and the noise came back.

Hmmm. Maybe a bug? The noise was coming from behind the couch, so Eleanor and I looked but didn't see anything. We figured it was probably under the couch and couldn't be easily found. Eleanor tried to keep playing, but the noise was pretty distracting. I went up to find Michael to see if he would kindly remove the bug from our rec room so Eleanor could practice.

When Michael came down again, the bug (almost certainly a cicada) was quiet again, but started right up again when Eleanor started playing. Michael said the bug was outside. I didn't believe him until he opened the window---wow, that is one loud bug. The bug stopped when it didn't hear Eleanor's viola playing anymore.

The bug kept it up all through practice. Michael thought that it was reacting to a particular pitch, but when he whistled there was no response. Eleanor's theory is that it is a male bug, and when it hears Eleanor's viola it thinks there is a female cicada somewhere around and is trying to get her attention. She claims it shows how badly she plays, that a cicada thinks she's another cicada. She also claims that the cicada started in on the cannon in exactly the right spot.

The duet was definitely fun. However, I'd be glad if that particular bug moved away from viola practice tomorrow, as it was a bit distracting...
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Anonymous said…
we call those "noisy bugs" at our house =)

FNDP
April 8, 2010 at 12:13 PM
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