Daily Dialogue — July 21, 2017

Specialist: Give her six quavers, then pause.
Technician: She sent us four quavers, a group of five quavers, a group of four semi-quavers…
Walsh: What are we saying to each other?
Laughlin: It seems they’re trying to teach us a basic tonal vocabulary.
Specialist: It’s the first day of school, fellas. Take everything from the lady. Follow her pattern note for note.

— Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), written by Steven Spielberg

The Daily Dialogue theme for the week: Scientific Explanation, suggested by Melinda Mahaffey.

Trivia: The iconic five-note melody was a chance arrangement that both composer John Williams and director Steven Spielberg happened to like out of hundreds of different permutations.

Dialogue On Dialogue: “It seems they’re trying to teach us a basic tonal vocabulary.” The realization of the first moment of human-alien ‘conversation’.