1. Discuss your experiences with building your microphones. Was this process more or less what you thought it would be? How did your microphone rig work on your Drift walks? Were you able to capture both overall ambiance and extreme closeups? Describe your ideal microphone and recorder setup, with unlimited time and money.
I really enjoyed the experience of building my own microphones. It’s something that I never thought I would do and I thought that it would be really hard. It turned out to be not that hard though. It took time and some patience but luckily and didn’t have to redo anything or start over completely. I was surprised at how clear my recordings came out from my drift walks but I think that I was only able to get more ambiance than closeup sounds. On my next drift I want to experiment with the settings to try to get more closeup sounds. Ideally, if I had bunches of money, I would pay someone to do the sound recording for me with really nice equipment. However, if I was doing it myself with all the time and money in the world, I think I would still find in fun to use microphones that I had built.
2. How was your experience with operating the MiniDisc recorder? How does this recorder compare to other audio equipment you've used? In an ideal world, how would your recorder of choice function?
I found the MiniDisc pretty easy to operate overall, maybe just a little cumbersome though. It was a pain to have to set it to manual gain each time and it was difficult to figure out how to hold the mics and operate that all at once. Sometimes I missed some sounds because it took me too long to get the recorder out and set up even though I already had it on pause/record. I haven’t really used any other specific sound recording equipment before so I don’t have much to compare this experience before. This experience did make me appreciate the all-in-one features of modern technology where the mics are built in right the camera/recorder which just makes everything easier to hold. My recorder of choice would have the microphones in the recorder and would always be able to pick the right settings by itself.
3. Discuss the audio-editing software you chose and your history with this application. If you used this software for the first time, explain why you chose this particular application and how you think it helped you to accomplish your creative goals (or proved detrimental). Will you use this software again for future projects?
I used Audacity to edit my sounds for this project, which I had never used before this project. I choose Audacity because that is what was recommended and I found it pretty easy to use although somewhat limiting in the editing options. For the basics though it was defiantly sufficient and straightforward to use. I found the unlimited undo button very helpful and the enveloping tool for bringing down really high spots. The ability to zoom in really close to the sound wave helped a lot for editing out little parts where I accidentally hit the mics and to clean up the sounds in general. Now that I’m pretty used to Audacity it would probably be my first choice for editing sounds but I would like to explore the other options to see if there is anything that I like better.
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Inquires
Here are some questions that I came up with that hopefully I will be able to answer on my next Drift.
1. Where can I go that has an even mix of city and nature?
2. Where can I start my Drift so I’m not in neighborhoods the whole time?
3. What types of buildings can I explore on my Drift?
4. How can I position the microphones to make an ordinary sound an interesting one?
5. What sounds are unique to Milwaukee that I can record?
6. What time of day has the most people active to record?
7. Is there a time of day when there would be almost no people out to interfere with my recordings?
8. Can I get people to sing for me and record it?
9. Where would I be able to record someone dancing?
10. Is there anyplace where I could accurately record silence?
1. Where can I go that has an even mix of city and nature?
2. Where can I start my Drift so I’m not in neighborhoods the whole time?
3. What types of buildings can I explore on my Drift?
4. How can I position the microphones to make an ordinary sound an interesting one?
5. What sounds are unique to Milwaukee that I can record?
6. What time of day has the most people active to record?
7. Is there a time of day when there would be almost no people out to interfere with my recordings?
8. Can I get people to sing for me and record it?
9. Where would I be able to record someone dancing?
10. Is there anyplace where I could accurately record silence?
Reflections on Drift 1
1. Describe two situations that aggravated, bothered, shocked or otherwise stressed you during Drift 1. (Please note that the situation CANNOT be technology-related.)
One of the things that bugged me on my Drift 1 was how populated the area was where I was drifting. It was necessary for people to be present for some of the sounds that I recorded but there car noise was everywhere and it seemed almost impossible to get away from. Well car noise was part of the environment that I was in, I wanted to record things that people usually don’t pay attention to instead of the most obvious noises.
I wasn’t overjoyed at how my drift strategy worked out either. I was really excited to see a lot of interesting places that I hadn’t seen before. Unfortunately my drift strategy only kept me going one general direction within the East Side neighborhood. The neighborhoods had interesting sounds at first but then the sounds of each block began to seem the same. Even on my second drift that I went on to try to get some different sounds, was still somewhat disappointing.
2. Describe, with details, two situations during Drift 1 in which you felt unusually peaceful, at ease, or contemplative.
The walk down and then back up Lake Drive felt very peaceful to me. I found that I really liked just walking around without a specific destination or purpose in mind. It was a very therapeutic experience that wasn’t just about getting sounds but clearing my mind as well.
On the second drift that I went out on, I ended up by the bike path. It was the most different place that I came across on either of my walks. It was woody and there were almost no cars or people around (although my microphones still picked up distant car noises). I was able to feel really calm in this place because it is most like where I grew up. It reminded me of how much I miss living in the country and well I enjoy all the opportunities of living in the city, I miss the peace and quite of the woods.
3. Describe three surprises or unexpected situations you encountered on your Drift and in the days that followed. The surprise could stem from your expectations that conflicted with "on the ground" realities, cultural or social issues of which you were previously unaware, feelings and reactions that you did not expect to have, appearances and soundings of things you did not expect, good or bad outcomes of "on the spot" decisions you had to make, or the discovery of "deeper" realities in the materials you brought home. (Again, skip anything technology-related!)
In the days that followed going on my drift, I found that I really listened to things more whenever I was walking outside. I never use an ipod or listen to anything usually on my way to class but I never listened to my surroundings either. After having gone on the soundwalk and discovering how many things there actual are to listen to, I started to tune myself into those sounds and I am now enjoying my walks more.
On the Drift itself, I found that it was really hard to find continuous noises that could be recorded. Before I went I thought that there were plenty of noises in the city that were recordable. But as I was out there on my Drift I realized that a lot of what I heard didn’t last very long and unless I was recording the whole time, I would miss it. This is what taught me to record more often and longer than you think you need to because you never now what might suddenly happen.
4. Describe your favorite experience, situation, place, or recollection from your Drift. Be specific about what happened, how you felt, how you reacted, and why you think this particular experience affected you so much.
For one of my recordings I positioned my microphones in a dumpster to see how that would affect the recording. The sound didn’t turn out that great but right at the end of the recording a car came up to the opening of the alley that I was recording in. I don’t know how long it was sitting there because my back was to it but it must have been at least thirty seconds judging by the peeved look on the ladies face. I quickly tried to move out of the way but ended pulling my microphone out of the dumpster and dragging it along the ground. It was an embarrassing experience but it gave me a good laugh to imagine what that lady thought I was doing. I think this experience helped me to be a little less self-conscious the rest of the drift because people didn’t pay that much attention to me as long as I wasn’t directly in their way.
One of the things that bugged me on my Drift 1 was how populated the area was where I was drifting. It was necessary for people to be present for some of the sounds that I recorded but there car noise was everywhere and it seemed almost impossible to get away from. Well car noise was part of the environment that I was in, I wanted to record things that people usually don’t pay attention to instead of the most obvious noises.
I wasn’t overjoyed at how my drift strategy worked out either. I was really excited to see a lot of interesting places that I hadn’t seen before. Unfortunately my drift strategy only kept me going one general direction within the East Side neighborhood. The neighborhoods had interesting sounds at first but then the sounds of each block began to seem the same. Even on my second drift that I went on to try to get some different sounds, was still somewhat disappointing.
2. Describe, with details, two situations during Drift 1 in which you felt unusually peaceful, at ease, or contemplative.
The walk down and then back up Lake Drive felt very peaceful to me. I found that I really liked just walking around without a specific destination or purpose in mind. It was a very therapeutic experience that wasn’t just about getting sounds but clearing my mind as well.
On the second drift that I went out on, I ended up by the bike path. It was the most different place that I came across on either of my walks. It was woody and there were almost no cars or people around (although my microphones still picked up distant car noises). I was able to feel really calm in this place because it is most like where I grew up. It reminded me of how much I miss living in the country and well I enjoy all the opportunities of living in the city, I miss the peace and quite of the woods.
3. Describe three surprises or unexpected situations you encountered on your Drift and in the days that followed. The surprise could stem from your expectations that conflicted with "on the ground" realities, cultural or social issues of which you were previously unaware, feelings and reactions that you did not expect to have, appearances and soundings of things you did not expect, good or bad outcomes of "on the spot" decisions you had to make, or the discovery of "deeper" realities in the materials you brought home. (Again, skip anything technology-related!)
In the days that followed going on my drift, I found that I really listened to things more whenever I was walking outside. I never use an ipod or listen to anything usually on my way to class but I never listened to my surroundings either. After having gone on the soundwalk and discovering how many things there actual are to listen to, I started to tune myself into those sounds and I am now enjoying my walks more.
On the Drift itself, I found that it was really hard to find continuous noises that could be recorded. Before I went I thought that there were plenty of noises in the city that were recordable. But as I was out there on my Drift I realized that a lot of what I heard didn’t last very long and unless I was recording the whole time, I would miss it. This is what taught me to record more often and longer than you think you need to because you never now what might suddenly happen.
4. Describe your favorite experience, situation, place, or recollection from your Drift. Be specific about what happened, how you felt, how you reacted, and why you think this particular experience affected you so much.
For one of my recordings I positioned my microphones in a dumpster to see how that would affect the recording. The sound didn’t turn out that great but right at the end of the recording a car came up to the opening of the alley that I was recording in. I don’t know how long it was sitting there because my back was to it but it must have been at least thirty seconds judging by the peeved look on the ladies face. I quickly tried to move out of the way but ended pulling my microphone out of the dumpster and dragging it along the ground. It was an embarrassing experience but it gave me a good laugh to imagine what that lady thought I was doing. I think this experience helped me to be a little less self-conscious the rest of the drift because people didn’t pay that much attention to me as long as I wasn’t directly in their way.
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