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.
The microphone building process actually turned out to be more fun and interesting than I expected. The only set back was a lack of soldering equipment made it a timely process. My microphones worked fine on my drifts, everything seemed to go well with them. Ideally, I would not have had us even make microphones, just buy them, so we could spend more time on the drifts, but it was still a fun experience.
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?
This MiniDisc recorder I used was my first real piece of sound recording besides using a basic tape recorder. My personal experience sucked after having my first soundwalk have a Rec Error and all my sounds deleted. My second one went a little more smoothly, but still some problems with the transferring in the end. My ideal MiniDisc recorder would be able to skip the step of working on a PC so I could directly put my sounds on my Mac laptop.
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 for the first time and found many of the capabilities intriguing and I’m looking forward to drift two where I can use them to make some abstract sounds. SonicStage didn’t work for me so I am unable to critique it expect for the fact that it wouldn’t let me transfer my songs onto a CD, with just added to the technical difficulties I had.
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
10 Curiosities
1. Is there an interesting way to use echoes of buildings?
2. How can I use traffic to find an interesting sound?
3. Were there any houses with things inside to produce noise?
4. Is there a way to get a different view of the houses than the street?
5. Are there any more areas with people interacting?
6. Are there more areas of construction that I can find sounds at?
7. Were their any empty lots near the houses?
8. Are there any houses with unusual plant or flower arrangements?
9. Is there a street close to the houses with stores or markets?
10. Where is the nearest park or recreation area in relations to the streets of houses?
2. How can I use traffic to find an interesting sound?
3. Were there any houses with things inside to produce noise?
4. Is there a way to get a different view of the houses than the street?
5. Are there any more areas with people interacting?
6. Are there more areas of construction that I can find sounds at?
7. Were their any empty lots near the houses?
8. Are there any houses with unusual plant or flower arrangements?
9. Is there a street close to the houses with stores or markets?
10. Where is the nearest park or recreation area in relations to the streets of houses?
Drift 1 Assessment
1. Describe two situations that aggravated, bothered, shocked or otherwise stressed you during Drift 1.
When I started on my drift I noticed that only traffic sounds were apparently the only thing I could really hear. I began to look closer into sounds away from the street but could still have cars going by and would sometimes mess up my recordings. The second problem that became frustrating was when I walked through my drift algorithm once (left, left, right, right, straight, left, right) and still hadn’t recorded an interesting sound. I started to get stressed thinking I wasn’t going to be able to find some quality sounds. Eventually after walking far enough I found things to make interesting sounds.
2. Describe, with details, two situations during Drift 1 in which you felt unusually peaceful, at ease, or contemplative.
I think the first time I truly felt peaceful was when I got away from all the busier roads near campus. It was a relief to walk by houses that had maybe people talking but the sound of cars driving by was almost completely eliminated which set my mind at ease. The other time(s) I felt at ease was when I was actually making my recordings. Two that stand out are the birds and the children on the porch. Just sitting and listening is very peaceful to me and I would get a chance for 4-5 minutes to just relax while my microphone recorded everything going on in the world while I could just think more deeply about my surroundings.
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!)
The first surprise I guess you can call it, was when I asked a woman to return her lawn mower. I was actually surprised with how creepy she suspected me of being because the idea of recording sounds was so unusual to her. The next day I just had to laugh about the whole situation and wondering how many people she told about being recorded while pushing her lawn mower. Another surprise actually came when listening back to my recordings. During the time of recording I was listening to a specific sound, but during the recording I would hear other sounds that I wasn’t aware of at the time. This made me realize how much our ears tune out things that we don’t want to hear. The final reaction I had derived from drifting as a whole. When the project first was presented I honestly didn’t understand why anyone would ever do this. Afterwards I realized how peaceful and just separated from the real world I became. The entire time I felt that I wasn’t a person in the real world just a spectator listening in which was really cool.
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.
My favorite experience of the entire drift definitely came on finding my final sound of a leaf blower. At first the sound was coming from a yard with a huge fence up. I decided that it was a perfect opportunity to really listen to the sound in order to guess what the object making the sound was. I remember listen and ruling the obvious things first that it was a machine, with a constant engine that was moving around. Then I took my guess of it being a leaf blower, and walked around the house to see the answer. I felt excited when I found out I was correct because I felt that I had learned something from listening my entire walk and felt that sound now had new meaning to me.
When I started on my drift I noticed that only traffic sounds were apparently the only thing I could really hear. I began to look closer into sounds away from the street but could still have cars going by and would sometimes mess up my recordings. The second problem that became frustrating was when I walked through my drift algorithm once (left, left, right, right, straight, left, right) and still hadn’t recorded an interesting sound. I started to get stressed thinking I wasn’t going to be able to find some quality sounds. Eventually after walking far enough I found things to make interesting sounds.
2. Describe, with details, two situations during Drift 1 in which you felt unusually peaceful, at ease, or contemplative.
I think the first time I truly felt peaceful was when I got away from all the busier roads near campus. It was a relief to walk by houses that had maybe people talking but the sound of cars driving by was almost completely eliminated which set my mind at ease. The other time(s) I felt at ease was when I was actually making my recordings. Two that stand out are the birds and the children on the porch. Just sitting and listening is very peaceful to me and I would get a chance for 4-5 minutes to just relax while my microphone recorded everything going on in the world while I could just think more deeply about my surroundings.
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!)
The first surprise I guess you can call it, was when I asked a woman to return her lawn mower. I was actually surprised with how creepy she suspected me of being because the idea of recording sounds was so unusual to her. The next day I just had to laugh about the whole situation and wondering how many people she told about being recorded while pushing her lawn mower. Another surprise actually came when listening back to my recordings. During the time of recording I was listening to a specific sound, but during the recording I would hear other sounds that I wasn’t aware of at the time. This made me realize how much our ears tune out things that we don’t want to hear. The final reaction I had derived from drifting as a whole. When the project first was presented I honestly didn’t understand why anyone would ever do this. Afterwards I realized how peaceful and just separated from the real world I became. The entire time I felt that I wasn’t a person in the real world just a spectator listening in which was really cool.
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.
My favorite experience of the entire drift definitely came on finding my final sound of a leaf blower. At first the sound was coming from a yard with a huge fence up. I decided that it was a perfect opportunity to really listen to the sound in order to guess what the object making the sound was. I remember listen and ruling the obvious things first that it was a machine, with a constant engine that was moving around. Then I took my guess of it being a leaf blower, and walked around the house to see the answer. I felt excited when I found out I was correct because I felt that I had learned something from listening my entire walk and felt that sound now had new meaning to me.
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