Building the microphones was a new experience for me. I have soldered before, yet building the microphones involved more concentration and patience for me. My experience with the microphone build was exactly what I thought it would be like. I did have complications with the solder on the wires. The solder fused together on one microphone and shorted it out. I had to go back, clean up the capsule and re-solder the wires onto the capsule. It was more difficult to take off the wires than it was to solder them on again. My microphone rig did work until one point where the clips came off because the tape did not hold. I was able to capture some close-up sounds, yet I did not have too many opportunities to take advantage of. My ideal microphone set up involves smaller microphones that can be easily hidden and can adjust to the noise levels automatically. In addition, the recorder would have unlimited space so you do not have to worry about running out of memory and the recorder would not have any batteries.
I did not have a difficult time with the mini-disc recorder. After going through the set-up steps several times, the process became routine and did not have to look back to the sheet with the set-up steps. The mini-disc recorder was different from other devices I used because it had more steps to follow and had more features such as adjusting the volume depending on the type of noise. On other recorders, you do not have that option. In an ideal world, the recorder did not need a disc or at least, the disc would be smaller and would hold more information. In addition, the recorder would not need to run on batteries. The audio-editing software I chose to use is Audacity. I have never used this software before and was completely new to me. I chose this software because I felt that I could easily use it and understand all the functions it has to offer. Since this was my first time using Audacity, I ran into some complications. I was not sure where my saved projects would go and where my initials recordings would go. I also thought about what would happen if I deleted something I did not want to delete. After becoming more experienced with the software, I will use Audacity for future projects again.
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
10 Questions
1) Are there any unique man-made sounds such as a fountain or tools being used?
2) What area was the most unique in terms of visual stimulation?
3) Which area produced the most useful sounds?
4) Is there an area where I can produce different angles or views using that area or the objects in
that area?
5) Which area produces different, yet, unique sounds both at day and nighttime?
6) Which area tends to have more people around it?
7) Are there any interesting twists or turns during the sound walk?
8) Are there any obstacles I have to go through to get to a certain area?
9) Where can I find a place that is surrounded by buildings and does not contain a high population of people?
10) When is the best time of day to capture sounds?
2) What area was the most unique in terms of visual stimulation?
3) Which area produced the most useful sounds?
4) Is there an area where I can produce different angles or views using that area or the objects in
that area?
5) Which area produces different, yet, unique sounds both at day and nighttime?
6) Which area tends to have more people around it?
7) Are there any interesting twists or turns during the sound walk?
8) Are there any obstacles I have to go through to get to a certain area?
9) Where can I find a place that is surrounded by buildings and does not contain a high population of people?
10) When is the best time of day to capture sounds?
Monday, October 20, 2008
Drift Assessment
1. Describe two situations that aggravated, bothered, shocked or otherwise stressed you during Drift 1. (Please note that the situation CANNOT be technology-related.)
I was aggravated that I could not find too many unique sounds or at least sounds that were different from each other. I was also frustrated because I was, in a way, constrained to one area on my sound walk. This did not allow me to find too many sounds. Some of my sounds were too short to do anything with them.
2. Describe, with details, two situations during Drift 1 in which you felt unusually peaceful, at ease, or contemplative.
I felt at ease when I was walking past a dog. I was unusually at ease because I did not notice the dog barking until I had walked in front of it. I was getting used to my surroundings at that point. I actually felt so comfortable, that I stood in one place until I thought I had enough sound recorded. In addition, I felt at ease when I entered a neighborhood that I was not familiar with, which made up most of my drift walk. Even though I was in an area I knew little about, I was still at ease.
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!)
One surprise that I came across was the sound of a dog barking. I didn’t hear the dog barking until I was directly in front of it. The sound of the dog barking blended in with the background noises, which made it hard for me to recognize what was going on until I reached the dog. Second, as I was walking through the neighborhoods, I would pass people and some of them would look at me in a strange way, possibly because I was wearing the microphones. In addition, others would walk by and just simply say hi and not give a reaction. I was surprised nobody asked what I was doing and what the two “things” were on me. Finally, I did not expect to get lost, yet somehow I did. I thought about where I wanted to walk but made some bad choices, meaning bad turns. At one point, I was unsure if I was going to make back to my starting point. However, I just looked at the street numbers to help guide me. What surprised me was that nobody seemed to be too worried about me when I returned. However, it was a great experience altogether.
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 was listening to all the people around me and seeing what they had to say. At those moments, I got a glimpse into how they were feeling and the things that were on their mind. People just carried on doing what they either had to do or what they wanted to do that day without me getting in the way. For example, I captured the sounds of men moving objects into a moving truck. In order to get enough sound recording, I stood there until they entered the house again. They saw me standing there and they just continued with what they were doing without asking why I was standing there. I thought they certainly were going to say something to me but they did not. It was one of the most unique experiences in my life to see how the world, or at least a small portion of Milwaukee, continued to move and progress while I was on my sound walk.
I was aggravated that I could not find too many unique sounds or at least sounds that were different from each other. I was also frustrated because I was, in a way, constrained to one area on my sound walk. This did not allow me to find too many sounds. Some of my sounds were too short to do anything with them.
2. Describe, with details, two situations during Drift 1 in which you felt unusually peaceful, at ease, or contemplative.
I felt at ease when I was walking past a dog. I was unusually at ease because I did not notice the dog barking until I had walked in front of it. I was getting used to my surroundings at that point. I actually felt so comfortable, that I stood in one place until I thought I had enough sound recorded. In addition, I felt at ease when I entered a neighborhood that I was not familiar with, which made up most of my drift walk. Even though I was in an area I knew little about, I was still at ease.
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!)
One surprise that I came across was the sound of a dog barking. I didn’t hear the dog barking until I was directly in front of it. The sound of the dog barking blended in with the background noises, which made it hard for me to recognize what was going on until I reached the dog. Second, as I was walking through the neighborhoods, I would pass people and some of them would look at me in a strange way, possibly because I was wearing the microphones. In addition, others would walk by and just simply say hi and not give a reaction. I was surprised nobody asked what I was doing and what the two “things” were on me. Finally, I did not expect to get lost, yet somehow I did. I thought about where I wanted to walk but made some bad choices, meaning bad turns. At one point, I was unsure if I was going to make back to my starting point. However, I just looked at the street numbers to help guide me. What surprised me was that nobody seemed to be too worried about me when I returned. However, it was a great experience altogether.
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 was listening to all the people around me and seeing what they had to say. At those moments, I got a glimpse into how they were feeling and the things that were on their mind. People just carried on doing what they either had to do or what they wanted to do that day without me getting in the way. For example, I captured the sounds of men moving objects into a moving truck. In order to get enough sound recording, I stood there until they entered the house again. They saw me standing there and they just continued with what they were doing without asking why I was standing there. I thought they certainly were going to say something to me but they did not. It was one of the most unique experiences in my life to see how the world, or at least a small portion of Milwaukee, continued to move and progress while I was on my sound walk.
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