Ten Questions

1. Are there any sounds I missed by not walking through any allies?

2. Does the Fox River sound differently when it isn't raining?

3. Would the sounds be different had I gone during the week?

4. Are there sights I missed because I was listening?

5. Is there a place that doesn't pick up any traffic noise?

6. Will I capture more sounds when I'm still or walking?

7. Are there any naturally made landmarks in the area?

8. Is there any street art in the area?

9. Are there any cool looking buildings on the other side of Bryant Bridge?

10. Is there a shop around town that has a different sound?

Drift Assessment

Initially when I thought of going on my drift walk, I thought it would be a good experience walking around town just listening. But on the day that I had planned on going on my walk, I was disappointed with the rainy weather and the fact that I was really sick. However, when I got to my starting point at Bryant Bridge where I recorded the Fox River, it looked like things would be okay. Listening to the water's flow increase and decrease with the rain and walking around collecting multiple sounds got me relaxed and peaceful. I didn't expect to hear the sounds that I did walking around that day. I thought the sound of the rain would get in the way and ruin potential sound clips but it actually made them even better. I also expected collecting sounds would have been harder than it was. But there were so many different noises out there that it was surprisingly easy. The fact that it was easy than I thought allowed me to enjoy what I was doing which I wasn't really expecting. Out of the whole experience, I would have to say the best part was walking around with my mom. There are a lot of creepers in the part of town I walked in and she didn't want me to go alone. That and the fact that it was raining and I was sick, she came along with me to hold the umbrella. Even though we didn't talk on our trip, it was nice to be able to share the experience with her and see that she was so willing to help me with something that maybe she didn't quite understand.

Audio Hardware/Software Response

Much to my surprise, I really enjoyed making the microphones in class. I am normally a very hands on person and I like making things on my own but I didn't expect to enjoy the process. I felt very accomplished knowing that I myself with no outside help made my own microphone that I would be using to capture sound for my blog. My rig worked very well for my drift walk. I used only the materials we were given in class, I didn't add anything on to it. After listening to the sounds I had recorded, I noticed the quality was a lot better than I had anticipated. There wasn't too much wind noise and I captured a lot of cool sound. While I liked the whole experience with building my own microphone and using it to capture my own sound, I don't think I will use this method in the future. Ideally I will be able to buy a respectable microphone that will last a long time and capture what I need it to.

Overall I had a good experience with the MiniDisc recorder. I can't recall a situation where I had a problem with it. I came from a high school that had its own video production studio and some pretty decent equipment. I would have to say the equipment I used in high school was better quality than that of the MiniDisc recorder. In the future I hope to be able to use a higher end audio recorder; maybe something that can't be accidentally thrown into Lake Michigan.

For this particular project, I chose to work with Audacity. I have worked with the program before cutting music and making mixes for a cheerleading team I coached and I found it very easy to work with. I will definitely use Audacity for future projects.