In order to record the sounds that I heard on my first drift (and the sounds that I will hear on my second drift) I created a pair of microphones. Well, I didn't exactly create the microphones, but I soldered two tiny mics to an audio cable (which feels like the same thing). The process was not very hard - it merely required patience. Lots of patience. The most aggravating aspect of building these microphones was cutting the rubber off of the wires. This took a few tries and very steady hands, but all in all, it was much easier than I had expected.
When I went on my drift I attached the two mics to opposite sides of my shirt's collar. They weren't exactly hidden, but they weren't a hinderance either. I didn't attach any sort of windscreen to the mics (I tried, but the fabric kept rubbing against the mics, causing distortion); luckily, that didn't turn out to be a problem. There was very little wind on the day that I went on my drift. This setup (with the mics on my collar) worked well for what I wanted to accomplish: I wanted to record the city as I would hear it normally with my ears. On my second drift, however, I might try more interesting things with microphone locations. My ideal microphones would be very tiny and would not be affected by the wind or by objects bumping the audio cable. I suppose they would be something like those spy microphones that the CIA is also using in awful action movies, only with higher fidelity.
I didn't have any trouble with the minidisc recorder. I kept it on most of the time I was walking (so I didn't have to change the audio gain settings repeatedly), and I only had to change the battery once. In comparison with other recording devices I have used, the minidisc recorder is much more convenient and simple. I use an eight-track digital recorder on my own, which is obviously not as portable as the minidisc device. Although the minidisc recorder is already quite small, my ideal recording device would be a little less bulky, so that it could fit in my pocket. It would also have a gain control that is more accessible.
To edit the audio that I recorded, I used a software program called Cubase. I've used this program on a fairly continual basis for the last year and a half to edit music that I've recorded. So I was lucky to be working with a familiar software program while I edited my drift material. I'm certain that I will continue to use Cubase to edit music and other sound material in the future. Now that I am familiar with it, I can easily accomplish what I want to do.
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Ten Questions That I Asked.
1. Can I follow a drift strategy that does not necessarily depend on roads?
2. Can I create a sense of chaos in neighborhoods that appear on the outside totally serene?
3. Can I make my drift more unpredictable by following a stricter pattern of walking?
4. Can I find places in the city where nature seems to overtake human development?
5. Is it possible to portray industry in a way that is beautiful?
6. Can I transform the normal to the abstract without drowning it in digital effects?
7. Are there obscure or odd places where I can go inside and not be told to leave?
8. Can I construct a rhythm that elevates in continual linear pattern, as opposed to a rhythm that has cyclical ups and downs.
9. Can I explore many different parts of the city by walking in a straight line?
10. Can I connect the quality of a given area's aesthetics to the beauty or ugliness of the sounds in that area?
2. Can I create a sense of chaos in neighborhoods that appear on the outside totally serene?
3. Can I make my drift more unpredictable by following a stricter pattern of walking?
4. Can I find places in the city where nature seems to overtake human development?
5. Is it possible to portray industry in a way that is beautiful?
6. Can I transform the normal to the abstract without drowning it in digital effects?
7. Are there obscure or odd places where I can go inside and not be told to leave?
8. Can I construct a rhythm that elevates in continual linear pattern, as opposed to a rhythm that has cyclical ups and downs.
9. Can I explore many different parts of the city by walking in a straight line?
10. Can I connect the quality of a given area's aesthetics to the beauty or ugliness of the sounds in that area?
Thoughts on my First Drift.
1. Describe two situations that aggravated, bothered, shocked or otherwise stressed you during Drift 1. (Please note that the situation CANNOT be technology-related.)
As I was sitting at the corner of Wisconsin and Third Street, getting ready to begin my walk, a man came up to me. He asked for change so that he could go into the Grand Avenue Mall to get some french fries. I told him I didn't have any money, which was true, but he probably thought that I was lying to him since I was holding my recording device and a digital camera. I wouldn't go so far as to say that I was aggravated, but it was certainly surprising.
I was a bit aggravated as I walked on Prospect. I wasn't finding any interesting sounds, and I was becoming uncomfortable (the temperature was getting warmer and I was dressed for cooler weather). The problem was that I was walking slowly and hoping that something interesting would arise. For my next drift, I'd like to cover a greater area so that I'll have more material to work with when I'm done walking.
2. Describe, with details, two situations during Drift 1 in which you felt unusually peaceful, at ease, or contemplative.
First, I should point out that the entire drift was strangely serene for me. It was almost like an out-of-body experience. I wasn't so much walking (like everybody else in the city was doing) as I was listening (to everybody else in the city). That said, I was even more at ease with myself and my surroundings later on in the drift. At one point, I came upon a Church holding a Saturday service and decided to go in. Normally I wouldn't walk up to a random building (even a church) and go in, but in this instance I just did it, without thinking twice. A few blocks away from the church I came to a large water fountain in the middle of a park. I sat down on a bench beside the fountain and listened to the bubbling water and the nearby crows. I just sat there - it was peaceful, and very simple. While I didn't end up using those sounds in the blog, that instance stood out as one of the more memorable parts of my drift.
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!)
Sometimes I would turn on my recorder when nothing particularly interesting was happening, and moments later I would stumble upon some great material. For example, the family from the segment "We're Going Straight Home After Lunch" came into the recording after a long period of inactivity.
For me, the segment where I was at the Juneau Village Towers (on Jackson Street) was one of the most interesting. However if I had stuck to my algorithmic pattern I wouldn't have stumbled upon that situation. I accidentally turned right one block early... but it turned out to be a happy accident.
Another unexpected (but warmly welcomed) surprise came soon after this... I changed my algorithm at the corner of Marshall and State (I turned left instead of right), and I soon found myself across the street from a Saturday morning outdoor church party. I didn't end up using the sounds I recorded, but in person the sounds (and images) were quite rewarding. In fact, I took four pictures of this church, which I posted as a sort of collage in my "Derive Un" blog.
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.
"Hey, we're going straight home after lunch." These were the words from a father to his crying daughter. When I heard the man say that, I sort of took it in as I had taken in all of the other sounds of my drift - car tires, bells, a cicada, the wind... but in retrospect, this encounter had a huge impact on my understanding of the quiet neighborhoods through which I had been walking. On that beautiful Saturday morning, across from a picture perfect park, a little girl was crying and essentially being told, 'No, not everything is good in the world. There is a darker side to life.' I know, I'm reading into this situation a lot, maybe too much - but it sparks a lot of interest. I might even explore this concept further in my next drift...
As I was sitting at the corner of Wisconsin and Third Street, getting ready to begin my walk, a man came up to me. He asked for change so that he could go into the Grand Avenue Mall to get some french fries. I told him I didn't have any money, which was true, but he probably thought that I was lying to him since I was holding my recording device and a digital camera. I wouldn't go so far as to say that I was aggravated, but it was certainly surprising.
I was a bit aggravated as I walked on Prospect. I wasn't finding any interesting sounds, and I was becoming uncomfortable (the temperature was getting warmer and I was dressed for cooler weather). The problem was that I was walking slowly and hoping that something interesting would arise. For my next drift, I'd like to cover a greater area so that I'll have more material to work with when I'm done walking.
2. Describe, with details, two situations during Drift 1 in which you felt unusually peaceful, at ease, or contemplative.
First, I should point out that the entire drift was strangely serene for me. It was almost like an out-of-body experience. I wasn't so much walking (like everybody else in the city was doing) as I was listening (to everybody else in the city). That said, I was even more at ease with myself and my surroundings later on in the drift. At one point, I came upon a Church holding a Saturday service and decided to go in. Normally I wouldn't walk up to a random building (even a church) and go in, but in this instance I just did it, without thinking twice. A few blocks away from the church I came to a large water fountain in the middle of a park. I sat down on a bench beside the fountain and listened to the bubbling water and the nearby crows. I just sat there - it was peaceful, and very simple. While I didn't end up using those sounds in the blog, that instance stood out as one of the more memorable parts of my drift.
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!)
Sometimes I would turn on my recorder when nothing particularly interesting was happening, and moments later I would stumble upon some great material. For example, the family from the segment "We're Going Straight Home After Lunch" came into the recording after a long period of inactivity.
For me, the segment where I was at the Juneau Village Towers (on Jackson Street) was one of the most interesting. However if I had stuck to my algorithmic pattern I wouldn't have stumbled upon that situation. I accidentally turned right one block early... but it turned out to be a happy accident.
Another unexpected (but warmly welcomed) surprise came soon after this... I changed my algorithm at the corner of Marshall and State (I turned left instead of right), and I soon found myself across the street from a Saturday morning outdoor church party. I didn't end up using the sounds I recorded, but in person the sounds (and images) were quite rewarding. In fact, I took four pictures of this church, which I posted as a sort of collage in my "Derive Un" blog.
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.
"Hey, we're going straight home after lunch." These were the words from a father to his crying daughter. When I heard the man say that, I sort of took it in as I had taken in all of the other sounds of my drift - car tires, bells, a cicada, the wind... but in retrospect, this encounter had a huge impact on my understanding of the quiet neighborhoods through which I had been walking. On that beautiful Saturday morning, across from a picture perfect park, a little girl was crying and essentially being told, 'No, not everything is good in the world. There is a darker side to life.' I know, I'm reading into this situation a lot, maybe too much - but it sparks a lot of interest. I might even explore this concept further in my next drift...
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