On the Audio Hardware and Software.

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.