1) Are there other things at the urban ecological center, that can make interesting noises, or would be interesting to film, that I possibly missed?
2) If I can water proof my microphones and submerge them in water, what would it sound like?
3) Do the same sounds, change totally or do they sound the same, at different altitudes?
4) Would I be able to create some sort of time lapse photography series, if I used the digital camera on a tripod?
5) Is there a material I can put around my microphones that would cause them to have even greater protection against wind? Would that affect the sounds I get negatively though?
6) Is there a spot in the city were I could safely walk with my eyes closed, and just travel in the direction of interesting or unusual sounds, instead of seeing things I think might sound interesting?
7) How or where could I go to get images for my video to juxtapose the audio that accompanies the video?
8) What would the foot powered water irrigation system sound like when it the water is slightly iced over?
9) If I had my mini disc recorder with me at all times, would I get better results that going out and looking for sounds on an actual sound walk?
10) Is there something out there in the city that I can find, that people would hear and think it is something completely fabricated and not real, but actually came from an almost completely unedited sound?
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Drift 1 Assessment
While on my walk for Drift 1 I was just starting to record the noise of a man scraping the paint off of a house, and all of a sudden church bells went off. I didn't even see the church cause I was standing under a tree, and at first I was pretty aggravated with the situation but, it ended up sounding very good I though because the bells fade in and out but the scraping is continuous. Another point on my drift, I was trying to record the noise from the inside of the pipes at a dried up water fountain off of north avenue. And while I had my microphone in when I sat down, some stones were crushed under my shoes and it sounded really interesting, with the head phones on. But as soon as I started to record I was not able to recreate that sound with anything around me, and it was pretty frustrating knowing that there was an amazing sound I wasn't able to capture, literally right at my feet.
Besides that, the rest of the drift went fairly decent I feel, but there were a few high points. For instance when I was just walking through a baseball diamond, and track field, and saw this building with a wooden tower you could climb, I thought maybe I could get some interesting sounds. I found out that the building was the urban ecological center, and I had never heard of it yet I walk over there pretty often, and It was just a really beautiful serene place, and that is also were I got my favorite sound of the foot powered irrigation system. Another point in my drift when I was walking down a residential street, and it just got really quite, like I could see cars a few blocks down, but with the head phones on, all I could here was the leaves beneath my own feet, because the mini disc wasn't on. And just seeing people in there yards, or walking dogs, and not hearing any of it really made me appreciate what I was seeing, and never seemed to actually look at.
Throughout my Drift walk I had a few surprising situations. I was about to record in an alley way, when I was walking past the big green dumpster there was a really disgusting squirrel, like with fur missing and bubbles in its skin, and it looked really rabid or something. I was so scared I didn't even walk down the alley, I just turned around and left, maybe I missed out on a good sound: "Rabid Squirrel eating mini disc recorder" Another thing I noticed was how segregated the city is, from black to mostly white neighborhoods, once you cross the bridge on locust its totally different. And I grew up in Wauwatosa so I guess I realized the difference before, but never how just business change too, across the bridge there are few big stores, or fancy resturarants and on north or farewell there are so many you can't even find a place to park a car. And the last thing that really surprised me was nothing physical that I saw but just how good I felt afterwards, not that I finally had done my drift, but that I had taken time to walk around and find new places I have never been before, and actually walk to walk, not to get someplace, it was a good feeling and I want to do it more often.
Overall my favorite point in the entire drift, was the foot pumped irrigation system I just think its one of coolest things, and nicest little place down near uwm. Little kids were playing and climbing on it, and It just such a clever idea, to help the environment, and teach kids about helping the environment in a fun way. Plus it was a really interesting sound, and I really like the photo I took of the pumps, It just looks really good even unedited, I feel.
Besides that, the rest of the drift went fairly decent I feel, but there were a few high points. For instance when I was just walking through a baseball diamond, and track field, and saw this building with a wooden tower you could climb, I thought maybe I could get some interesting sounds. I found out that the building was the urban ecological center, and I had never heard of it yet I walk over there pretty often, and It was just a really beautiful serene place, and that is also were I got my favorite sound of the foot powered irrigation system. Another point in my drift when I was walking down a residential street, and it just got really quite, like I could see cars a few blocks down, but with the head phones on, all I could here was the leaves beneath my own feet, because the mini disc wasn't on. And just seeing people in there yards, or walking dogs, and not hearing any of it really made me appreciate what I was seeing, and never seemed to actually look at.
Throughout my Drift walk I had a few surprising situations. I was about to record in an alley way, when I was walking past the big green dumpster there was a really disgusting squirrel, like with fur missing and bubbles in its skin, and it looked really rabid or something. I was so scared I didn't even walk down the alley, I just turned around and left, maybe I missed out on a good sound: "Rabid Squirrel eating mini disc recorder" Another thing I noticed was how segregated the city is, from black to mostly white neighborhoods, once you cross the bridge on locust its totally different. And I grew up in Wauwatosa so I guess I realized the difference before, but never how just business change too, across the bridge there are few big stores, or fancy resturarants and on north or farewell there are so many you can't even find a place to park a car. And the last thing that really surprised me was nothing physical that I saw but just how good I felt afterwards, not that I finally had done my drift, but that I had taken time to walk around and find new places I have never been before, and actually walk to walk, not to get someplace, it was a good feeling and I want to do it more often.
Overall my favorite point in the entire drift, was the foot pumped irrigation system I just think its one of coolest things, and nicest little place down near uwm. Little kids were playing and climbing on it, and It just such a clever idea, to help the environment, and teach kids about helping the environment in a fun way. Plus it was a really interesting sound, and I really like the photo I took of the pumps, It just looks really good even unedited, I feel.
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
This Sound Is Going Down The Tubes
For my fifth and final sound I walked towards the old water tower off of north ave. But that there wasn't anything very interesting over there. Until I saw a dried up water fountain, so I walked into the middle of it and there were the old pipes in the ground, so I put the microphones in the biggest pipe, because the other ones were too small. I got some interesting noises by taping the top of the pipe in different spots.
Painter vs Bells
For my fourth sound I was just walking down Cramer St. and heard a man scrapping the paint off the siding of a house. So I stood across the street and recorded the noise, it was ok sounding but not very interesting. And then all of a sudden church bells went off, and it was really weird because I didn't even see the church from were I was, I like how the church bells fade at the end, and the scrapping continues.
Foot Powered Water
The third sound that I got was at the Urban Ecological Center, where I saw kids playing with this pump. It is actually a foot powered water irragation machine. I had my friend Lanae step on the pedals as I recorded the sound. For this one I placed one microphone near a gutter where the water came down from, and the other microphone near the foot pumping part. I feel that this is my best sound, there is no car noise, its not that windy, and the water fades in and out naturally.
Can't Find The Bus Gus?
The second sound I got was at a Bus Stop that had been knocked over. I put one microphone in between the two signs, and the other microphone in the pole. A few cars drove passed but it made a fairly interesting noise especially the mic between the signs.
Sounds of Technology
The First sound I got was in the Media Center in the Architecture building at UWM. I recorded the noise from the paper folding machine. It sounded pretty good, for this one I had to put it on low-sensitivity because it was so loud.
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