Reading Response 3

I chose to read The Art of Instant Gratification by Stephen Joel Trachtenberg. His point is that in todays world of modern technologies, there is less gratification in the end result of taking a picture, because the technologies are so advanced, there is less meaning behind each photo and therefore, less gratification. He says in the early 1900's taking a picture was an experience and each one was special, but now that it is so easy to take them, each photo doesn't have as much meaning because there are so many of them. I can see Trachtenberg's point and I think it is very ligament, but I think he has to be more open to the new ways of technology as well. I personally think that embracing the old and the new ways of technology is the best route to take because it gives you more choices to choose from and gives you more tools to use.

Video/Software Responce

I thought the Olympia camera was fairly poor over all. It wouldn't be so bad if we were only using the camera for photos, but using it as a video camera didn't work well for many reasons. One of them is that the image quality of the video is terrible, even if you don't zoom. Another problem was the size of the camera was a problem because when trying to get some low-angle shots or other weird shots, it was really difficult to see through the viewfinder, whereas with a regular camcorder, you can usually tilt the viewfinder or LCD screen to see it better. Compared to other cameras and camcorders I've used, which aren't great quality either, this camera ranks pretty low on my list. I was able to use this camera to fulfill my drift strategies, but I think I could have fulfilled them better with different cameras. Ideally, I would have camera for stills and a camera for video that would be a little better quality.
I used the softwares that I always use to edit video and sound, which are iMovie and audacity. I've used both softwares before, and I was very comfortable doing all of my editing with them. I will probably continue to edit using these softwares for future projects.

Reading Responce 2

In John Cage's credo on music in the future, he talks about what he thinks music will look like in the times ahead. I think he makes some intelligent guesses on how music will change, especially since it was written (or given in a speech, I should say) in 1937, without anymore knowledge of the future then anyone else has. Having the advantage of looking back on his future though, lets us see the development of music over 70 years and we can decide for ourselves whether his predictions have come true or not. The biggest change over Cage writes about is the incorporation of "noises" or "tones" into what we call songs or fugues. I think this incorporation is something that hasn't happened to the fullest extent like Cage thought it would be, but I think that music is still heading in that direction. In many modern pieces of "classical" music that I've heard, they use electronic noises and other sounds that you normally would associate as sounds and not music. This is what Cage was talking about when he spoke about this new music and said, "Before this happens, centers of experimental music must be established." I think sounds in music are still being established and we are still in the establishing phase. Whether we'll get to the phase where sounds are always and completely incorporated like Cage thought, I don't know, but all we can do is wait and see.

AUDIO HARDWARE/SOFTWARE RESPONSE

I was excited to build my own microphone for my Drift and the actual process of doing it wasn't disappointing. I thought it was a great idea to be able to build the thing that you would be recording with. It was a step that made you think and learn more about how sound recording actually works. They work well and there weren't any big problems with the microphones either. The first time I tested the microphones, only one of them worked, but after I twiddled with it for a bit, the other one started working and that was the end of my problems. Capturing the sounds the best way I found through trial and error. In the end, I found the best way to record them was to get as close as possible and keep the sensitivity fairly low. I suppose my ideal microphone setup would be to have a set of different microphones with different quality levels, but I would keep the one I made in in that collection for sure.
Operating the miniDisc recorder was a little annoying. The menu was very poorly setup and hard to navigate through without the manual at hand. I haven't really used much other sound equipment so I can't compare it really, but I'm sure there is another device that's in the same price range, but would be much easier to use. Ideally, the perfect recorder would be simple to use but have more recording functions so you could record with different settings, rather then always manipulating the sound on the computer.
I choose Audacity for my editing application and it was something I have never used before. I picked Audacity because it seemed like the best one for my MacBook Pro and I think it was a good choice because I really enjoyed it and it had a lot of great functions. The filters especially helped me create the sounds I did for my Drift. Also, how you could edit the clips was a neat function it had that I was able to use. I will definitely be using this software for future projects in sound and film.

10 Questions

1. Is there a place with animals in the area?
2. Is there any mechanical equipment in the area?
3. Are there any side roads I haven't been on before?
4. What's the most well known place in the area?
5. What's the least well known place in the area?
6. Are there any places that don't have any cars around?
7. What places have I never been to (in my life)?
8. Are there any places with no wind?
9. What's the coolest/largest house in the area.
10. Are there and historically significant locations?

Drift Assessment 1

The first couple minutes that I went out on my Drift 1, I got frustrated because I couldn't get any sounds that were interesting or unique. All I got were some cars passing and wind noises. I was really annoyed those first few minutes because I started thinking that walking along a country road was a bad idea and I would only capture car sounds the entire drift. Luckily my fears turn out to be unwarranted and I got some neat sounds. The only other time I felt anxiety was when I tripped on the front steps of my parents house as I came out to start on my Drift. Luckily I caught myself and I didn't drop and of my sound equipment.

Drift Assessment 2

Once I was nearly finished with my Drift, I started to feel a nice feeling of accomplishment. I had recorded a lot of different sounds and was confident that I now knew what I was doing and that I had got some good sounds. It was the same feeling that I got when I first listened to all of my recordings. It's just a neat experience to listen to the stuff that you got in a different setting and not live while you're recording. It's fun to listen to what you just made.