Drift Assessment

During Drift 1, I found myself frustrated with my soundwalk route. My algorithm took me in a loop only about 6 blocks in diameter. Unfortunately, I was so focused on the sounds around me that I didn’t catch on to this until my loop was about finished. Looking back, I should have adjusted my path at that point to extend my route, but I left it at that hour of walking. This path did not take me very far away from campus as I was practically in university housing the entire time. Thus, my sounds were not the most interesting or unusual. What else I found to my annoyance was that throughout my walk, I hardly ever stopped walking. You would think that would be ideal for a walk of sound, but it’s a real pain when you have footsteps in most of your interesting sounds. I think this also had part to do with my location in Milwaukee. Because everything was pretty normal, I wasn’t intrigued to stop often.

But wait, don’t think that the whole experience was a downer. There were actually some moments during Drift 1 where I felt at peace. So get this, there I was walking to the sound of traffic as I was throughout most of my adventure when the sound of angels came in through one of my headphone speakers. What made this sound even more mysterious was that I could not locate it right away due to my left and right microphones being switched. The sound turned out to be from a church choir, but was soothing nonetheless. Also, I stumbled upon a bumble bee. I would declare it impossible to hide a smile in the presence of a bumble bee.

Other than those peaceful surprises, I came across a few others worthy of mention. Probably the most shocking encounter was that of a police car turning on its siren right as it passed me. Clearly, he was either being a jerk and trying to scare me or being a jerk and running a red light. Regardless, I nearly peed myself. Another little surprise was that of the warped sound of a car blasting Guns N’ Roses from its window as it drove by. All my attention was on the can that I was kicking when the circus sounds of “Sweet Child Of Mine” went by. A third more simple surprise was the clarity and magnification my microphones provided. Expecting mediocrity at best, I will not forget the first time I recorded with those microphones.

Between all the wonderful events that took place, I would have to say my favorite recollection of Drift 1 is walking past the church to the sound of their choir. Now, I’m not the biggest believer in religion, but those voices were almost enough for me to consider believing. I didn’t even know I was near a church until I heard their unexpected angel-like voices. Right then, I knew I had gold (as far as recorded sound in my walking area goes).