sound clip 5

This is the location of my fifth and final stop. I was looking over the marina and although there wasn't much sound to capture here I was ecstatic to be done after over two hours of walking. I made sure that I would end here because I thought I would get some unique sounds although that wasn't the case. The lifeless Wisconsin winter mostly provided me with the sound of drowned out traffic and the wind whipping through the trees. This is the sound of a train whistle that I was able to pick up. The whistle is very deep sounding and the only recognizable sound in the clip.

sound clip 4

For my forth stop was at behind a factory of some sort. There wasn't any human activity in the immediate area because it was too late in the evening, however there was a very busy street on the other side of some woods that separated it from the building. I positioned the mics on different sides of a fence to see what affect it would have. Here is what one of the mics saw, and here is what the other one saw. There was a flag pole directly above my microphones which was flapping wildly in the wind. The flag and pole is the most prominent sounds in this clip although you can still hear the deep muffled drown of trucks in the distance.

sound clip 3

This was an interesting choice for my third stop. I really thought that setting up my mics in the entrance to this garage would provide some cool distorted sounds but all I really was able to capture was the rattling of the garage door opening and closing a bunch of times. I like the sound but It got to be a little excessive after a while. However, I do like how there is an explosion of sound for a little while and then stops suddenly leaving us with an eerie buzz created by the giant lights above. The sound from the cars passing on the street outside of the garage were interesting because it kind of filled the whole garage with sound. You can listen to it here. If my microphones had eyes, this is what they would have seen.

sound clip 2

This was where I chose to set up my microphones at my second stop. I saw that two houses that were next to each other both had wind chimes in front of them. I set up the mic between the two. There was a lot of foot traffic when I was recording because I was on a relatively busy street. This is one of my favorite sounds because you can hear everything that was going on at this spot. After the girl and car leave we are left with the peaceful sound of the wind chimes.

sound clip 1

This is where I chose to set up my microphones on my first sound clip. I set up near the street but there wasn't too much traffic on the road. On the other side of this fence there was a parking garage for the apartments above and I was hoping to get some echoing sounds from it. There was quite a bit of activity going on at the house across the street which I captured in this sound clip. I was also able to get the sound of a nearby train which I failed to notice when I was recording. It was only when I played the recording back that I noticed what I had gotten. The sound of the car starting sounded interesting along with the many footsteps and mumbles that preceded it.

Drift 1 Strategy

The strategy for my first drift walk is a simple one, but has the possibility of becoming problematic. I'm choosing that to start my drift walk at the intersection of Maryland Ave. and Belleview Pl. From there, I will attempt to walk a straight line to end at the Brady Street Bridge right next to McKinley Park. I have the feeling that I might get lost trying to navigate to the end point so I plan on taking a compass and following that as close as possible. By strictly following this line I will encounter hidden spaces that I would normally skip over to provide a collection of unique sounds. You can view my Drift 1 strategy HERE.

Google Maps - Mark O'Neill Drift 1 Map

View Larger Map

This is my Drift 1 area map. The red line indicates my intended path and the green line represents my actual path. I feel I was able to follow my original plan pretty well, although I must admit I felt really lost at some moments. At one point, when I was descending a heavily wooded hill, I felt like the urban version of Bear Grylls. When I stumbled upon a bike path in the middle of it, I felt as though I had just found a river that would eventually lead me back to civilization. It was fun to get lost in this unfamiliar territory and somehow end up where I was planning on going.