Video Hardware/Software Repsonses

I used an Olympus digital camera to shoot all photos and create a final video. The camera is a point and shoot camera. It is nothing special. However, I was surprised at what I could preform with it. I was able to take some good pictures and the video captured beautiful movement, better than expected. The camera has some nice features, There are several different settings that can be manipulated on it to create and display different moods and intentions. I enjoyed being forced creatively, and this cameras limitations did that. I used natural light and the shade from trees, bridges, and people to cast shadows (darkness). I wanted to take photos that contrasted from light to dark. I also took several at night photos, most point and shoot cameras really struggle with night lighting. However, I was pleased with this cameras latitude once I changed the ISO.

The two things I hate about the camera. Fist, it's viewer screen distorts the image by making a video or picture look farther away than it is actually capturing. It makes for a difficult and distrustful relationship. Secondly, it is powered by AA batteries. I can not express my frustration trying to shoot video. I did discover that the AA lithium batteries are well worth the investment.
The Olympus does not compare to recent point and shoot cameras. For the main reason of battery power and view screen. They are major components. I didn't mind the feel of the camera or the zoom. I over heard some people saying that they were frustrated with the Olympus because unlike current point and shoot cameras today. A photographer cannot zoom in while shooting video on it. I personally don't care about it. I had no desire to chop up the video trying to use the zoom. I just don't feel that even with today's point and shoot cameras the zoom is effective, ok, maybe in some cases, but it really depends on the message your trying to send.

I guess in an ideal world. I would create a camera that is placed over my eyes, like a hat with a shield in front of it. A photographer could do some pretty cool perspective shooting. The controllers would be wireless and held in the hand.

The software I used to edit my pictures and videos changed throughout this project. I started using i movie. The program is nice for quick and simple videos, but I was really looking for a more defined look. So for my final video I used Final Cut Pro (FCP). I can pretty much do anything I want with FCP. It allows the opportunity to let yourself dream while editing. I felt it also made connecting images more fun, because while I was editing I could change the image to look more like I wanted. I will defiantly use final FCP again.

Listening to Myself Listening Respons

Listening to Myself Listening, by Aden S. Hill's ethnography collected the ideas I had while performing my drift walk, Listening to Milwaukee. While on that drift walk I discovered there is an extraordinary difference between the act of hearing a noise and listening to a noise. Hill describes the act as interpreting what is being heard and evaluating and understanding it. He makes the distinction between hearing and listening. I can relate with him because I have been so involved with listening to Milwaukee the past three months.

Hill talks about Murray Schafer idea that sound gives information of trends in societies. The sound of rushing cars, people talking, dogs barking, crickets chirping all give information about a time and place. I explored this theory while preforming my last drift walk. I discovered that Milwaukee offered a much deeper sense of something. I listened to that information and found a world beyond city life. I found what makes the city of Milwaukee a wonderful place. The city offers people both city and nature (Milwaukee River Trail). Hill elaborates on an idea from, Pauline Oliveros. She believes how an individual listens provides the way they interpret the world and eventually how they experience the world. It is interesting that a sonic world has the power of reality. It can change a environment, thus changing the world.

Hill outlines daily confrontations we have with sound on a daily basis and the different effect a voice has vs. a environmental sound. I interpret his explanation of sonic stages to represent different levels of sound and there information.

Audio Hardware and Software

I want to talk about the equipment I have been using. You might remember from my earlier posts that I built my microphones, and I must admit they have exceeded my expectations. I have been able to record a variety of different sounds. The microphones pick up great ambiance, however I have had success recording close detailed sounds too. While I was building them I never thought I would become as attached as I am now. It was a valuable piece of knowledge to know. I plan on building more mics just like it. What I would really like to do is get about twelve sets made, and set them up in different areas or maybe all in the same area. I would like to do some experimenting. I best thing about the mics is that they cost practically nothing to make. You don't need to break your bank account to meet sound ideas.

Now, the MiniDisc recorder I have been using is another story. It is nice because it does capture a nice clean sound, but the operations on the recorder seem more complicated then need be. I would much prefer a recorder with better displays. The navigation and operating buttons on the MiniDisk are what makes it not a satisfactory piece of equipment to use. It really is an engenering flaw. I have enjoyed the quality of the recordings though.

Also, I have been using Audacity for all my sound editing. It is a free program you can download from the internet. It has served my perpose for performing simple sound editing. It helped my accomplish my sound editing by being free. I will probably use the program until I feel it is stunting the quality of sounds I could make. When that will be I don't know.

Ten Questions

These ten questions I am using to generate ideas about my next drift walk. These questions are an extenuation upon my last drift walk, Listening to Milwaukee.

1.Where is the best place to take a picture of Milwaukee’s City lights?

2.What kind of interesting sounds can I find without any traffic?

3.Does a Milwaukee sign exist around my drift 1 area?

4.What type of people are around the city at three different points in the day (morning, noon, night)?

5.Are there other perspectives I can shoot from, other human/animal?

6.What would my mics record if I berried them under ground?

7.What are the most beautiful industrial objects in Milwaukee?

8.Are there any community centers around my drift area?

9.What kind of objects can I find off the trail that describe control or lack of freedom?

10.What is the most diverse thing attributed to Milwaukee area?

Drift Assessment

When I first started my drift walk, Listening to Milwaukee. I walked around the city, listening. I began to understand the sounds of Milwaukee to possess more meaning than I had given them credit before. A stream of cars began to resonate a type of life, a type of place, a type of situation. I was excited at this new connection. I didn’t feel like I was wandering the city collecting mundane sounds. I felt a need to display my discovery. I started another drift walk which ultimately became, Listening to Milwaukee. A walk purposed to display the city of Milwaukee like a human organism. I decided, I must first show that it embodies more activities than what is normally thought of city life. I went to an area around the heart of Milwaukee. I thought it would be a good place to record the contrast. I wanted to show a different type of life, a life not normally considered, pumping life into the heart of the city. I wanted to show people enjoying themselves, because people ultimately are what drive the city.

I was surprised while on my drift walk. I decided on a drift strategy. My drift strategy was to walk along the Milwaukee River Trail and make a recording every seventy steps. I thought the structure would limit me, because I would not necessarily get to decide where to record. However, I was surprised from the creativity generated in trying to express an idea based under the restrictions of my drift strategy. I found myself experimenting with microphone positioning, thus, experimenting with how I could interpret the environment.

I couldn’t help but think of Marcel Duchamps, The Creative Act. I wrote a paper on it for a class at the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee. I didn’t agree with Duchamps argument. He believes the creative act is not complete until the spectator (viewer) gives a creative work social value. While I was making my recordings I thought of this. I thought, how could a socially acceptable value be placed on my work. I am experimenting with ideas. I am trying to express an idea. I am trying to discover something, I have not yet experienced or know about for personal understanding. I just don’t think the audience has a right to be consider all the time. I can’t see how new ideas will ever be made that way, because the only thing that happens is a distortion of truth. The creator of the work begins to distort an idea based on what he or she has already experienced in life. It cannot become a new idea or revelation. I did not expect to think of this while performing my recordings, but there it was. A standing thought confronting me on my recordings.

However, I discovered this idea. The remembrance of Duchamp’s writings positioned me to really experiment with my idea. It seemed to loose me from the barer of thinking about my audience. I didn’t wonder what people would think. I did what I thought. It was a moment of peace. I then felt a peace about what I was doing. I didn’t have the stress of wonder about the thoughts of others. I felt free to experience.

I experience a wonderful place. It was where I took my fourth sound recording for, Listening to Milwaukee. I was in the midst of the Milwaukee River Trail. I was surrounded by a canopy of trees. People were moving past me, heading in both directions. I could hear the wildlife of birds chirping, Squirrels in the woods. All while a constant drone of traffic streamed, heading in both directions. The sound came from the roads surrounding the trail. I like the moment because I couldn’t see the traffic from on the trail and the light drone of it, reminded me of the sound of flowing water. I felt relaxed. I felt appreciative that a city can gather the life of so many place into a general area.

Drift Walk

I have been working on a drift walk. I named my drift, Listening to Milwaukee, and completed it this past week. You can see my entire drift strategy, performance and outcome by going to my profile and selecting the blog, Listening to Milwaukee. You should check it out.

The Art of Noise

The English musician and author David Toop is recognized as an expert with the art of noise and sound. His life has been dedicated to the medium of music. He evaluated how sound is taken for granted, and the past discoveries from pioneers like Futurist Luigi Russolo and John Cage is proven proof that what humans pass off as unimportant ambiance in the world. A car engine raging down a street or a loud bang of doorway shutting. Should be examined for musical value, because sound has no boundaries. He writes about these possibilities in the article The Art of Noise. He compares the value of experimental sound with main stream music. It brings to light the importance of how noise is captured and it’s effects. It also reminds us. Sound is as vast as the universe. It is everything. The possibilities of sound cannot be measured.

I chose to comment on this article because I too am interested in the art of sound. I believe that the article is an excellent evaluation and motivation for experimental sound artists like myself. The Art of Noise lays out the archeological possibilities of noise, and what to look for.

David Toop’s artical is relevant to me because the ideas presented are ones that have endless opportunities. As a media artist I am faced with molds, outlines, and formates created and determined as successful media methods. These mold can stunt an artists growth for expressing his or hers particular beliefs and intentions. The article reminds me to look outside of these bounderies and search for even more effective noises that can express my ideas clearly. The Art of Noise Link.