Drift Assessment

1.Describe two situations that aggravated, bothered, shocked or otherwise stressed you during Drift 1. (Please note that the situation CANNOT be technology-related.)

A: The first situation that really bothered me during my first Drift was the fact that it was very windy on the day that I chose to go out and record. I knew I had a solid Drift strategy to go off of, but I didn’t realize until about half way through my Drift that I was picking up a fair amount of wind which created a lot of white noise. Luckily I was able to EQ most of the overshadowing wind once I sat down to edit my sounds. The second situation that stressed me out during my first Drift was the idea that I was not picking up sounds that were unique or interesting enough to actually post online for my Drift. When I was out recording, I had been walking for about half an hour and the only interesting sound that I had recorded was some older people speaking Russian just outside of a senior residence home. But as I kept going I began to get some fairly unique sounds, such as a water fountain as well as a plane taking off above me.


2. Describe, with details, two situations during Drift 1 in which you felt unusually peaceful, at ease, or contemplative.

A: The first time that I felt entirely at ease during my first Drift was when I came upon a water fountain that was just outside of an apartment complex. The reason that I felt at ease was because I had been walking for about 20 minutes and had been recording the exact same sounds the entire time including, cars driving by on the street, the wind and the occasional leaves being blown around. Thus, when I reached this water fountain, it was almost a sign that I had to record this beautiful, ambient sound because everything else had been the same. I was also in need of a small break, so I just sat next to the fountain, held my mic’s about a foot away from it, and listened to this serine and tranquil sound for 5 minutes while thinking about absolutely nothing. The second time that I felt unusually peaceful during my first Drift was when I walked by a father and his son throwing a football around in their front yard. The man looked to be in his late 30’s and his son was probably about 6 or 7 years-old. They were tossing a football back and forth and both of them and this very genuine smile on their faces. Then all of the sudden the dad started running towards his son after he had thrown the ball to him, as if to tackle him or “get” him, and the kid let out this mixture of a scream and a giggle at the same time. At that very moment I felt unusually peaceful because that sound was the sound of true, unfiltered joy.


3. Describe three surprises or unexpected situations you encountered on your Drift and in the days that followed. The surprise could stem from your expectations that conflicted with "on the ground" realities, cultural or social issues of which you were previously unaware, feelings and reactions that you did not expect to have, appearances and soundings of things you did not expect, good or bad outcomes of "on the spot" decisions you had to make, or the discovery of "deeper" realities in the materials you brought home. (Again, skip anything technology-related!)

A: The first surprise that I encountered on my first Drift took place when I was recording the sound of a water fountain. As I was sitting next to it with my mic’s, one of the tenets who was leaving his apartment just stared at me for a while, and then politely asked me what I was doing. I explained to him that I was recording the sound for a class and he wished me the best of luck. The second surprise was that I had the basic idea set in mind of how long my drift would take based on my Drift strategy, which was 45 minutes to an hour. But my first Drift actually ended up lasting about 2 hours, which was obviously a good thing in the long run. The third surprise that I had was the fact that I did not expect to be able to pick up the conversations of people who were anywhere within 10 to 15 yards of me. For instance when I was walking by the basement windows of a house that were barely open, I could hear very distinctly what they were talking about, but when I took my headphones off, there was nothing.


4. Describe your favorite experience, situation, place, or recollection from your Drift. Be specific about what happened, how you felt, how you reacted, and why you think this particular experience affected you so much.

A: My favorite recollection from my first Drift had to have been when I had finally reached my end point near Lake Michigan. I had walked for just under 2 hours, recorded multiple different sounds and had seen many parts of Milwaukee that I had never seen before. To top it off, I got to walk along Lake Michigan and simply appreciate its beauty. In my opinion it was a great reward for having completed my first Drift, because I had taken in so many sights and sounds that day that watching the tide go in and out and listening to the wave’s crash against each other with my own ears was very peaceful and invigorating at the same time.