Drift Assessment

1. Describe two situations that aggravated, bothered, shocked or otherwise stressed you during Drift 1.

It was difficult cutting the exact increments of the sound clip that I wanted. Since I had to tape for such a long time to get a good sound, I ended up talking to someone or had other people's distractions during the sound in which I had to cut out. But I enjoyed the pain of editing the sounds. Editing is something that I really enjoy doing for some reason.
It shocked me, in a good way, on how well my microphones worked. They really picked up a lot of sounds which otherwise wouldn't have been heard. It was a little frustrating choosing sounds on a walk though, because even if there was a really good sound that I would have liked to record, but there was so much background noise I knew it wouldn't turn out clean which is the sort of sound that I like.

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

I felt alone and that the world was still moving rapidly. It felt more like an isolation from the actual world and becoming absorbed in the world of sounds that are always overheard in everyday life. I felt this especially when I was recording in my dorm room. Even though I was physically isolated from down below, it was a completely different separation from before that on any other day I would completely ignore. It got me to think on how much sound we just choose to ignore on a daily basis.
I felt at ease when I was recording at in Aztalan where I was sitting by the river while I was recording. It was a beautiful day and it was peaceful to go out in the open and just get immersed within the scene. It was a really relaxing experience, watching the water and trees, as well as hearing sounds of fish and birds and insects. It was a very nice change from city noises where there's always mechanical noise and people.

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.

I was surprised when hearing the recordings on the computer because it was such a big difference than hearing it through headphones while recording. When listening to them again, I heard things that I didn't hear while recording and it added so much more complexity than before.
I didn't expect the squeaking door sound to come out as good as it did becuase it was a random idea to record them. Once I heard it through the computer, I really started to like it.
I personally thought that the recording wouldn't be a lot of fun, but actually it turned out to be a great way to relax. Even though some of the recordings seemed to take forever to feel like I recorded enough sound, I just had to go into an environment where I was able to just sit and watch the world go by.

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.

My favorite place was definately in Aztalan State Park, probably because I wasn't surrounded by people and cars and mechanical noise. Also, it was close to my hometown, Lake Mills, and have many memories of going to Aztalan as a kid as well as escaping to Aztalan in high school. Recording brought time for me to think and truly relax, which I haven't been able to do since I moved to Milwaukee. I guess this proves that I'm not a city person for life.