Glass Cave:

Here is my final project. I used a few simple recordings of various sounds created with wine glasses. My hope was to create an environment that felt crystalline. This sound project is a prototype for my senior project.

Soundscape Project

The intention of my project has changed over the last few weeks. The final version of the soundscape is now "moving from an urban area into a rural area by following the movement of water". I guess you could say that I was "lucky" to have been caught in the middle of a storm to get some of the sounds for this project, but it was a mixed blessing. Not only did I get wet, but I had to prevent drops of water hitting the microphone. I was able to remove that particular sound quite easily. However, during the heaviest of rainfall, the sound I recorded had a very "tinny" sound. I attempted to use EQ to correct this and I think it sounds better. I worked with compression on several of the sound files, but the one I want to draw attention to is the first sound of the project. In this segment I recorded the environment of a marina. I wanted to draw out the clinking bells. I had a bit of difficulty recognising a change in the sound while applying compression to it, but I think the end result is satisfying. The majority of the sounds in this project have a very subtle quality to them save for the rushing water in the middle of the soundscape. I wanted the complexity of each environment, from the original recordings, to define the soundscape. Even though I may have altered the sounds in editing I feel as though this is a realistic portrayal of the environment I intended to recreate.

Hear the project.

See the project. (1) (2)

Soundscape idea.

The soundscape I would like to capture and recreate would be the experience of disk golf. The audio would follow me as I go from the sound environment of my apartment, driving to the course, the subtle differences of each hole, the post-golf "celebration", and then the drive home. While most of the courses remain in an urban setting they still maintain a rural essence. It is the rural essence that I would like to present. Also, it is a great excuse to go throwing.

Recording Assignment

#1 Stationary Recording - 9/17/10 1pm(ish)

Location - Lakefront: I climbed into the the granite rocks on the shoreline.

Equip - NT-4 with mount, hand held. High sensitivity.

Conditions - Mild, slight wind did make the lake fairly choppy.

Notes - This was an average recording mainly because the majority of the sounds were very similar. The echo-y sound of the water clapping against the rocks seems to overwhelm the microphone leaving little subtlety in the environment. I did try to turn the microphone sensitivity down to low, but then you couldn't hear the waves. Maybe a shotgun microphone would work better or at least not getting so close to the source of the sound.

#2 Stationary Recording - 9/17/10 1:30pm(ish)

Location - Oak Leaf Trail, entrance near Alterra at the lake.

Equip - NT-4, with mount, hand held. High sensitivity.

Conditions - Fair

Notes - Walked along trail for a while before traffic and construction noises were low enough to really get some of the atmosphere recorded. I would like to able to filter out the traffic and construction noises to really get a sense of how peaceful and quiet the trail is, even though it is in the middle of the city.

#3 Audio closeup - 9/21/2010 1pm(ish)

Location - My apartment window.

Equip - NT-4, hand held. High sensitivity.

Conditions - Calm and sunny.

Notes - These crickets were very loud that afternoon. Even the semi-truck warehouse couldn't cover them up. I would like to be able to get rid of the traffic noises and the curtains sliding across the shelf.

#4 Mobile Capture - 9/18/10 9am

Location - Southshore Farmers Market.

Equip - NT-4, with mount. Handheld, high sensitivity.

Conditions - Cloudy and, temporarily, not raining.

Notes - This was from the first walk through of the farmers market before it started raining. I should have walked more slowly, but I was getting some weird looks from the people there. I ended up rushing through and my footsteps were picked up by the microphone.

#5 Moving Water - 9/18/10 5am

Location - My bedroom window.

Equip - NT-4, with mount. Handheld, high sensitivity.

Conditions - Very early morning thunderstorm.

Notes - I think this is the best recording of the lot. However, I attempted to perform a pan with the NT-4 and it causes a few bumps.

#6 Wind - 9/17/10 2pm(ish)

Location - Marina near Veteran's Park

Equip - NT-4, with mount. Handheld, high sensitivity.

Conditions - Windy.

Notes - I kneeled behind a trash can to escape the wind and I picked up the sound of the plastic bag inside of the can. I would like to learn how to make a better wind screen for these occasions.

Soundwalk Exercise #4 Mapping

This listening map was made by the Marina near Veteran's Park.

Soundwalk Exercise #3 List

-Wind blowing through the trees. Above my head approx. twenty feet.

-Car horn. Ten o'clock, 50 yards.

-Leaf skittering across pavement. One o'clock, ten feet.

- Joggers shoes slapping pavement. Moving Left to Right, from ten yards to zero to ten yards.

- Joggers panting. Five feet, left to right.

- Bicycle tires whirring. Five yards, right to left.

- Bicycle tires squishing mud. Six o'clock, left to right.

- Smacking lips while chewing gum. Five inches.

- Geese honking, over head. Thirty feet, right to left.

- Bicycle gear shift. Ten feet, right to left.

- Blue jeans, swishing. Three feet, left, right, left, right, left, right, left, right, etc.

- Squirrels climbing trees. Ten feet.

- Squirrels running over leaves. Fifteen to ten feet.

Soundwalk Exercise #2 Response

I began my soundwalk on the Oak Leaf Trail near Alterra on the Lake. What I first noticed as I walked along the top of a hill was the constant hum of traffic from Lincoln Memorial and from Prospect. Both of these streets surrounded me with the low whirs and hums of hundreds of vehicles, but as I walked onto the Oak Leaf trail, the sound from the traffic became muffled. It should be understood that I have never experienced the Oak Leaf trail until today so it was quite surprising how quiet the trail is. The hum of the traffic was replaced by the shimmering of the leaves blown by the wind. I attempted to shift back to the traffic hum but I was not successful. I did manage to shift to a runner shouting "On your left!" So, of course I moved to my left. Realizing my mistake I jumped to the right, avoiding the potential confrontation with a person I would not be able to run away from. At this point I walked off the trail and stood nearby to try another shift. This time, squirrels climbing the trees. It's hard to put to words the sound they were making. Think of a cat scratching a carpet and then add the sound of a corkscrew drilling into a wine bottle's cork. Something like that. This was usually followed by the shuffling of leaves and the rubbing of bicycle tires on the pavement. Fortunately, I remembered to stay to the left.