Audio/Hardware Response

1. Discuss your experiences with building your microphones. Was this process more or less what you thought it would be? How did your microphone rig work on your Drift walks? Were you able to capture both overall ambiance and extreme closeups? Describe your ideal microphone and recorder setup, with unlimited time and money.

I think building the microphones was a really good experience. I didn’t think the process would be that easy. That’s not to say I didn’t run into any problems. I found the hardest thing was stripping the wire, but not stripping it too much. My first couple attempts I had to start over because I stripped too much wire. My microphone rigged worked great for me on the soundwalk. I was able to get a lot of good ambience, and some close-up sounds on top of it. I didn’t always hear everything that I captured right away until I uploaded my sounds later. If I had unlimited time and money, I would get one microphone that picked up general ambience and distant sounds real well. The other mic would be more of a shotgun mic and I would point it at things for real close-up sound.

2. How was your experience with operating the MiniDisc recorder? How does this recorder compare to other audio equipment you've used? In an ideal world, how would your recorder of choice function?

My experience with the MiniDisc recorder was successful for the most part. The worst part about using this recorder is when I accidently hit pause while recording and I missed my chance at recording a really cool sound. This is the first audio equipment that I have used besides a digital camcorder so I don’t really have any comparisons. My ideal MiniDisc recorder would just be a device that recorded to a hard drive where I could upload to my Mac and not have to go through a PC.
3. Discuss the audio-editing software you chose and your history with this application. If you used this software for the first time, explain why you chose this particular application and how you think it helped you to accomplish your creative goals (or proved detrimental). Will you use this software again for future projects?

I used Audacity for my audio-editing. This was not my first time using this program and I enjoy the versatility of the program. It is very easy to maneuver, especially for beginners editing audio like myself separate from film. I will probably use this program again until my audio editing skills advance and I will move to more advanced programs.