Way Too Much Noise at the Hospital.

You may think that you're hearing traffic when you listen to this recording. There is some traffic, but the continuous rumbling noise is the hospital itself (Columbia St. Mary's).


What is the source, exactly?

I don't know. It could be some sort of generator, or construction equipment, but it really isn't clear. This mysterious element adds to the image of the building as a sort of ominous sonic presence in its environment. It is alive with sound, in the sense that it never dulls its volume. The hospital even dwarfs the construction that is taking place all around it.

At one point, a construction worker, who is standing a few floors up, yells down at some ground workers: "You guys are making way too much noise down there!" This is audible in the recording, although it is not easy to pick out. There is an irony in the fact that the man complains about his co-workers generating too much noise, when his own voice is nearly drowned out by a seemingly uncontrollable aural force (the hospital). Listen.
















September 21, 2008
12:40 P.M.

We're Going Straight Home After Lunch.

Across the street from Back Bay Park, I captured a very complex sonic environment. The first half of the recording inspired in me a sense of place: In hearing these sounds (specifically, the car stereo and the cicada), my mind navigates directly to an emotion that corresponds to summer days from my childhood. This feeling is abstract; I cannot accurately explain in words the memories that it recalls. But it does exist and is very distinct in my mind. So, the first half of this recording is very personal for me. The second half is quite personal as well, but for somebody else - actually, three different people:
a mother, a father, and a daughter. At first glance, they might have seemed like a stereotypically happy family enjoying a beautiful summer afternoon in the park. But my recording suggests otherwise. It suggests a tension that is trying to be masked by kind euphemisms ("...Daddy's being silly.") Listen.

The images I photographed also hint at some conflict hidden beneath the tranquility of a beautiful day. The "Dead End" sign stands out as the most obvious symbol.


September 21, 2008
12:22 P.M.

Fountain, and Folks.

As I was walking north on Prospect my goal was to take the first right turn. As you can see from my map, there was no right turn to be taken - at least not for a while. I became a little bored as I walked on. The sounds were mostly similar as I walked past condo after condo after condo...

I heard a bubbling water fountain after a while and quickly began recording. All of a sudden, there was a large gathering of people standing around and talking. In the middle of a quiet, expensive residential neighborhood, where I had previously had very little to hear, my ears were suddenly granted some new and interesting sounds. Listen. The noises weren't incredibly fascinating to me, but I realized that it is possible to stumble upon a subject of interest where it is least expected. This is one of the elements that can make a drift so captivating, and it isn't easy to fully understand unless you've actually experienced it.

September 21, 2008
11:45 A.M.

Looking Up on Jackson Street.

On Jackson Street I found a sundry assortment of noises. For the most part they were pleasant - but I suppose that is subjective. I rested for a moment in the courtyard of the Juneau Village Towers, and thought to myself, "this is a very peaceful place." Later on I found out that my dad, sometime in the eighties, heard a man throw himself from one of the Juneau Village apartment complexes. He heard the man committing suicide; he didn't see it. In retrospect, it seems haunting, and a little bit ironic that I would be sitting there twenty-some years later searching for interesting sounds.

Listen.





























September 21, 2008
10:56 A.M.

On the Juneau Avenue Bridge.

At this point in my drift, I became completely absorbed in my sound environment. And up until this point, I had not heard anything that really sparked an interest. So the sound made by car tires rolling over the bridge took me by surprise. For part of the recording I was walking, and I made an attempt to silence my footsteps - which was not easy to do on a metal surface. When I took a break, at the east end of the bridge, I noticed a man using an electric saw in a riverside restaurant just beneath the bridge. The conrast of the high pitched drone and the low rumble turned out to be pretty interesting. Listen.

September 21, 2008
10:28 A.M.

How I Walked, And Why.

For my first recorded drift, I explored the downtown area and the east side of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. I chose to walk in an algorithmic pattern, specifically:

3rd right, 1st left, 3rd right, 1st left, etc...

The nature of my walk however, seemed to be beyond my algorithmic preference. I had to change my pattern once, and I made a few "mistakes" along the way. The change came at the corner of State and Jackson, when the algorithm became:

3rd left, 1st right, 3rd left, 1st right, etc...

I did this to avoid coming to a dead end at the edge of Lake Michigan. But other than that, I never intentionally strayed from my algorithm - with the exception of this short detour on Park Road. The scenery was beautiful, and I couldn't pass up the opportunity to record new sounds (even if they didn't end up turning out).

I ended my drift at a bus stop on the corner of Downer and Lake. I waited thirty-five minutes for the bus, but it never came. It seemed a fitting end that I should walk home.

The Map of my First Drift.

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