Drift 1 Assessment

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

Before I started, I read through the instructions and searched the transportation information of my location very carefully. And the park is a public area. So basically nothing which is particularly annoying happened. But I was surprised to see the condition of natural environment.

Estabrook Park is along the Milwaukee River. Before I came, I thought the water would be fairly clean. However, it was not. When I walked towards upstream of the river, I saw a dam. The water at the upstream side is polluted and in a bad condition. Foliage and oil were flowing on the surface of river water. The dam somehow blocks a part of the solid substance in the water, but even the downstream water is not clean.

There was one situation which stressed my Soundwalk. I walked for almost four hours. At last, I was very starving and tired. And I didn’t bring enough food with me. So I had to head back. But it was lucky that I have already collected many sound materials.


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

The park in weekend was peaceful and quiet. I passed by a pool when I was searching for the closet location to water in the park. One gentleman was fishing in this pool and birds were swimming. I took a picture for birds and post it on my Drift 1 blog. They were in a line when they were swimming. This place was so quiet and view was beautiful that I would like to just stay there and read a book if it was not for the Soundwalk. At last I had to move on because I didn’t record any interesting sound at that time.

On my way back to the entrance of the park, I met an old gentleman who was sitting on a bench and listening to music. I think he was enjoying his ease time alone at weekend and I was enjoying my Soundwalk. Seeing his enjoying made me feel at ease.


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.

The biggest surprise about the materials that I collected is my last field recording. I did not expect to record that piece of sound. I was on my way back to campus and waiting for the bus. I just pressed the record button to record the far-close-far sound of engine for practice. And certainly I recorded a group of engine sounds, but I didn’t notice more than that. Working to analyze the engine sounds. I was surprised that the chirr of cicada is especially vivid in that its volume is increase slowly and becomes the “main melody” in this piece of sound.

In fact, there was disappointed moment for me. For the sound of waterfall, I expected that it would be very impressive. But it turned out to be not that excellent. Although I was stood in the water and placed my microphone as close as possible and indeed I recorded them clearly. When they are played in a laptop, they are less attractive and lack of variation.

I am glad for one of my mistakes. I took pictures for all locations where I recorded except the place where I threw stones into water. That was in the woods along the river water, which was close to a delta. I placed microphone to some branches that stretch out over the river water and I threw the stones in a somehow dangerous gesture. So after I finished the recording, I was so exciting and forgot to picture that location. After I passed through the woods, I realized my mistake. But I couldn’t find my way back to that tree. So I decided to draw a picture for that place in order to give a better description. Now I feel great about this picture. It looks special compared to other digital documentation images.


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.

When I was about to leave and heading to the bus, I suddenly noticed that nobody talked to me when they saw my strange equipment (the microphone on the shoulders and the giant headphone on my head). Just at that moment, an old gentleman who stood at the wooden bridge along the riverside said to me, what is that on your head? Mp3 or? So I talked to him about my recording and told him I was recording the sounds of river. He smiled and we talked no more because I was pretty starving, which now I feel very regret. I should talk to him about the river or sounds in this park and record the conversation between us. But I was very glad that somebody has ever asked me about the recording in my very lonely Soundwalk journey. It is a great feeling that you are able to share your joy and enthusiasm with other people, although they are strangers.