Audio Hardware/Software Repsonses

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.
A: When I heard that we would be building our own microphones I was very excited. I figured that it was going to much hard then it really was, and the soldering was a good life skill to learn. As for the ability of my microphones they have out preformed my wildest expectations both on ambiance and closeup sounds. My ideal microphone would be wireless with a good range and a high quality of sound. And my recorder would allow for memorized preference settings, look and perform like an ipod nano. This way most everyone would know how to navigate and use the recorder.

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?
A: I used to own a MiniDisc player, but I don’t think that mine had recording abilities but I was defiantly familiar with the configuration. Last year I took an Audio Production class that focused completely on sound recording and sound editing. I used a wide range of recorders but mainly I worked with Marantz recorder and both lavs and shotgun microphones and ProTools audio editor. Basically the equipment accomplished the same thing but one cost a lot more and has many more options. Like I said above my ideal recorder would allow for memorized preference settings, look and perform like an ipod nano.

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?
A: The audio-editing software that I chose was Audacity; I have used this program before for recording my vinyl records onto my computer. After spending a semester on ProTools last year Audacity was a breath of fresh air, much easier to navigate and use for beginning audio editing. The programs are similar in that the do some of the same things but it is like comparing imovie and Final Cut Pro. For this project and projects like it, it is perfect. I see myself using Audacity to do my audio editing until I’m rich and can afford suits like Final Cut and ProTools.