Drift Assessment #3

3. Describe three surprises or unexpected situations you encountered on your Drifts 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. (Again, skip anything technology-related!)

For my first Drift I originally thought that the more sounds I could pick up in one area the better. I was surprised to find that this strategy didn't work as well as focusing in on one sound and recording that. The mics are sensitive enough to always pick out other sounds, and if you focus on one sound you will get this wonderful layer with sounds that has more depth than if you attempt to just record, a bunch of sounds with no real focus. Also for my first Drift, my expectations were to capture quicker sounds with more attack and shorter duration, because of the location that I would be in, which was mostly around busy streets. While I was recording and after I realized that what I recorded was the exact opposite of my expectations. I ended up recording longer sounds in duration and they weren't as forceful, or loud as I would have expected, many sounds were more soft and peaceful. In more quiet areas I found that the dominant sounds that were picked up were quick and loud. In either case what I recorded in the foreground was usually great contrast from what was going on in the background. On my second Drift, my greatest surprise came in the way I started to view things, I began to realize that when I'm normally walking somewhere I no longer see my surroundings, I just concern myself with getting from point A to point B. I also thought that odds are after I finished my Drift 2 walk I probably would go back to the way I was. However, while doing that walk I started to focus on things I normally wouldn't and it felt like being exposed to a new world, and so far to this day I find myself really taking notice of my surroundings that I just tended to ignore in the past.