Audio Hardware/Software Response

1) I really enjoyed building my microphones. At first I was a little weary of soldering and what not, but Seth did a really good job explaining the process. While making the microphones, I was amazed how easy it can be to make your own microphones, with such a great final product. With the microphones, I was able to catch extreme close-up sounds, as well as sounds from far away with limited ambience in the background. If I had unlimited time an money, I would still make the microphones we made in the lab, except multiply that by hundreds. I would then make a suit where you could attach all of the microphones, and they wouldn’t pick up the sound of the user walking and what not.

2) My experience with the MiniDisc recorder had one major bump in the road, but otherwise it worked just fine. When I was on my first drift, the recorder jammed, and wouldn’t let me eject my disk. I then had to turn it in and get a replacement. The only annoying thing was that I had to go on the drift again, but because of this, I got some awesome sounds. I must admit that this is the first audio equipment I used, and am glad I got the experience I needed. In an ideal world, I would have a super recorder that was able to adjust volume/manual gain and all other settings with the touch of a button. It would have a nice sleek design and be able to fit anywhere.

3) I used the SonicStage application to transfer my sounds, and then Audacity to edit my sounds. Overall, I have no major complaints, just that I wish there could be an application that would be compatible with Macs. It was a hassle having to go to Mitchell, and back in your dorm, you find you need to import some more things. The journey starts again. While editing in Audacity, I was able to use what I learned in the lectures, and was able to edit my sounds with a great outcome. Being freeware, I will definitely use Audactiy in the future, because to me it was a very user-friendly application.