Sound 5: Flags and Alarm

Manpower, Inc. has a new corporate headquarters, and it's pretty... um, plain. Regardless of how boring their architecture is, the international flags were blowing in the wind outside, so I decided to give them a try. I put a microphone on either side of the flag pole, touching the metal directly. Also, the headquarters is on top of a big hill overlooking Milwaukee, so a lot of city noise happens in the mix (like car theft).








Salute the flags here.

Sound 4: Fonzie and His Ladies

A Fonzie statue. Really? Who thought this was a good idea? An ode to the "good ole' days," the Bronz Fonz is situated on the riverwalk near the Wells Street bridge. I saw my chance to be one of the first people to record the environment around this shark-jumper's shrine, and I took it. What is the location like? A Chinese restaurant, noisy tourists, and a lady informing everyone about the statue. She'll even take your photo, if you like. Don't forget to tip.

Also, Fonzie wasn't wearing the headphones, or the microphones for this recording. I was sitting on a bench, right under the music speakers outside of the Chinese restaurant. I was looking out toward the river, with a hideous bronz statue obstructing my view. Sigh.

Ayyyyy! Monday, Tuesday, Happy Days... here.

Sound 3: Chimes and Motorcycles

As I walked, I ran into some construction near the Milwaukee Public Market, and was forced to head inland for a bit. Luckily, there were some really cool chimes just over a small hill that I would have missed completely if not for the construction. The chimes are made of wood and rusty metal, which is overall theme of the Third Ward, it seems.

I decided that since it wasn't a very windy day I would have to intervene in the noise-making process. Holding the microphones toward the chimes in one hand, I used the other to pull the chimes back and forth. The man on the motorcycle 20 feet away from me must have thought I was nuts. He wasn't wearing a helmet. Who's nuts now, Mr. Harley Man?

Chimes at midday... here.

Sound 2: Bridges and Bells

The main things that you encounter when walking up a river, oddly enough, are bridges. I crossed over three during my trek, and I passed another 17. A good majority of the bridges are movable, so that sale boats can navigate the river. On the day I did my walk, there were a lot of boats out, so the bridges were up a lot.

This particular bridge is what's called a Bascule bridge, which means that each half rises up on hinges... or something like that. They ring bells to warn you when a boat is coming, so that you're not on the bridge when it opens. I've been wondering how fun it would be to dangle from the middle. I wonder what kind of fine that would incur?

I was standing on the Riverwalk about 10 feet away from this bridge when it opened.

Bridge the gap here.

Sound 1: Waves and Sailors

What would a river drift be without some water recordings? Yes, I know it's the obvious thing to do, but hey, this is where I started out: the bay. I was directly across from Hoan Bridge, overlooking a wide variety of restaurants, offices, and industrial complexes. I was viewing this all from the boat launching dock.

I held the microphones about four feet from the waves, pointing directly at the water. As I recorded, a boat load of drunk people came in from the lake and began to head down the river, so as to have better access to the bars, one might presume.

Come sail away here.

Drift Strategy

My drift strategy is simple: starting at the bay, I will work my way north staying as close to the Milwaukee river as possible. If I need to go around buildings or private property, so be it, but I must always try to stray back toward the water. I will end my drift when I reach the park near my house.

The distanced traveled is about 4 miles. The terrain is varied, which is why I think my walk will be successful. It starts out in an industrial park, moves toward the trendy downtown, and ends in a wooded park. I will be able to record every aspect of Milwaukee.

Drift Map

Here's my drift map:


View Larger Map

The yellow line is the path I took. The green arrows designate sounds that I actually used for this blog. The red markers designate those sounds I did not use.