INITIAL IDEA : SONIC SNAPSHOT

Location

I have a couple of ideas for this. I like them all, and will decide very soon which direction to go in.

First, I'm thinking of the estuary of Milwaukee. So we have a confluence of the KK, the Menomonee, and the Milwaukee, all connecting with Lake Michigan. It's Milwaukee's namesake. This isn't a totally normal space, and does offer some exciting opportunities for field recording. However, this location is somewhat close to traffic. The Hoan Bridge is an issue, as are smaller streets where, really, hardly anyone ventures down. It's at the southern end of the Third Ward. I wont be recording while in a motorized boat, but I could record in a canoe or kayak. I could get access to one. The Marina offers such chances. I could paddle or float around a while. On a calm day, this would allow for sounds of water brushing against the canoe as it moves. Probably some seagulls, some louder waves, occasional people in the distance, other boat traffic. Traffic from the city would be in the background, the foreground would likely be the water running by the canoe - paddling n such, and in the middle would likely be seagulls, waves, paddling, some closer traffic, etc. It would be pretty quiet at times, except for when boats toot their horns. Unfortunately, wind would certainly be heard. This would create some challenges, and thus, I don't know if getting a canoe in the lake would be the best, but maybe just one of our rivers would work.

I am also thinking of going to a little brushy field along the Hank Aaron trail. It's close to 35th and St. Paul, but by the river. There's an old Milwaukee train track that still is in use along this river. There's a spot distant from train tracks, close to the river (I could sit on a rock-or canoe in this). Salmon love to jump here. I would get some splashes. There is a road that runs along the Hank Aaron bike trail, but it's not entirely busy for large portions of the day. If I recorded at this location, I would go early in the morning, let's say 4 or 5 am, before the morning rush of workin coffee drinkin drivers. In the foreground would be water of the river, along with some walking footsteps from land and then into water, in the middle ground would be some wind, trees, leaves blowing and falling, and in the background would be lightly heard traffic, occasional horns and maybe a train.

With both these locations, I am aiming to record the diversity and textural sounds of a peaceful, quiet, and natural setting across land and water. That brings me to my last option, because I would love to record far away from the city, and am thinking of going to a farm, or in my uncle's town of New London, WI, to record some sounds along the Wolf River. I think it would be a great space for recording, there are some rapids, but primarily just consistent lazy river rolling. So there are occasional fisherman. They would be in the background, unless they walk right up close to me. There is no traffic to note. It's in the woods and there certainly is more wildlife here, but mainly birds. It's pretty quiet and the dominant feature would be the river water. There is a farm near my uncles where I might go as well, it borders the woods and the water, which would offer all three things I want to record - water moving, woods wildlife and trees, and distant animal noises. That's where I am thinking of going. In the foreground would be whatever comes my way, be it wind, be it a rooster, be it a horse, or the water. The background would likely be everything from trees, to distant animals, to maybe the sound of waves. In the middle-ground would be the brushy bushes and their inhabitants. I am thinking this is spot I'm going to choose.