Group Recording Walk

Today we learned about lossless/lossy audio recording techniques. I was unaware that the most common sound file used for music (mp3) is actually one of the worst file formats in terms of sound quality. We use mp3's because they are compressed files, meaning these files are made to take up less space at the expense of lost data (or sound quality.) As a demonstrative exercise we compared three methods of recording sound from a group sound walk. In groups of three, each member was designated a recording method. The first was with a stereo audio recorder that captured lossless (.wav) audio. The second was a compressed method (iPhone recording) and the third was simple human memory. For the recording process, we walked as a class through the schools arboretum. The arboretum is home to many pleasant nature sounds and less human noise pollution than the rest of campus. The only real noise distraction was the sound of 20+ footsteps walking in close proximity.

When we finished our walk we uploaded our two recordings into audacity and got to listen closely to the differences in the recording. When listening to the lossless recording I could pick up so many more details than I could from the iPhone. I could actually hear certain things in the recording and recognize them as sounds I remembered from the walk. The lossy file seemed to pick up only the loudest sounds such as footsteps and vehicles.