Often, we encounter a soundscape that just begs to be recorded. Big surf after a distant storm is one of those. With our ears, this sounds so amazing that we can even ignore the wind gusts and enjoy the fresh air and waves crashing on the rocks.
In movies, we hear waves that are clear and distinct, crashing on rocks or on a sandy beach. But do we really hear that in nature?
I dare to say NO. The recordings in the movies have either been manipulated or are generated on a synth to give the impression of good waves. In real life, the waves, if there are few of them, won’t be big enough to make good sound and, if they are big enough, there are so many of them that they all blend together.
Have a listen to this 10-minute recording of the waves generated by Hurricane Ernesto. At first, you’d think that the crashing waves could be all distinct from each other. But we forget the returning and splashing water between the waves. I did not filter out the fog horn sounding from the nearby lighthouse.
The result is often a big “blob” of white/pink noise without any distinction between the waves. I applied a slight shelf filter on this recording to reduce the very low rumble of the wind a bit. Then I boosted the higher frequencies around 5kHz for a bit more clarity in the splashes.
Enjoy a few minutes on the rocks! Use headphones or speakers, a cellphone would probably not be good enough. The picture shows the setup on the rocks for this one…
Until next time…