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This recording was made on 16 February 2013 during my lunch break on a hike on the coast path from Portreath to Perranporth, Cornwall, UK - at exactly the same spot as my recording here on 19th November 2012. I recorded it from the clifftop on the seaward side of the rather craggy prominence on the south-south-west side of Chapel Porth. On the face if it, this is a very standard sound of surf on a sandy beach, but nonetheless, it is significantly different from that 19th November recording.
Then the tide was quite well out, so that the surf, although fairly large, did not produce for me good differentiation of the sound of individual breaking waves, because that sound was largely lost in the general hissiness of the much nearer de-frothing run-out from each broken wave.
This time, however, although the waves were actually about half the size of those on the previous occasion, the tide was quite well in, so that the breaking of waves was occurring much closer, and thus I was hearing a much clearer differentiation of the sound of the individual breakings of the waves.
So, I was surprised to find that this relatively unspectacular surf actually provided a lovely recording for me, in which, with good stereo separation in your listening system, you would be able to hear individual bits of breaking of the lines of swell over an impressive sea sound panorama - almost 180 degrees. It actually thus makes a more engaging listen than the previous recording here, even though its particular 'drama' is about an intricate interplay of details rather than any sort of brute force.
The exact placing of the recorder was well down on the seaward side of the prominence, immediately beside a fairly exposed narrow track that contours the very steep cliff slope, giving an adventurous-feeling unofficial route for descending to Chapel Porth. It was handy on this particular day also because it was sheltered from the stiff southerly breeze - though on this occasion some of the breeze was 'cheating' and blowing along here, mostly at about force 3 to 4 on the Beaufort scale ('light or moderate'), coming from the left in this recording - though I couldn't positively identify any microphone wind noise.
Two noticeable aeroplanes came over during this recording, but I cut out the 2 minutes or so affected by the first, for it was too loud and intrusive, but I left the other one in, for it gives a balancing sort-of 'punctuation' to the continuous sea sound, and that intrusion is not all that strong and is very brief. The other 'incidental' sounds that I was aware of were the periodic very distant voices of surfers calling out to each other, well out to sea from Chapel Porth. They were all on the right-hand side of the sound-stage. Depending on your listening conditions / equipment, you may or may not hear them.
As usual for my natural soundscape recordings with a significant sea or wind component, only really good hi-fi speakers or headphones with an extended and reasonably flat bass response could do this recording real justice, for there is a considerable 'white noise' element in the sound, which wouldn't sound right without such accuracy of reproduction. Please also note that the volume level of this recording has been carefully adjusted for listening purposes, and ALL my recordings so far are meant to be listened to with a volume setting that would give a realistic level for playback of CLASSICAL music (a large but not exceptional symphony orchestra). If you have the right volume setting, you should not need to change that setting from one recording of mine to another.
Recording made with a Sony PCM-M10 on a Hama mini-tripod, using the built-in microphones covered with a Rode Dead Kitten windshield. I have used a graphic EQ profile in Audacity to compensate for the slight muffling of the sound caused by the windshield.
This photo was taken while this recording was running.
Note beginner's error — I hadn't removed wrist loop!
Please remember to give this recording a rating!
This recording can be used free of charge, provided that it's not part of a materially profit-making project, and it is properly and clearly attributed. The attribution must give my name (Philip Goddard) and link to https://freesound.org/people/Philip_Goddard/sounds/178353/
Type
Flac (.flac)
Duration
36:00.139
File size
163.7 MB
Sample rate
44100.0 Hz
Bit depth
16 bit
Channels
Stereo
4 years, 4 months ago
Thank you, Allanides. Nice to hear of such worthwhile use being made of the recording!
4 years, 4 months ago
Very nicely done. Subtle and real. And it's perfect for a small project I'm undertaking in a music theory class, part of which involves a walk near the ocean. I also appreciate Mr. Goddard's narrative, as well as the photo. They gives the recording a beautiful provenance.