Sound By Nature

This was recorded on cloudy night on the margin between the beach and the forest at Gold Bluffs Beach in Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park, Humboldt County, California. The wind, blowing offshore, picked up for a short time during the night and is heard blowing through the branches of nearby stunted Sitka Spruce before settling back down to a light, barely audible breeze. A frog chorus is heard in the distance with the roar of the breaking waves ever present. The recording lasts through the night until dawn, when the birds begin to sing and the squirrels begin to chitter.

For this recording the microphone was oriented such that it was facing north, with the left side to the west and the right side to the east. The beach at this location is backed by its namesake bluffs, and what sounds like wind blowing on the right is actually the sound of the breaking waves reflecting off the bluffs. When I initially heard it, I thought it was gusty wind blowing through the trees atop the bluffs. Though it wasn't windy below them, I thought perhaps the tall bluffs were sheltering the beach from the wind. But upon closely watching the trees on the bluff for movement, there wasn't any to indicate what would have had to be a pretty strong breeze to produce the sound I was hearing. As I listened closer, I noticed the "wind" I was hearing ebbed and flowed closely in sync with the sound of the breaking surf. It was then it hit me that what I was hearing was in fact the sound of the waves reflecting off the bluffs. If you listen closely, you'll hear the same thing on this recording. I thought this was a very cool sounding phenomenon and I'm happy I was able to capture it and share it with you.

This is the last of the recordings I'm going to share that I made on a short camping trip to Gold Bluffs Beach with my daughter for her 17th birthday. She was incredibly patient with me and my borderline obsessive desire to record as much as possible while we were there, and I am very grateful that she was so tolerant of my efforts to do so. You have her to thank as much as me for gathering the sounds of such a beautiful and special place, and for sharing them with you.

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