Although I’ve never lived on the coast, like many people, ocean shores hold a magnetic attraction for me. Whether it’s calm waves lapping on the sand, powerful waves crashing in the rocks, or exploring tide pools, I feel a need to visit the coast from time to time. So the coast was my ultimate goal last fall when I wandered through Oregon’s Steen’s Mountain and Cascades. In addition to enjoying the beach, I wanted to try recording the waves as they hit the sand and rocky shore. Recording ocean waves is surprisingly difficult – the crash of the waves create a wide range of frequencies, so to accurately record them, you need to be as close as possible. Obviously, that can create problems with getting the equipment wet. Coastal environments also tend to be very windy, creating a challenge for keeping the wind and the sand off the mics. My attempts to record waves in northern California last spring were thwarted by an offshore gale that created such a roar that it overwhelmed my equipment and nearly blew me off the beach.
Different nature recordists have different strategies for trying to capture the sounds of ocean waves. Bernie Krause suggests at least 2 mics arrays – one pointed at the dunes or cliffs to catch the deep roar of the surf, and another very close to the waves to collect the delicate high frequencies. Gordon Hempton prefers a more direct approach, wading into the waves (carefully!) with his gear, or strategically placing mics in hollow logs facing the surf to catch the reverb and echoes. My trip was a little more exploratory in nature, to check out several recording locations and really listen to the waves. I tried to be a bit stealthy about my recording, so I limited my equipment to just my Sony D100 recorder and on-board mics.
My first stop was Harbor Vista County Park near Florence. The Siuslaw River enters the ocean here, funneled through a long jetty near Haceta Beach. A seasonal foghorn is placed on the end of the north jetty during the warmer months, adding a mournful sound to the local soundscape. It was quite windy while I was there, so after walking the dog on the beach a bit, we walked out on the north jetty. The wind and waves were roaring on the north side of the jetty, but the waves were lapping and swirling on the river side. I found a found a small nook in the rocks and I set up the recorder, then found a spot out of the wind to enjoy the sights and sounds.
While we sat and listened (ok, I listened, Shadow curled up and went to sleep), a harbor seal came by and poked up its head. We made eye contact and it paused there for a few moments before swimming on downstream. Kite surfers enjoyed the wind and waves on the far side of the south jetty. I couldn’t see the surfers, but their kites were fun to watch above the jetty.
The recording, made just a few feet above the waves, came out pretty nice. You can hear the roar of the wind and surf in the background, and the mournful sound of the foghorn. Best through headphones.
My next stop was Cape Blanco State Park, which has a beautiful headland and amazing stretch of beach. The wind was really howling when we got there, so I didn’t try recording. The campground was in a thick grove of pines creating a nice refuge from the wind. In the morning, I headed down to the beach.
The wind was still blowing pretty hard, although the sound of the waves lapping on the sand was beautiful. The wind covering I had on my recorder did little against the strong winds on the beach. I tried setting the recorder behind wind blocks, like my daypack, or behind piles of driftwood, but to no avail. Still it was a wonderful place to walk along the beach. On an evening walk to an overlook of the beach, I could see a long cloud of smoke to the south from the fires in the southern coast ranges. The smoke extended way out to sea.
My last coastal stop was at Harris Beach State Park near the Oregon-California border. This is a massive campground (nearly full), and the beach is right next to Highway 101; normally the type of place I would avoid, but I wanted to give beach recording one more shot. The smoke we had seen the evening before had disappeared, and in spite of the huge crowd in the campground, the beaches weren’t very crowded. I found some nice little nooks among the rocks and driftwood for the recorder. The waves were wonderful, but it was difficult to get away from the sound of the highway which snuck into the recordings in the lulls between wave crashes.
The smoke crept in overnight. At first I thought it was just fog, but the smell and lack of clamminess revealed that is was mostly smoke. I headed back to the beach for more recording, and I obtained my best recording by sticking the recorder in a pile of rocks as the tide was coming in.
I learned a lot about beach recording on this trip. It was more challenging than I thought, but that was due to human noise – the planes, boats, and highways. But I have a better idea what to look for and how to set up the equipment and I look forward to trying again.