Waves Falling on a Stony Beach
“Waves Falling on a Stoney Beach” was recorded in Lower East Chezzetcook, Nova Scotia (CA), where the ocean never stops pushing and pulling the small stones that form the shoreline. I’d been listening to this particular stretch of coastline for a few months, and by the end of March, after understanding what tides, wind, and swell directions created the most lively version of this effect, I started experimenting with recording the area. My early experiments involved placing small microphones wrapped in plastic bags under the rocks. You can hear one of these recordings on my release Meditations on the Coming Flood. “Waves Falling on a Stoney Beach,” however, is a much simpler recording than my previous attempts. I recorded it at night, while the wind was unusually still, with two mics simply clipped to the front of my sound bag. I recorded until the tide reached its peak, and then I packed up. This track ended up being one of my favourite recordings of the year.
This track is part of a 2024 compilation of coastal recordings entitled Ocean Forms. Download the compilation for free from my Bandcamp page: https://chikwhite.bandcamp.