There are dozens of singing
beaches in the world. The most famous site is Camas Sgiotaig on the
Isle of Eigg in western
Scotland. Most of the sites produce the "
squeaking" type of sound... on Eigg it's because the sand is actually made up of tiny granules of rounded
quartz. It's a watery little mousy noise, very
short in duration.
More impressive is booming sand. I'm not so sure I believe the "10 km" figure, but the sound is amazing. It's a powerful, lengthy hum, and sounds almost exactly like the buzzing tone at the beginning of Korn's Follow the Leader< /I> LP. The sounds seem to capture the majesty of the giant dunes on which they are found.
Singing sands lose their ability to sing with pollution -- entire beaches in Japan and Brazil have lost their song. Even a minute bit of flour has halted the signing of Eigg's sand in laboratory tests. The science of the vibration depends on the sand's purity. So, if you ever discover a singing stretch of beach, it's probably not a good idea to celebrate your find by throwing a wild kegger on the site.