Free Online Player
Tropical Palms
Tropical Palms is a synth pad, not a beach recording: there's no surf, no wind and no rustling leaves anywhere in it, only held notes on E and G, each one doubled slightly out of tune. It's warm, it sits around the pitch of voices, and it has no bass. It's named for a mood, not for a place.
Ready to play
Put this under rain or a fire, keep the blend you end up with, and play it through the night with your screen off. The Slo app does that on iOS, Android and Mac.
What the file actually is
Worth saying plainly, because the name points somewhere else. What plays is a set of held notes and nothing else — none of the hiss that surf, wind or rustling leaves make. Each note is shadowed by a copy a little out of tune with it, which is where the warmth comes from, and there's no bass underneath any of it. If you came here for a beach, Ocean Waves is the recording you want.
What it is good for instead
Taken on its own terms it's a warm pad with nothing sharp in it: no bass to trouble a small speaker, no bright edge, nothing that happens, just a gentle drift about once a second. Among the pads here it sits between Enchanted, which is brighter and more detuned, and Flow, which is lower and plainer.
To get somewhere closer to the name the title suggests, layer it with a real recording: the Tropical Palms and ocean blend in the free sound mixer puts actual surf underneath the pad. Everything else is on the sound library index.
Frequently asked questions
Are there palm trees or surf in this recording?
No. It's held notes the whole way through, with none of the hiss that wind, leaves or waves make. It's a synthesized pad.
What should I play for a real beach sound?
Ocean Waves is a recording of surf. Layering it under this pad in the mixer gets you closer to what the name suggests.
What pitches does it use?
Held notes around E and G, in two octaves, each with a slightly detuned double alongside it.
Does it have bass?
No. The bottom end is effectively empty, which is why it plays fine on small speakers.