Okay, context, line from manuscript:
And as if the house wasn't spectacular enough, the stage on which it sat—burnt orange horizon meeting the vast, blue-gray expanse of the Pacific, white-capped waves sweeping in with a subdued roar before disappearing with a muffled crash.
I don't like using both subdued and muffled and it's subdued that's making me nuts because that's not really the word I want. I want a word for the rising and falling sounds of the surf when you're standing at a distance.
AUGH.
ETA: Hec, is "tiki" usually capitalized or not?
Okay hivemind, what do you think would be the auditory equivalent of "undulating"?
Are you looking for musical terms like vibrato and tremolo?
Although "vibratoing" or "tremoloing" don't sound like words, do they? But they do produce many google results....
sussurating?
That's what sprang to mind for me.
Man, car insurance is so weird. Now that I actually have to get more than just liability coverage, I've checked the rates of most of the top companies, and Geico is by far the cheapest. It beats Progressive and Allstate by $100 and Esurance and 21st Century by $300. For the same coverage! It's so bizarre.
Undulating can apply to sound. Rolling? Rhythmical? Tintinnabulating?
Of the bells, bells, bells!
Undulating can apply to sound.
Yeah? Because that was my first impulse, but I've stared at this damned sentence for so long, I wasn't sure any more.
I think that you also might want to consider your audience when you select your word. I have great love for precision in word choice, but the perfect wprd isn't perfect if your audience doesn't get. Of course, perhaps this is coming to mind because I'd never heard "susserating" before. OTOH, I learned a new word!