I dug up these pictures from 1994 when I was recording sound effects for the film "True Lies" - I was using an 8 track ADAT digital recorder to record the sound of howitzers, explosives, and an actual "war game" at 29 Palms Marine Base in CA. I also got to record the sound of Harrier Jets at Yuma Marine Corps Air Station. In one sequence, I had 6 microphones arrayed on oppisite sides of the landing strip. The Harrier jets did some vertical takeoffs and landings in the middle of the microphone field. Needless to say, it sounded awsome. Unfortunately, the director of the film (James Cameron) thought the actual sound of Harrier jets "sounded like a huge vacuum cleaner!". So, the "Harrier" jet sound that you hear in the film is a composite of other fighter jets and an airliner! Hollywood realism...


This is soundhound recording the sound of a Howitzer on an 8 channel digital recorder. The mixer is a modified Mackie.


The Marines let me shoot their Howitzer!!! Great fun!! Note the microphone in the field behind my back.


This is me being presented the "firing primer" from the Howitzer.



[This message has been edited by soundhound (edited April 09, 2003).]

SH you just love to make me jealous. I cherish the moments in my life,like this of yours, which are unusual and make me feel extremely “privileged” to have had the experience.

I got to sit in my BIL's F-14 once. Talk about glove fit, and mind-boggling array of switches. (some looking wickedly ominous}, bright red covered by safety guard. I did not have time to orient to it very long. I had to get out, as the ejection armament was on the jet. I knew better than to touch either sets of handles for those but those military types get rather worried about splatting vistors into the tarmac.

Forgot you did “True Lies”…. funny movie. Did the ground shake when you released the pin?


[This message has been edited by Smart Little Lena (edited April 07, 2003).]

Your worst nightmare - a woman in the seat of a jet. Kinda makes the Soccer Mom in an SUV sound tame

Actually, shooting the Howitzer was much "tamer" than I anticipated. They fired it many times, and the ground doesn't shake, but it is LOUD. I thought I'd have this big rush as I pulled the cord, but it was very smooth, and uneventful - at least on the back end of the gun.

I also got to ride in a Bradley Fighting Vehicle and get inside an Abrams tank while there.

I've got to say that I was incredibly impressed with our Marine Corps. Every Marine I talked with was extremely intelligent, devoted, proud and knowledgable about his equipment and his job (didn't run into any women Marines). I'm proud to have these guys on our side!


[This message has been edited by soundhound (edited April 07, 2003).]

'Unfortunately, the director of the film (James Cameron) thought the actual sound of Harrier jets "sounded like a huge vacuum cleaner!".

Well, that SUX!! Well, at least it was a "huge" one.

How about posting some .wav files of some of the recordings? They may be useful to test the clipping indicators of amps and judging how well a system can reproduce the finer musical nuances of military hardware sounds.

Paul

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the 1derful1

Cool post Soundhound, thanks for sharing. You have a great job, how did you get started in it, or is that too long of an answer?

SH,

Great stuff there! I share the others' envy!

Jeff

I will look for some sound files of the Harriers taking off. I have to say, they do sound really "ratty"! I was around 50 feet away from them as they took off, at the side of the landing strip.

Getting into this business is more something you "fall into" than something you actually seek out. It is a long and twisted story.

what sort of SPL did the mics have to handle? what mics did you use? how did you monitor the levels? did they do multiple take offs so you could set up?

sorry for the Q's, but a cool story, indeed.

Very cool! I remember hearing a Harrier at an airshow many years ago -- extremely loud, but also a noticeably different sound than a typical jet.

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gonk -- Saloon Links | Pre/Pro Comparison Chart | 950 Review

Bosso:

I used dynamic mics so that they would have a fighing chance of not maxing out. MD-421s, Shure SM-57 I believe. The Mackie I modified so that the gain was drastically reduced.

I have no idea how much SPL a Howitzer puts out, but you can feel the concussion on your body. I also did some Abrams tank firings - they are even louder. Just for experimentation, we put some contact mics on the barrel of the Howitzer. I also had mics downrange so that I could get the sound of the projectile zooming over.

For the Harriers, I used the same mics. I had both foam earplugs and over the ear hearing protectors on and it was still bloody loud. They sound awsome as they rise vertically off the ground, then as they turn the nozzles to go forward and gun it, it is just unbelievable - especially from basically being under them. I was recording take-offs and landings for the better part of the day. I also went out into some trenches with the Marines where they were training in laying explosives, and got really close to plastic expolsive blowing up. I spent a couple months total recording these effects. I shot tons of video of all this.

I found that in recording explosives, Howitzers, tank cannons and such, I got the best and most powerful sound by intentionally recording the sound about 15-20db into digital clipping. Really. This brought up the details of the sound and the clipped wave gave a good "snap" which actually ended up sounding more "real" than real. During the "war games", they had tanks, Howitzers, Bradleys, dis-mounted troops, and other vehicles firing live rounds. I was in the bleachers about 100 yards away from this. It sounded more like "battle" that you hear on the news, except for the tanks, which were still really loud when they shot their cannons.

[This message has been edited by soundhound (edited April 08, 2003).]