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).]