Diey had already used his DPA mics as music composer and sound designer for the programme's first series to record machines such as tanks and submarines. This time, together with his assistant Pete Trickett, he set up a pair of 4011s to capture the sound of the famous jet fighter, at one point tracking a Harrier in flight with a boom-mounted 4011.
"Being close to the roar of a Harrier Jump Jet is a unique experience, and as a sound designer who likes to get involved in all aspects of recording it was a great opportunity to test the 4011s," says Diey. "I try to do as much sound design as possible while actually recording in the field; once you get the source material into the edit suite it's only as good as the sound you record and the mics you use." Diey carried out the recording at an RAF station equipped with more than 20 Harriers. "The sound of the Harrier jet close up when taking off, landing and taxi-ing is really quite something else," he continues. "I was prepared for some very intense dynamics, and even went as far as to question whether my DPAs would be able to handle it. At the rear of the Harrier it's almost silent, and as it turns you get a dynamic jump from around 6dB to 90dB . . . I drew the line while attending a testing of the engines on a mounted engine block. The sound levels were pushing over 160db and there was no way my 4011s were going anywhere near the specially-designed acoustic room!"
As the engineers prep each Harrier before takeoff, the idling sound on the line-up of 20 jets begins to build. "The intense idle needed to throttle up is very loud, and when you have three Harriers preparing to taxi out to take off the sound levels are quite something else! I¹m happy to say my DPAs captured every detail of the sound," Diey concludes.
(Lee Baldock)
