Working Gas Heroes is an adrenaline charged, earsplitting collection of Dragster recordings captured during quarter mile races in Los Angeles, California. This project was as intense as it was fun to record. We grew instant beards and 3 extra inches of chest hair from the sheer force of decibel induced testosterone!
Each car was recorded back to back from a line of competitors. They either raced each other or solo (with the clock) to compete by heat. We had racing pit passes so we were positioned right next to the track. The Neumann RSM 191 was a perfect choice because of it’s high Max SPL, but not blowing it out was a constant balancing act. I found the best strategy was to stay near the starting line and then vary my position as cars approached. This has to do with the sequence of each pass. As dragsters advance they Burnout, Rev, Idle and Race.
The Burnout heats the tires and lays down rubber, improving traction. In almost every instance the engine is so loud during the Burnout you don’t even hear the tire skids. It’s the most aggressive/ sustained sound from each dragster and can easily blow out your gear. By positioning myself near the starting line I could maintain a safe distance while recording the sequences of each race. Not surprisingly the Races themselves are much less intense than the lead in. You can hear how quickly these cars accelerate off the starting line. This is what zero to sixty in one second sounds like!
Neumann RSM 191 (stereo files)
38 files recorded at 96kHz/ 24 Bit
13 files recorded at 192kHz/ 24 Bit
Bonus Files
Sanken CO-100K and Sanken CSS-5 (mono files)
28 files recorded at 192kHz/ 24 Bit
-79 files total (2.39GB)
-Over 50 Dragsters (Super Stock Dragsters, Super Comp Dragsters and more)
-Metadata: Universal Category System
-Digital Download Only
-Content List
