The bizarre truth behind how the distinctive sounds of Daenerys' dragons in 'Game of Thrones' are made

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January 5, 2018 1:56 PM

Paula Fairfield, the show's sound designer, revealed that while she takes recordings from birds and insects, she also uses a rather bizarre sample.

Paula Fairfield, sound designer for HBO's "Game Of Thrones," appeared on Radio Lab's Big Little Questions podcast.
She revealed that in order to make the sounds for Daenerys' dragons, she takes recordings from birds and insects – but she also uses a more bizarre sample.
To make the sound of Drogon's purr while he's with Daenerys, she uses the sound of giant turtles mating.

The bizarre sounds that come from Daenerys Targaryen's dragons in "Game of Thrones" have baffled some fans.

Last year a Quora user took to the site to ask: "What sounds make up the dragons' roars in Game of Thrones?"

At the time, nobody seemed to have the answer.

Now, the show's sound designer Paula Fairfield has revealed all on Radio Lab's Big Little Questions podcast.

Speaking to presenter Tracy Hunt, Fairfield revealed that she uses the usual samples you might expect, such as "shrieky" bird noises, insects, and different kinds of reptilian recordings, to create the distinctive sounds of the dragons.

But she also uses something a little more obscure — and there's a reason.

"I have sounds I might choose simply by certain personality traits that I might want to push forward," she explained. "[Daenerys] named that dragon after Khal Drogo, her hot late husband, so Drogon is like her lover. He’s whistling at her all the time, he’s whistling at her butt and saying, 'Ooh baby.'"

To project this sense of sexual tension, she uses the sound of two giant tortoises mating.

"The groan of the male actually became, with some work and adjustments and stuff, the basis of Drogon’s purr with [Daenerys]," she added.

"The funny thing about the purr with Drogon was watching people watch it and giggling when they heard it but not really knowing why, and to me it's because it had that essence, that kind of sensual, sexual essence.

"They’re very powerful, they can be very scary, they can be very destructive," she added of the dragons. "But what’s kind of magical in 'Game Of Thrones' is that the intimate scenes also melt your heart and bring you closer to these characters that should be burning your face off."

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