Roger Mayer (left) with the band whose sound he helped shape

Meet Roger Mayer, the navy acoustics engineer who created sound effects for the giants of the 1960s rock scene

How did you get into sound engineering?

I joined the UK’s Royal Naval Scientific Service when I left school, training as an engineer. We were working on underwater warfare, using vibrational and acoustical analysis to detect anything at all that makes a noise at sea.

What type of engineering was involved?

The navy was interested in detecting noise from enemy vessels and in the prevention of noise generation in our …