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Author Topic: Nagra Inventor Dead Martin McCaffery Film God Posts: 2481 From: Montgomery, AL Registered: Jun 99 posted 01-31-2013 09:20 PM                        Sound innovator Stefan Kudelski dies Oscar winner invented Nagra, first portable professional recorder By VARIETY STAFF Stefan Kudelski, inventor of the first portable professional recorder, the Nagra, and founder of the Kudelski Group, died Jan. 26 in Switzerland. He was 84. "The Nagra recorder was the mainstay of production recording for over 50 years and revolutionized both production and post-production workflows," said Cinema Audio Society president David E. Fluhr. "and the worldwide sound community mourns the passing of Stefan Kudelski." Kudelski received Oscars in 1965, 1977, 1978 and 1990 and Emmys in 1984 and 1986. In 1983, Kudelski received the John Grierson International Gold Medal, joining luminaries of the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers that include Louis Lumiere, Thomas Edison, Lee de Forest, George Eastman, Walt Disney, Samuel Warner, Leon Gaumont, Ray Dolby and Vladimir Zworkyin. A tribute to Kudelski will be held at the 49th annual CAS Awards on Feb. 16 at the Biltmore Hotel in downtown Los Angeles. Contact Variety Staff at news@variety.com  |  IP: Logged Leo Enticknap Film God Posts: 7474 From: Loma Linda, CA Registered: Jul 2000 posted 02-01-2013 07:58 AM                        It's the end of an era alright. When I do a show-and-tell with my students and pass round a 16mm Bolex and a Nagra, they look at them in horror and disbelief. Being used to shooting on D-SLRs, they can't believe that when the Bolex and the Nagra were new, they were the cutting edge.  |  IP: Logged Scott Norwood Film God Posts: 8146 From: Boston, MA. USA (1774.21 miles northeast of Dallas) Registered: Jun 99 posted 02-01-2013 08:10 AM                        For those who have not seen one, a Nagra is a high-quality portable tape recorder: It is roughly the size of a large-ish coffee-table book, and most have internal crystal sync generators, which allow the recorder to keep sync with a motion-picture camera. The production soundtrack for almost every movie made from the mid-1960s through the mid-1990s was recorded with one of these, and they are still used today for some productions. The major innovation was the crystal-sync system and the ability to have such high quality in such a small device. Previously, heavy and bulky magnetic dubbers or optical sound cameras were used to record production sound. The Nagra could be easily carried by one person and made possible the documentary form that emerged in the late 1960s. The company still exists and makes tape recorders as well as other high-quality devices.  |  IP: Logged Jim Cassedy Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1661 From: San Francisco, CA Registered: Dec 2006 posted 02-01-2013 11:43 AM                     I used a Nagara many times back in my film production days. A precision manufactured machine, with a great 'feel' to it! Always wanted one of my own but could never afford it. In the mid 1980's, when I worked for a video production house, we had one of the portable NAGARA 1" videotape recorders they made back then. It looked like an oversized version of their audio decks. I beleive it was the smallest professional (broadcast quality)1" field recorder made. The only problem was that you had to either buy specially packaged reels of tape or buy a bunch of empty NAGRA reels & re-spool your own since it did not hold full size 1" tape reels. I think they later made some sort of external adapter arms that allowed the deck to use full size 1" videotape reels, but that limited its' portablity. (You could no longer sling it over your shoulder) It was an amazing machine!  |  IP: Logged Bobby Henderson "Ask me about Trajan." Posts: 10973 From: Lawton, OK, USA Registered: Apr 2001 posted 02-01-2013 01:14 PM                     As an audio device alone the Nagra was a breakthrough achievement. The way it affected movie productions was even more revolutionary. Just about all other technology developments and improvements in audio only affected how we heard the audio. The Nagra literally changed how movies look. From the late 1950's and earlier just about any scene involving spoken dialog was confined to a set on a studio lot or a custom built sound stage. Those movies have a particular look to them like someone filming a stage play. That stuff was inter-cut with exterior shots of buildings or other scenes on a location. Sometimes the two different kinds of footage cut well together but often it looked kind of stupid. The Nagra allowed filmmakers to do more work away from studio lots and get more natural looking results. The Nagra allowed for far more than the John Cassavetes style of documentary filmmaking. All the big hits from the 60's, 70's and 80's relied on that portable machine. Not many people outside of audiophile circles know of Stefan Kudelski, but anyone who has seen contemporary movies made since the 1960s has felt the influence of his work.  |  IP: Logged Martin McCaffery Film God Posts: 2481 From: Montgomery, AL Registered: Jun 99 posted 02-01-2013 02:11 PM                        And almost every cop/spy/FBI/Law drama made since the 60's shows a Nagra being used to either secretly record the bad guys, or playback the secret recording. If only it were true in real life. Reality would demand they show a grade school AV quality Wollensack reel-to-reel or, later, a Panasonic portable cassette recorder.  |  IP: Logged Leo Enticknap Film God Posts: 7474 From: Loma Linda, CA Registered: Jul 2000 posted 02-01-2013 04:18 PM                        Presumably the production companies that made these shows used Nagras anyway, and so when the scene suggested it, they used them in front of the camera as well as behind, regardless of what the FBI/cops/spies would have used in real life!  |  IP: Logged Randy Stankey Film God Posts: 6539 From: Erie, Pennsylvania Registered: Jun 99 posted 02-01-2013 05:01 PM                     Well, if cop shows are supposed to look high-tech,they would need equipment that looks the part. Right?  |  IP: Logged Richard Fowler Film God Posts: 2392 From: Ft. Lauderdale, FL, USA Registered: Jun 2001 posted 02-03-2013 07:31 AM                     Did many projects using a Nagra III or 4.2 . Rock solid and easy to service.  |  IP: Logged Sam D. Chavez Film God Posts: 2153 From: Martinez, CA USA Registered: Aug 2003 posted 02-03-2013 01:20 PM                       I think they were used on screens as props since among its other qualities, it looked very high tech and cool. Great industrial design.  |  IP: Logged Jeff Kane Film Handler Posts: 74 From: corpus christi, tx Registered: Jun 2011 posted 02-05-2013 09:36 AM                     The SN frame recorders are what you see in many 'spy' TV shows/movies. They were also used for data gathering/collection until digital devices became more common. I specifically remember my grandfather being wired up with chest pads and wires all leading to a Nagra strapped to his waist. Some were full-track mono, some were 'stereo' but optimized for voice. Only the SNST-R as I understand is designed for full hi-fi stereo. I've always wanted one but they don't go cheap! Nagra SNST-R  |  IP: Logged Robert E. Allen Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1078 From: Checotah, Oklahoma Registered: Jul 2002 posted 02-05-2013 10:46 AM                     Good grief!!! They're dropping like flies. You young pups had better step up and start being more creative (like the owner of this website). May he rest in peace.  |  IP: Logged

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