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Nagra/Sela Search...


Devendra Cleary

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Hey JWSound!

 

I'm on the search for some old sound cart images. I have several from Jeff himself already, but I'm specifically looking for some images of small Nagra/Sela mixer combo rigs and the more minimalist the better. 

 

Google Images isn't bringing up what I have in mind, so if anyone here has something in their archives and wouldn't mind sharing with me please send me a PM.

 

Best,

 

Devendra

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Here's CrewC and I on a commercial in 1977.  My favorite "sound cart" a hospital bed tray, for dining.  Sela with Nagra on top.

 

 

my favourite aspect of this combo was being able to lift the nagra and sela mixer in one piece off a cart and onto a car rig.  not sure if I have snappies either.  will dive into my archives next month,  when I am back home.

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Another blast from the past. Guessing 1978/79. Obviously on location, L 2 R is Tom Stern, then an electrician, now a major league  Cameraman, (Those are Arc Lights)...  Jane Hampton, a great script supervisor, Roger Daniell, aka "The Godfather" of modern commercial mixers. He did more to get our rates and rules in place than all the rest. Also a great guy. Cooler than the other side of the pillow. He killed them with kindness and taught me all the non sound rules for the business. And then a young me at the side of the master. Between us on the simple cart of the day is the standard back then. A Nagra 4.2 on a Sela mixer.

CrewC

post-10-0-15691200-1410449406_thumb.jpg

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And is that a Nagra DH speaker on the bottom shelf of the cart? I loved the Nagra/Sela combo--it inspired confidence (and sounded great).

philp

Phillip I think that it's a bit before the DH. I don't know the exact model but in the UK we knew it as a Thunder Box. I had two DH units and they were hellish expensive. They occasionally come up on Ebay.
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Definitely a DH loudspeaker in the picture. Not before its time and yes, they were very expensive. Very rugged metal enclosure, all discreet components hand-wired, reasonably good sound for a small portable battery powered speaker. It even had a function selector for control, very similar (if not the same) as the Nagra III recorder. I do think it is the original DH in the picture, not the DH Type II which came out much later and matched more the styling and design of the Nagra 4 series recorders. It too was very expensive.

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Sela at one point had made a more full size mixing desk, something along the lines of 8 channels or so with linear faders.  Anyone have pictures of this mythical beast or more information?

I can't find any pictures but I do remember this larger Sela mixer. Audio Services (I think not yet LSC) told Sela that they needed to build a bigger mixing panel if they wanted to stay in the game. Lots of design ideas were passed back and forth, it took Sela quite some time to build it and when it finally arrived it was a bit of a disaster. A combination of too many cooks ("designers") dictating too many of the wrong things, I think it was a product that was DOA. I think they sold maybe two of them and soon after that the company (Sela) went out of business. I believe David Macmillan purchased one and used it for several years. I was certainly looking forward to it until it actually showed up --- then I was not so interested in the way it was doing certain things and it was very expensive.

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Sublime to ridiculous, but at least it's a sync recorder on top of a mixer...

 

 

Dubbing setup:  Arrivox-Tandberg, Allen & Heath Mini, custom switching, heavily modified A77. The furry operator on the left is me.

 

It was 1971... a few years before I could afford an actual Nagra.

 

Note the 'Trim Bin' clips on the wall. I loved the idea of a bin with overhead pin rack when I was cutting film, so came up with this for 1/4" tape.

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Later, Nagra released the DSM which was the successor to the DH (and I guess did a whole lot more than just a speaker). Pictured below is the model that was a fully loaded DSM. I never owned either of the DSMs.

 

Wow, that looks like a total resolver/playback station -- very cool. I can see where that would've been handy for dailies. I never saw a Nagra III or 4S with a resolver in the 1980s; by that time, we were using the Nagra T, circa 1987-1988, which would've replaced it. 

 

I can't find any pictures but I do remember this larger Sela mixer. Audio Services (I think not yet LSC) told Sela that they needed to build a bigger mixing panel if they wanted to stay in the game. Lots of design ideas were passed back and forth, it took Sela quite some time to build it and when it finally arrived it was a bit of a disaster. A combination of too many cooks ("designers") dictating too many of the wrong things, I think it was a product that was DOA. I think they sold maybe two of them and soon after that the company (Sela) went out of business.

 

Where was Sela based? Were they also out of Switzerland, or in France? Those were beautiful mixers for their time.

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