JBond Posted January 29, 2015 Report Posted January 29, 2015 For a quick index to select posts, click the blue links below 42 Jeff Wexler's movie list 1000 "NEW" The Nagra ISS, the Story 364 CIA the Second Recorder 455 Nagra II Video 146 Meet Jeff Wexler(Youtube) 307 Nixon Resigns Picture 373 “New” The Nagra Story, updated Feb 2018 478 The Third Covert recorder 151 My Nagra VPR-5 319 “New” The Nagra JBR updated Feb 2018 400 The Nagra SN (Copy ) 479 The 1966 Covert recording 102 Well, we DID have Big Drinks the day. 333 A Special Gift 404 There’s only One, Nagra I 480 The Fourth Recorder 225 What I found out about the Nagra I 335 The Nagra DH Difference 405 Great Nagra Collection “Vienna Collection” 482 Finally, Fifth and Final Record 232 Conversation with Stefan Kudelski 337 The Mystery of the Yellow Recorder 422 An appropriate answer 430 What happened to - Serie Noir? 252 The First Nagra III 347 CIA issued Recorder 425 Early Nagra SN serial #’s 363 Dating & "New" Reverse Record 268 The Sony and the Telefunken 790 GREAT Nagra III Collection by BGAULLIER 952 Earliest Known Nagra III by PiO 576 The Nagra IS Differences by DELA #27 Senator Mike Michaels interview 681 1st 1959 Nagra III by Antonine 922 Jwsound gets Attention from Nagra Audio 154 Marilyn and the 1960 Nagra III Video 962 The Gold SN - Test 220 A different kind of Soundman 282 1969 Zuiko 1st Microcassette video 906 “New” The Nagra SN Series - from Prototype to Production 131 Adam Savages Nagra IV-S YouTube 1003 The Nagra 1 Story that sold for 20,000.00 =========================================================================================== My name is Bond, Joseph Bond. I collect tape recorders, yes, "Tape" recorders, from toys to spy to professional movie recorders of the past. Some of you know me as undercover. Today I'm JBOND I’m interested in this site and your profession because many of you recorded many great movies on the Nagra recorders I have in my collection. Reading a thread earlier about the movie The Shining, I’m sure that was recorded on a Nagra. Which one, anybody knows? I want to keep those stories alive before they are gone forever. These were the recorders many of you started with, primitive by today's recording standards, yet still, some of the greatest movies ever made were recorded on these recorders. I'm hoping, if I supply the pictures it will jog one's memory of the good and bad days using these recorders and some will supply the historical stories to go with them, stores that only the people that used them know, Stories that only you guys can share. Stories about, I hated using them, loved using them, they were a pain in the ass to use, to the changing out the tape in time, dropping the tape while everyone waited for you etc. dropped it off the top of a building recording such and such movie. We all saw the movies anything happen in a particular movie using a particular Nagra recorder that you can share? Whats your vintage Nagra story? What movie did you record with your Nagra and which machine did you record it on. Or what girl, actor or actress kept your attention while your tape spooled under the lid? The following pages are the Nagra stories sound men will never tell. Photos marked with RJW are copyrighted. Any use other than private with or without the RJW watermark is strictly forbidden, without written permission from the owner. Photos marked with RJW are copyrighted. Any use other than private with or without the RJW watermark is strictly forbidden, without written permission from the owner. .
pverrando Posted January 29, 2015 Report Posted January 29, 2015 John Coffey wrote a great & funny article about his only experience as a "run & gun" mixer with a Nagra, covering a boxing match in Las Vegas. But I can't find the article. It's in one of the "Sound and Picture" periodicals.
JBond Posted January 29, 2015 Author Report Posted January 29, 2015 Some vintage Nagra equipment never used. Nagra III Playback unit. Nagra III, This one without pilot tone. I have both with and without the pilot in the same condition. This one from 1962 I take it this one would not be used in movies? All Photos marked RJWare copyrighted. Any use other than private with or without the RJW watermark is strictly forbidden, without written permission from the owner.
Jeff Wexler Posted January 29, 2015 Report Posted January 29, 2015 I will be happy to get some stories together for you. In terms of what was used on any given movie, I can give you some guidelines: the first model of Nagra that was used on a motion picture would be the Nagra III (the Nagra I and II never made it to the movie world). The Nagra did come into general usage on feature films until around 1964. It is safe to say that any movie done from 1965 to 1989 would have used some model of Nagra. The year 1989 is significant because that was the year that I used a DAT machine to record production sound on a motion picture --- no one else had tried this relatively new format but I gave it a go on "The War of the Roses." Many, many movies were recorded using the Nagra well into the 1990s even as DAT became a very common format. I owned and used just about every model of Nagra except for the Nagra I, II, and the Nagra-D. I owned a Nagra III, Nagra 4L, Nagra 4.2, Nagra SN, Nagra-IS, Nagra 4S, Nagra 4STC. Also used a Stellavox on 2 documentaries (but never owned one).
Jeff Wexler Posted January 29, 2015 Report Posted January 29, 2015 That's a wonderful looking DH loudspeaker!
JBond Posted January 29, 2015 Author Report Posted January 29, 2015 I will be happy to get some stories together for you. In terms of what was used on any given movie, I can give you some guidelines: the first model of Nagra that was used on a motion picture would be the Nagra III (the Nagra I and II never made it to the movie world). The Nagra did come into general usage on feature films until around 1964. It is safe to say that any movie done from 1965 to 1989 would have used some model of Nagra. The year 1989 is significant because that was the year that I used a DAT machine to record production sound on a motion picture --- no one else had tried this relatively new format but I gave it a go on "The War of the Roses." Many, many movies were recorded using the Nagra well into the 1990s even as DAT became a very common format. I owned and used just about every model of Nagra except for the Nagra I, II, and the Nagra-D. I owned a Nagra III, Nagra 4L, Nagra 4.2, Nagra SN, Nagra-IS, Nagra 4S, Nagra 4STC. Also used a Stellavox on 2 documentaries (but never owned one). Wow, you owned everything I have shown, What about the SN transfer unit. How was that used?
Marc Wielage Posted January 29, 2015 Report Posted January 29, 2015 Wow, incredible pictures in this thread! Those were such cool machines. The tactile response and feel of the controls was second to none, just amazing Swiss engineering. And we loved, loved, loved the Nagra T in post. That thing was a tank.
JBond Posted January 29, 2015 Author Report Posted January 29, 2015 Jeff the DH is a nice one. I was very lucky to get it in this condition, usually, these are all beat up from use. In fact, everything Nagra III seems to be beat up from use, no feet on the bottom didn’t help as this Nagra III shows The DH was in a shop in Amsterdam, I was told it was never sold. And I believed him. All photos marked RJW are copyrighted. Any use other than private with or without the RJW watermark is strictly forbidden, without written permission from the owner.
Philip Perkins Posted January 29, 2015 Report Posted January 29, 2015 Since you are into Nagra IIIs (still my favorite of all the Nagras I had, III, IV-L, 4.2, IV-SL, then conversions of that IV-SL to time code first by Bill Ruck ("Q-RUCK") then by Harvey Warnke ("Timecode Systems")), you should look out for the special AC resolver made for the III. I'm not talking about the SLO, that came later. This a very old-fashioned unit with 2 meters, about 4 RU tall in similar paint to the Nagra III (ie black over silver metal). This resolver only worked with the Nagra III, not with any later versions. I had one for my III but cannot recall the model number. phil p
JBond Posted January 29, 2015 Author Report Posted January 29, 2015 Philip its called an SLP. (I had to go look and see what it was called) I didn't have to look too far, just had to go upstairs and snap a picture. I still have to take off the fast and slow stickers, except for the stickers its like new also. These days I don't buy much anymore. I past on anything that is not in very good condition. If something comes along that is in better condition then what I have I buy it and sell mine. Its a slow process but over time it makes for a better collection. All photos marked RJW are copyrighted. Any use other than private with or without the RJW watermark is strictly forbidden, without written permission from the owner.
pverrando Posted January 29, 2015 Report Posted January 29, 2015 JBond, did you end up with that "unopened" Nagra package that appeared on ebay a year or so ago?
mark kirchner Posted January 29, 2015 Report Posted January 29, 2015 Mr. Bond, Do you collect ephemera related to the Nagra? If so you might be interested in a book by Jim Tanenbaum, C.A.S., Using Time Code in the Reel World, 3rd edition. In this work Jim states that his original edition was published and distributed by Nagra Magnetic Recorders, Inc. Jim’s manual is subtitled “supplementary instructions for various versions of the Nagra 1/4 inch reel to reel analog recorders.” Thank you for sharing your collection. Mark
David Waelder Posted January 29, 2015 Report Posted January 29, 2015 I believe that the first film to be recorded with a Nagra was Black Orpheus. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Orpheus http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0053146/ The film, directed by Marcel Camus, is an update of the Orpheus and Eurydice legend set in Rio de Janeiro during Carnival. It was released in 1959. I believe that it was recorded with a Nagra III. Since the Neo-Pilot version of the Nagra wasn't introduced until 1962, it was most probably not a machine employing modern synchronization circuitry. But a servo-controlled motor was available for the Nagra in 1957 so some synchronous work would have been possible even without Pilotone. There are many scenes with music; not only is the action set during Carnival but the Orpheus character is a musician. I expect those scenes were probably done to playback and may not have used a Nagra. But I believe that all of the dialog was recorded with the Nagra and there are several scenes with impromptu singing by the main characters that were probably also recorded with the Nagra. The film holds up quite well and is still a charming movie. David
Jeff Wexler Posted January 29, 2015 Report Posted January 29, 2015 I have not been able to ever truly verify what movie first used the Nagra for production sound recording. I do have very clear insight regarding the process of adopting the Nagra as the main machine, replacing the industry standard magnetic film recorders. A very good friend of mine from New York served as the picture editor, sound recordist and associate producer of Peter Brook's movie "Lord of the Flies". Gerry suggested using the Nagra for this feature film that was to be shot in a similar fashion to documentaries (which had just started using the Nagra for its portability). The movie began shooting in 1960 but was not released until 1963. Gerry also was instrumental in convincing Stefan Kudelski to provide a sync system (which ultimately evolved into fitting the recorder with a sync head and the neo-pilot system). The Nagra used on "Lord of the Flies" was fitted with an early prototype sync head assembly. Later, Kudelski offered Gerry the exclusive US dealership for the Nagra III as Kudelski was convinced at that time that the Nagra could be a real contender for mainstream filmmaking. Gerry declined the offer and wound up eventually with Loren Ryder at Ryder Sound Services. Additionally, I was present at a meeting at Columbia Pictures with my father during the pre-production on "The Best Man". This meeting was in 1963 and in attendance were the post-production supervisors and engineers at Columbia (the movie was a United Artists picture), Jack Solomon, Loren Ryder and my father. Jack was interested in using the Nagra on this major motion picture but to convince the production that it would work. After the demonstration of the Nagra III, every one of the engineers and studio post people said it was a marvelous piece of engineering and most probably a really useful tool for reporters and documentarians, but feature films will never use it because feature films need to be recorded on film (magnetic film recorders) not ¼" tape! Well, they were wrong, in both the short term and the long term (obviously) as Jack Solomon did use the Nagra III for "The Best Man" and the Nagra recorder went on to become the standard for production sound recording.
Jeff Wexler Posted January 29, 2015 Report Posted January 29, 2015 Adding to the above long winded post, I had to wage my own battles with major studios when I was the first to propose using DAT for feature film recording. Everyone, to a T, insisted that the only standard for motion picture sound recording was the Nagra! After winning the battle for DAT (a format I never really loved or trusted), I was faced with wanting to move on to the next great thing, file-based production recording with the original Deva I. Ran into the very same resistance from the major studios: we don't want you to use anything new, just stick with the tried and true standard, use a DAT machine. Well, they were wrong, again, and fortunately for all of us file-based recording has become the standard and for all the right reasons.
CraigF Posted January 29, 2015 Report Posted January 29, 2015 I got to ask, is that a tape loop extra in the first pic, left side, about the mid point down?
Jeff Wexler Posted January 29, 2015 Report Posted January 29, 2015 What is pictured here I believe is one of the recorders that was designed for surveillance and security work that used a special cassette to hold the tape. The unit did not have playback capability so to access the material on the tape the unit was docked to a playback machine, the tape was pulled out of the cassette and run through the transport on the playback machine. I do not know the names or model numbers of either.
Philip Perkins Posted January 29, 2015 Report Posted January 29, 2015 Thanks for the SLP pic--yours is in much nicer shape than mine was. I eventually built mine into a case because I used it on location--it served as a playback machine on lots of commercials etc in the 1980s. In operation it was a little slower to settle down than an SLO or the built-in resolver of my 4.2, but otherwise worked very well and people were always impressed with the retro look! The Nagra III is the only one of the great many tape recorders I've owned that I regret selling, mostly because it looked so cool. philp
Philip Perkins Posted January 29, 2015 Report Posted January 29, 2015 My first Nagra was a III that was a non-pilot-to-pilot conversion, done by the US distributor I think (I bought it used). The exact location and type of "Maltese" as well as the circuit board installed appeared to be different from that in my 2nd Nagra III, which was an "NPH" machine from the factory. philp
JBond Posted January 29, 2015 Author Report Posted January 29, 2015 On 1/29/2015 at 7:29 AM, pverrando said: JBond, did you end up with that "unopened" Nagra package that appeared on ebay a year or so ago? No, I didn’t buy it. I remember it though, didn’t they want like 9500.00 then 6500.00 they were all in white crates if I remember right. That’s out of my price range. I have no desire to buy anything that expensive. Just for the condition, Not like it was some rare item.
JBond Posted January 29, 2015 Author Report Posted January 29, 2015 Mr. Bond, Do you collect ephemera related to the Nagra? If so you might be interested in a book by Jim Tanenbaum, C.A.S., Using Time Code in the Reel World, 3rd edition. In this work Jim states that his original edition was published and distributed by Nagra Magnetic Recorders, Inc. Jim’s manual is subtitled “supplementary instructions for various versions of the Nagra 1/4 inch reel to reel analog recorders.” Thank you for sharing your collection. Mark Thank you Mark for the info, I will look into that. Thanks
jrd456 Posted January 30, 2015 Report Posted January 30, 2015 My first Nagra was a non-pilot Nagra lll that I traded for a cassette machine from Scripts Institute of Oceanography.I had Ryder put a pilot head on it.I used it for several years with no problems and then bought a new 4.2 .the 4.2 fell apart while 4 wheelin' to a mountain location.I pulled out the Nagra lll and it worked fine---saved me.During lunch,I put the 4.2 back together and switched back over and held it in my lap when we went back down the mountain.Always gotta have a back-up. J.D.
Glen Trew Posted January 30, 2015 Report Posted January 30, 2015 Beautiful collection, Joseph. The nicest I've ever seen (even compared to the collection I've seen at the Nagra factory). Thanks for doing this, because otherwise I might feel the need to do it myself. gt
CraigF Posted January 30, 2015 Report Posted January 30, 2015 would love to see a tour of your Nagras and Jim's mics from http://695quarterly.com/6-1/6-1-jim-webb-a-profile/
JBond Posted January 30, 2015 Author Report Posted January 30, 2015 Only one Nagra story so far. Thank you jrd456 The Nagra III saved you that day. Who can tell me for a certainly what movie was recorded on this late model Nagra III? (one like this of course not the unit I have) It’s a 1967 so the movie has to be that year or later. Anyone remember a movie they personally worked on with this model recorder? The big cosmetic difference between an early Nagra III and a late Nagra III is the meter, maybe someone knows of other differences? Later model meter.1967 Early model meter.1962 which I believe went from 1957 up to 1967 I could be wrong. All photos marked RJW are copyrighted. Any use other than private with or without the RJW watermark is strictly forbidden, without written permission from the owner.
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