Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Nagra Inventor Dead

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Posted by Martin McCaffery (Member # 37) on 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

Posted by Leo Enticknap (Member # 534) on 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.

Posted by Scott Norwood (Member # 30) on 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.

Posted by Jim Cassedy (Member # 4115) on 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!

Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 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.

Posted by Martin McCaffery (Member # 37) on 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. [Wink]

Posted by Leo Enticknap (Member # 534) on 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!

Posted by Randy Stankey (Member # 64) on 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?

Posted by Richard Fowler (Member # 893) on 02-03-2013, 07:31 AM:

Did many projects using a Nagra III or 4.2 . Rock solid and easy to service.

Posted by Sam D. Chavez (Member # 1841) on 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.

Posted by Jeff Kane (Member # 6372) on 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

Posted by Robert E. Allen (Member # 1351) on 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.