Adam Savage's New Nagra IV-S Vintage Audio Recorder!
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- čas přidán 20. 08. 2024
- Adam adds a coveted piece of vintage audio recording kit to his Nagra collection. The Nagra IV-S was the first stereo analog recorder in the venerated series of reel-to-reel recorders, with a precision build and satisfying tactile operation that's the hallmark of this iconic line. It's a prized piece of Adam's collection and he can't wait to put it to use!
Adam's Nagra recorder collection: • Adam Savage's Nagra Sp...
Leather briefcase restoration for this recorder: • Adam Savage Restores a...
Shot by Adam Savage
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#AdamSavage #nagra
What's funny about Adam is that whenever he makes a pause , you're never quite sure if he's about to say something profound, getting slightly emotional, or he's holding in a burp. :)
He's so carismatic guy that he doesn't need to edit his videos to cut the pauses. In fact it often gives me a time to process what he was talking about for the prior few minutes :)
Usually the burp
Ya
Reminds me of Jeff Porcaro in his Instructional Drum videos.
11:26 "I feel like I'm drifting really far afield, but isn't that kinda why you tune in?"
YES...yes that is exactly correct🙌🏼
You're story-telling and meanderings are exactly why I'm here. Never stop🙏🏼
same
Yes, one hundred percent.
that was the exact moment that I had a smile on the corner of my mouth and also remembered to like the video
New wish for a colab: Techmoan and Adam, discussing reel-to-reel machines for two hours.
YEEEEEEEESSS
I clicked on this thinking it was Techmoan!
not gonna lie as much as i love techmoan the man knows very little about reel to reels, he even admits it, its not a subject of passion for him, they're intense machines that require a lot of love and care and its an entirely separate world from hifi
add LookMumNoComputer to that party and the universe would implode!
@@stevesamplingmusic mad as a hatter that lad, but in a good way.
The Nagra IV-SJ was my workhorse for 10 years recording machinery vibration data on ships. The SJ has calibrated stepped attenuators instead of pots so vibration levels could be determined on playback.
Our Nagras had the expanded cover to take 7" reels. I recorded hundreds if not thousands of reels of tape, lugging that beast up and down ladders on ships.
You missed pointing out one of the really neat features ( it looks like yours has it) - the Swiss watch that is one of the idler pulleys. It shows the recording TIME, driven by the tape passing over it. Our takes were usually one minute, which it flawlessly indicated.
Something you may not realize, the Nagra IV (at least the SJ, but I believe all of them) is a three channel recorder. The third center track is FM, and can be used for annotation without interfering with the other tracks. Because it's FM, it's frequency response is DC to around 4kHz. This was sometimes useful on very slow speed machines for recording data below 10Hz.
The microphone for the cue track has a red LED that lights up when it's keyed. I took advantage of this a few times when somebody was complaining about whatever I was doing. Key the mic, hold it out in front of me, and explain "I just want to record this for my boss to hear." Somehow, most people decide that's a good time to shut up. 😉 I don't recall ever asking my boss to listen to one of those rant sessions.
I was the production mgr for a major symphony orchestra in the 80's, and we used an Nagra reel to reel for recording performances to later replay on local public radio. They were solid and had excellent audio performance. In ten years of performances, (as we gradually transitioned to digital recorders) we never had one fail.
They are a work of Art !
Hey Adam, the tubing can be found searching for "aluminum oval closet rod". That's also what that steel oval tubing is used for mainly.👍
Thats a much better match than the tubing he shows from the couple of pics i could see
I concur.
Also found the same listed as "wardrobe tubing" in aluminum and steel at Home Depot and other places
Wardrobe rail in the UK
it's called flat sided oval aluminum tube.
We used these in film school in 2004. I checked one out of the equipment office one weekend and played old reel to reel tapes my grandfather had recorded back in the 1970’s! It was like time traveling and being in that room. The phone rang and my grandmother picked it up in the background and I heard her voice too! It was shocking!
this recorder and a good mic would pic up a fly buzzing around the room.
Hey Adam! Love everything you do, always been a huge inspiration! Aluminum Oval tube, wardrobe tube, and oval marine tube all pulls up that style of tubing for me. Hopefully that helps!
When I was at the BBC back in the 80s they were still using these for topical news recording. I believe they used 24 AA batteries because you could get them anywhere in the world. Even as working tools they were regarded as a work of Art.
That’s a giant pile of batteries
I remember that though in the provinces we used a much cheaper though still wonderful Sony Walkman Pro. I did a few interviews with that when I worked part time at BBC radio Devon. The beauty of it was that is was so small people were not intimidated by it and so relaxed and gave so much more in the interview but Nagra, so beautiful and such a beautiful professional tool of work.
I don’t think it was 24…. It’s really small. All the others use 10. 12 volt system
@@ToyManTelevision Found the owners manual on the Nagra site for the IV-S and it apparently used twelve 1.5v batteries with a diameter of 33.5mm which means the thing actually ran on D batteries! You could kill a man with that thing when it was fully loaded with batteries!
@@ianmedium They are very nice and are still going for a lot on ebay - madness, I have a £20 digital recorder which will outperform any tape medium. I get that Nagra are mechanical marvels but still.
I love watching Adam geek out on random things. His passion for the things he cares about is always enjoyable to watch.
Analog systems always just have so much character. When you turn them on it just feels like they come to life, truly a beautiful thing. Thanks for sharing Adam!
Thanks for reminding me of Diva. I was obsessed with this film for years. It filled a gap in my soul and satisfied my need for Chic French culture.
I work at Voice of America and we had around 30 Nagra's of different series (3's & 4's). We kept one for a display case but rest of them went to the GSA as surplus about 3 years ago (including the one issued to me for field recordings); I really wanted to keep mine but the boss said it had to go. I did keep some spare parts as reminder's of how we did things before digital.
The Nagra aesthetic is literally iconic, similar to NASA, classic Braun, and Eames. Thoughtful, practical, and exact.
Way back when I used a Nagra III for film sound. The III was cool; full track mono with a two-track "pilot tone" head in the middle for sync with a tone from the camera. The pilot tone heads were out of phase so they would cancel out when playing back the full track audio. The build quality of Nagras is impressive, the body carved from a single block of aluminum. Absolutely, in my opinion, the best built tape machine ever made.
My father would totally agree with you, he somehow managed to own two Nagra III recorders in the 70s
I have one of the full track mono Nagra III machines and even though it is 60+ years old it still works like new. Absolutely incredible machines!
Treasure it
Great video! Complete with a shout out to Dan Dugan!, a true hero of the sound reinforcement community!
"I feel like I'm drifting really afar upfield, but isn't that kinda why you tune in?".......YES! TOTALLY!!!!.....I almost spit my coffee out when you said that. I actually laughed out loud.... Your ADHD is such an endearing attribute with which you bless us all! Thank you for being so transparent.
You're the last person I expected to have this. It's a very rare format. Some of The Beatles' 1969 Let It Be tapes were recorded on Nagra tape. The Twickenham sessions were restored by Peter Jackson for 'Get Back', and they managed to uncover great dialog buried under instruments and pan the different elements to create a stereo from mono mix. It's legendary stuff.
Those were not iv-s machines with the Beatles. Those were III mono likely.
@@Likeaudio possibly. Or the engineer had no interest in turning a few knobs to make it stereo.
When you say format, did it record in a different format than half-track mono, full-track mono, or half-track stereo? Did it use something other than 1/4" tape?
@@russellhltn1396 it's using ¼ but I'm referring to the tape machine as a way to record the sound. Not many were made and less survived.
@@Likeaudio Indeed, the IV-S only released in 1971
I found the tubing with "rounded oval extruded aluminum tubing," but others here have had good solutions as well. That recorder is just beautiful, it looks like it belongs on a spacecraft!
So pleased you mentioned Diva, as soon as I saw the thumbnail that was the film that popped into my head but I couldn’t remember the name.
I too have been in love with Nagra reel to reel recorders ever since watching the Conversation on a 19" color TV way back in the day.
I still haven't bought one yet. but that day is coming. I can feel it. lol.
When you were talking about beauty in its functionallity it made me think of a quote my dad likes. Google quotes it to Antoine de Saint-Exupery.... "Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away." And I really fell like you almost refernce it all the time in your videos feels like one you should hear if you didnt know it already.
I work in audio electronics repair in Australia. There's just something about reel to reels and vinyl that keeps people coming back to them. We've worked on more reel to reel units in the last 5 years than in the 15 before that. Recently got a 16 track Fostex reel to reel in and the sound quality once it was running again was amazing.
VPR-5. If I win the lottery, it'll be one of my first purchases. Electromechanical work of art both externally and internally. The design, machining, wire routing, etc. It is a 1" analog video tape recorder. The video head is about 4" in diameter and the reels are about 10-12" in diameter just to give you an idea of the size of a running unit. Absolutely amazing.
I tune in for a lot of reasons but you drifting around and thinking out loud is one of the big reasons I keep coming back. It's like we're wandering in the woods and you stop to show us something. about a purple mushroom growing under a tree. Cool.
That's in amazing condition! Those covers were yellow even back in the 90's when I was a soundman. Used the Nagra IV-S TC (timecode version) in the commercial film business. Very intimidating device when something didn't go right for a newbie soundman at the time. It was the standard in the industry until about 2000 when DAT really started taking over. The S indicates stereo (2 channel). Sound speed!
A significant part of my early working life was a Nagra IV-SJ, stereo with an FM channel for annotations. A very pleasant tool. (PS, the sound for Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange was recorded in the field on a Nagra-IV.)
“If he can only perform good or only perform evil, then he is a clockwork orange-meaning that he has the appearance of an organism lovely with colour and juice but is in fact only a clockwork toy to be wound up by God or the Devil.”
🔮🕳🔮
@@glyph241 "Viddy well, little brother, viddy well!"
@@glyph241 I ponder if such a concept could exist in what is essentially a dualistic world.
I think this is a good example of an object that 'sparks joy'!
Fabulous piece of old technology, I love old practical machinery with knobs, switches and buttons and all dials and connections, everything is tactile and tangible. Fantastic! 👍😁❤️
The moment I saw the word "Nagra," I thought of Diva! 😄I watched it a couple of times when I was young; the first time at the 16mm film club at my small hometown's theatre, where I fell in love with the whole film noir, new wave, newer wave, and "Cinema de Look" thing. Diva, Subway, The Big Blue, Mauvais Sang, A Heart in Winter, and many, many more.
Incredible how quickly the time passed.
I have no interest in the subject but Adam's passion just makes you want to listen. He's remarkable.
I saw Diva in 1981, when I was 16. My brother took me to the Valley Art Theater in Tempe Arizona to see it. It was my first introduction to French cinema. Of course the Nagra recorder was also featured prominently that same year in Brian DePalma's Blow Out, which also left a huge impression on me!
...of course, Adam purchases a Nagra IV-S Audio Recorder!
I have always wanted one, I use to use one in film production back in the late 80s, and mid-90s!
It’s a trip down memory lane again on this one. My father was a film maker, and no matter what the device was they were recording audio on, he always called it a Nagra.
Damn, how old am I? I have worked with the Nagra! At swedish radio! -95. It was a relic already and heavy to carry. but the quality!
It was the last recorder i ever used before going digital DAT recorders. Loved the sound hated the weight!
Magnetic tape is mesmerizing, sure the sound isn’t as good as numerical device but the grain is beautiful, I recently made a tape delay because of their very peculiar sound and it’s gorgeous to see it working
I've always loved these things. One of the most beautiful pieces of equipment ever designed by man.
Dear lord are those two pieces of kit eye wateringly beautiful!
You are correct. I tune in as much to hear your rabbit hole, historical stories as much as I do for the amazing perspective you bring to observation of the universe around us. Thank you.
This is one of your top 5 Tested videos in my book. I loved it start to finish, *especially* the meanderings 'far afield'. I want to thank you for reminding me about the movie Diva. It was a favorite of mine when it came out and I watched it several times, but it seems to have slipped from memory. Just found it on Prime Video and I'm watching tonight.
Adam: I have always wanted a Nagra myself; congrats on your acquisitions. One word of warning about your plan to try to remove the yellowing on the lid: "Retrobrighting," as the H2O2 process is often called, can make the plastic more brittle, so there's that. Further, the yellow will come back within months. Just an FYI.
OMG Diva , was the stylish film of its time , I must have seen it 25 times
His talk about Diva is so unexpected and great.
This is serious amazing. And I could listen to him just tell stories of technology like Neil Gaiman tells fiction. Please NEVER stop sharing your love of technology.
I've wanted the small ones ever since seeing Edward Woodward using one in an early episode of the Equalizer
I just did a search to find out if Nagra was the manufacturer for the tape player I saw in that episode too!
Diva is one of my all time favorite films, the cinematography is wonderful. Thank you for reminding me.
13:58: I love how Adam is like he's holding back tears when he says his Nagra is really beautiful.
The nice thing about linked gain is that, when recording M/S with mics of different sensitivity (my Schopes CCM4Lg was 13 mV/Pa and the CCM8Lg 10 mV/Pa, so bout 2.3 dB different) You can offset one gain knob, lock them, and then they'll track up and down in sync. Wonderfull
Something about the old analog devices has always appealed to me. There's just something about having a bank of meters, switches and dials that a digital display can never replace.
I saw Diva when it came out-loved it-and iirc, one of the characters says something like ‘oh, you have a Nagra’ which always stayed with me
YES! Drifting far afield is indeed why we tune in.
Hah! I recognize that beast... I've seen it many times in Creature Comforts (the original short film - v=PCOWE0EiCyo), never really realizing it was a real thing. So cool! Nice score. :)
I remember when Nagra's where the only thing used for film audio.
My uncle was a field officer in Berlin through the 60's to the mid 80's. He had a Nagra recorder on display at his house alongside a Minox camera. If these items could speak! Amazing pieces of engineering.
Diva! One of my favorite films. I was (and still am) captivated by that film, its music and the Nagra itself. It got me hooked on French cinema, Erik Satie and field recording.
The nagra 4s looks like it was designed to be on an Apollo mission. I would said it has space grade type beauty
For the elongated tube type, maybe reach out to a metal shop or company that deals with metal tubing and materials and they might know what its called?
I used two Nagras for remote recording for years. In a a&b format to not miss a word. They are great to edit on. I love those machines.
DIVA is a truly AWESOME Movie
I have only seen it three times. Thanks fir the video on The Nagra
I think one was featured in Blowout, as well.
Extruded aluminum tubing, oval profile.
Where does one find a Nagra? Btw, the conversation was a masterpiece, especially looking back now how serious the technology was used. Brilliant video, thanks for sharing
You can find them on eBay, even today they're surprisingly expensive.
@@SoundSpeeding wow, you're right on both accounts. Thanks for sharing.
Always lovely to hear someone be so enchanted with Nagra machines. I have tried to get one over 30 years and in 2020 I finally got a Nagra IV. Beautiful condition and was a BBC model and used on so many fantastic programmes (Attenborough etc). Its the one thing I have bought for myself and I love it :) The pre-amps are extraordinary and astonishing. Im sure you will have some great sessions ahead
I had the Nagra VI Anniversary Model. I recently sold it, but it was a thing of beauty. When Nagra turned 60, they made 60 of anniversary model. That and a Nagra Seven work wonderfully together.
NAGRA name comes from NAGRAć - "To record" in polish.
techmoan could have done an hour on it easily.
The Conversation, was one of my two favourite non comedy movies for decades, and is still probably in my top five.
Another First Class vid Adam and thanks for airing a mutual passion for these incredible recorders. My first exposure to a Nagra was filming a dance sequence on a 747 at Kennedy airport when I was in high school. It was a mono machine and I was running playback of the music. I felt like it was a Swiss watch turned inside out on steroids! A beautiful piece of art. Later I too acquired a Model III and a IV-S. Digital be damned! Nothing sounds like a IV-S! Thanks for sharing this!
Loved “Diva.” Been years since I’ve seen it.
I recorded a Carlo Ponti film with one in New Mexico in the mid 70’s, it is a masterpiece, a pleasure to record with
There is something incredibly charming about vintage technology. And what a beautiful piece that is. I'd love to have one of my own. Thanks for sharing with us!
My father used to be a field sound recordist, who used a beautiful yet robust Nagra 4.2 for his work, together with a couple of T-powered (not Phantom) Sennheiser rifle mics. I believe that his Nagra was wired for T-powering. Also, I remember that the unit had to be occasionally calibrated (for tape bias etc), to maximise SNR for a specific stock/type of tape.
I watched Diva when it came out. One of my favourites still. My girlfriend of the time worked for a broadcaster and recognized the recorder and said "that's a Nagra!".
I was in the Navy in the early 70s attached to Combat Camera Group, a unit that made various training and informational movies. My assignment was in the sound lab transferring various tape formats. The Nagra was uses because it could be synced to the motion picture cameras.
Talk about an engineering peak. You could wax on for another 17 minutes and that would not be enough. It’s a masterpiece of engineering in every respect: form, function, execution, performance. When engineering becomes art. It found the right home.
Yes Adam, I “tune in” because I can get enough of your stories and adventures.
Ramble on Sir! ❤
Those are two gorgeous pieces of equipment!
Omg, a blast from my past. Working for a film studio, I was sent to Birns & Sawyer to train on the use of the Nagra IVs. Then worked as first unit sound recordist for many years. Good times. Loved the Nagras quality.
Adam
I get it !!! Your passion and connection to the sophistication , beauty/ eligiance, the degree of engineering & aesthetics ; is within itself beautiful. You appreciate and care about the time and thought and character put into such things.
Cheers
I delighted in your obsession about the Nagra. I, too have a Nagra story when i was a sound man for an anti-war film in 1965.:
- the film was, "Sons and Daughters", directed by Jerry Stohl, who is known for his photo book, "I Am a Lover".
- ( the Nagra is still in use but back then, it needed 35 D-cell batteries when you took it into the field. )
- i took it out in Golden Gate park and carried it while i recorded the sound of my boots, swishing around in water.
- this track of one set of feet was then multiplied in the studio to give audio to AP footage of American soldiers crossing a creek in Vietnam
Nagra is now a super high-end stereo equipment company. Their design aesthetic is very similar to their beautiful recorders of yore. The first time I saw a Nagra recorder was in the film "The Informant" and I had to stop the movie, rewind and pause until I could make out enough detail to do a Google search. Didn't take long to find out that it was a Nagra.
I can see why Adam is enamored with these things. They truly are like pieces of jewelry. They're the audio equivalent of a mechanical Swiss watch. Gorgeous.
Edit: It appears Nagra still makes high-end recording gear, as well.
I love the aesthetics of Nagra audio equipment. They are a work of art in form and function.
ive always wanted a struder or a nagra since i was a kid. Just the look of them you know they will sound great.
Even as a child I was fascinated by reel-to-reel tape machines and now I am lucky enough to own a Ferrograph deck.
There's something special about seeing all the parts move in a device like this. The wheels slowly turning, the tape moving from reel to reel and so on. I always wanted to have a reel to reel recorder since I visited a local radio station as a small kid, couldn't help be fascinated by the physical aspect of it. I did eventually get an old reel-to-reeel recorder when the school I went to was about to throw out some old machines, had lots of fun with that one.
I have a IV-S which I bought from where I worked which was used to record sfx for radio dramas and documentaries. It was infamous for having been accidently dropped into the Pacific Ocean when the technician fell off a slippery rock off Queen Charlotte Island. The report was that the technician and Nagra disappeared under the water and then suddenly the Nagra appeared as if by magic above the water at the end of a hand. A few seconds later the technician followed. The machine was almost immediately dumped into cold fresh water where it stayed until it was returned to the maintenance department where it was painstakingly cleaned and all the internal components were replaced. The machine worked for many years after this but the battery compartment finally rusted out to the point of not being usable except with an external power supply. Later the microphone input circuit boards failed so it could only record line level input source material. To this day it still plays back flawlessly.
What a beautiful piece of engineering!!
Three cheers for Nagra, I still use a Nagra V and a couple of Nagra Ares BB+ as backups. Changing sub a bit, it's called rectangular tube (its aircraft stuff) - I used to work, for years at what was the Boeing Surplus Store. before they canned it. Back to Nagra I have used the IV and found the V to be even quieter. The best two channel recorders ever made - I also use Zaxcom. Keep up putting out this great stuff.
Made my living off a Nagra 4.2 for many years. The STC was a great machine, but the 4.2 was the workhorse.
"The Conversation" by Francis Ford Coppola is another great movie which features tapes in a special way.
It's really a real reel to reel, a thing of beauty and a joy for ever. I once had one in my hands back in my campus radio days, but unfortunately didn't do any service work on it. I agree that Kudelski sticked to elegant simplicity with superb quality materials and parts - that's what I strive for as well.
City of Lost Children? Oh, I love that movie!
Adam, the *moment* you mentioned Diva it was like every tune came rushing back into my mind! Love learning about Nagra. “You don’t like anything.” 😄
Some of my favorite films!! The Conversation (I love its tie-in with Enemy of the State), Diva... SO GOOD.
Yours was built in 1976. It's in superb condition considering that.
Go on as long as you want! Beautiful engineering is something worth reverence. That Nagra evokes something indescribable like a Rollei TLR. Pure function begets astounding form.
The 4S is a FANTASTIC recorder. I have fond memories of blowing the minds of people making portable recordings with DAT machines. The Narga knocks 'em down with ease. 😀
having been in the industry for over 40 years, and being a movie buff, I have noticed Nagras in movies so many times I lost count. They are so expensive and rare, yet they seem to appear in hundreds of TV and film scenes. Yet now I can't recall a single example... I will have a think and see what pops up. If you think they look well engineered just looking.. when you have one in your hand..Delightful.
I worked for a radio station back in the early 90s and we used a Sony TCM 5000 for our field recording. That thing was a joy to use and durable as hell.
Kudelski's grandfather was my grand-grand-grand-father. I have a photo and a letter from Stefan to my grandmother, who was super into looking for an old family connections, she found him through the red cross. Unfortunately he never sent any Nagras, so can't give you any hardware lol
I’ve watched Diva about 20 times. A cinema nearby in Tübingen, Germany showed it every Sunday morning at 11. With a glass of Champaign. Always wanted a Nagra since. And have a deep connection with the movie. Thanks for talking about it, Adam.