![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Carpenters
Aug. 12th, 2015 09:14 pmSince I have been chilling to some Carpenters music, even brought to tears over that beautiful voice, I thought I'd google & wikipedia them, and keep an excerpt.
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
Richard Carpenter was the creative force behind the Carpenter sound. An accomplished keyboard player, composer and arranger, music critic Daniel Levitin called Richard Carpenter "one of the most gifted arrangers to emerge in popular music." In a period when contemporary music was dominated by heavy rock, their smooth harmonies were not in step with the trends of the day. The sound the Carpenters were going for was rich and melodic, along the same vein as the harmonies found in their contemporaries The Beach Boys and the The Mamas & the Papas, but with greater fullness and orchestration. However it was beautiful music to listen to, and very popular. Most of Richard's arrangements were classical in style, with frequent use of strings and occasional brass and woodwind instruments as well. Richard's work with Karen was heavily influenced by the music of Les Paul, whose overdubbing of the voice of partner Mary Ford allowed her to be used as both the lead and harmonizing vocals. By use of multi-tracked recordings, Richard was able to use Karen and himself for the harmonies to back Karen's lead. The overdubbed background harmonies were distinctive to the Carpenters, but it was the soulful, engaging sound of Karen's lead voice that made them so recognizable.
Karen did not possess a powerful singing voice, but when miked closely she conveyed a great deal of feeling. Tight miking required perfect pitch, which came easily to her. Richard Coles, a musician and broadcaster, commented: "No singer is so closely micked up so unforgivingly as Karen Carpenter. That is frightening for singers because the closer the microphone the more unforgiving it is in exposing the weaknesses in a singer's voice." Karen's contralto voice was warm and distinctive. Though her vocal range spanned three octaves, Richard arranged their music to take advantage of the rich quality of Karen's lower range. Commented Richard: "Both Karen and I felt the magic was in her 'chest voice'. There is no comparison in terms of richness in sound, so I wasn't about to highlight the upper voice".
Richard is best known for his use of the Wurlitzer electric piano, whose sound he described as "warm" and "beautiful". He also played the grand piano, Hammond organ, synthesizer and even the harpsichord with the band. In the recording studio he often would overdub his acoustic piano parts with a Wurlitzer electric piano to thicken the sound. From the mid-1970s Richard also used Fender Rhodes pianos. While touring he often would have a grand piano as well as both a Rhodes and a Wurlitzer electric piano on stage for different songs.
Karen was an accomplished drummer and playing drums was her sole role in her initial musical performances with her brother, but when it was discovered that she had a beautiful and distinctive voice, she sang in addition to playing the drums. She played the drums on all their pre-1974 songs, and according to Richard, she considered herself a "drummer who sang". However Karen's vocals soon became the centerpiece of their performances and at 5'4" in stature, performing behind her drum kit made it difficult for her to be seen. It was soon apparent to Richard and their manager that the audience wanted to see more of Karen and although unwilling, she eventually agreed to sing the ballads standing, but would return to her drums for the lesser known songs. As the years progressed and demand for Karen's vocals overshadowed her drumming, she gradually played the drums less and by the time their album "A Kind of Hush" was released in 1976, Karen did not play the drums at all.
-- Wikipedia: Carpenters
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
I thought that Richard was simply riding on Karen's wings, but I see there was a much stronger balance of power there.
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
Richard Carpenter was the creative force behind the Carpenter sound. An accomplished keyboard player, composer and arranger, music critic Daniel Levitin called Richard Carpenter "one of the most gifted arrangers to emerge in popular music." In a period when contemporary music was dominated by heavy rock, their smooth harmonies were not in step with the trends of the day. The sound the Carpenters were going for was rich and melodic, along the same vein as the harmonies found in their contemporaries The Beach Boys and the The Mamas & the Papas, but with greater fullness and orchestration. However it was beautiful music to listen to, and very popular. Most of Richard's arrangements were classical in style, with frequent use of strings and occasional brass and woodwind instruments as well. Richard's work with Karen was heavily influenced by the music of Les Paul, whose overdubbing of the voice of partner Mary Ford allowed her to be used as both the lead and harmonizing vocals. By use of multi-tracked recordings, Richard was able to use Karen and himself for the harmonies to back Karen's lead. The overdubbed background harmonies were distinctive to the Carpenters, but it was the soulful, engaging sound of Karen's lead voice that made them so recognizable.
Karen did not possess a powerful singing voice, but when miked closely she conveyed a great deal of feeling. Tight miking required perfect pitch, which came easily to her. Richard Coles, a musician and broadcaster, commented: "No singer is so closely micked up so unforgivingly as Karen Carpenter. That is frightening for singers because the closer the microphone the more unforgiving it is in exposing the weaknesses in a singer's voice." Karen's contralto voice was warm and distinctive. Though her vocal range spanned three octaves, Richard arranged their music to take advantage of the rich quality of Karen's lower range. Commented Richard: "Both Karen and I felt the magic was in her 'chest voice'. There is no comparison in terms of richness in sound, so I wasn't about to highlight the upper voice".
Richard is best known for his use of the Wurlitzer electric piano, whose sound he described as "warm" and "beautiful". He also played the grand piano, Hammond organ, synthesizer and even the harpsichord with the band. In the recording studio he often would overdub his acoustic piano parts with a Wurlitzer electric piano to thicken the sound. From the mid-1970s Richard also used Fender Rhodes pianos. While touring he often would have a grand piano as well as both a Rhodes and a Wurlitzer electric piano on stage for different songs.
Karen was an accomplished drummer and playing drums was her sole role in her initial musical performances with her brother, but when it was discovered that she had a beautiful and distinctive voice, she sang in addition to playing the drums. She played the drums on all their pre-1974 songs, and according to Richard, she considered herself a "drummer who sang". However Karen's vocals soon became the centerpiece of their performances and at 5'4" in stature, performing behind her drum kit made it difficult for her to be seen. It was soon apparent to Richard and their manager that the audience wanted to see more of Karen and although unwilling, she eventually agreed to sing the ballads standing, but would return to her drums for the lesser known songs. As the years progressed and demand for Karen's vocals overshadowed her drumming, she gradually played the drums less and by the time their album "A Kind of Hush" was released in 1976, Karen did not play the drums at all.
-- Wikipedia: Carpenters
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
I thought that Richard was simply riding on Karen's wings, but I see there was a much stronger balance of power there.
