How to get that Karen Carpenter sound (?)

[XLR]

Hey Daisy. Looks to me like you're being stalked.
Live and let live I say, well, as long as you post a sound sample sometime soon.
Otherwise one wonders if you're for real. Just my own opinion.

 

[Daisy]

Hey Daisy. Looks to me like you're being stalked.
Live and let live I say, well, as long as you post a sound sample sometime soon.
Otherwise one wonders if you're for real. Just my own opinion.

Why should one have to show you that they're for real ...

When they can just tell you they're for real ?

It's so much more convenient that way!

Be careful boys. Remember to always be nice and kind to one another!

Hugs and kisses,

Daisy

 

[Robert D]

Oh man, I was gonna be Daisy. Now I have to take this dress back that I bought over the weekend.

 

[omtayslick]

Daisy, the answer is simple. First, get Burt Bacharach to write for you. Then get a major label to provide you with top notch engineering and post-production. Let go of that thing about your mother and eat the damned big mac. Then- ignore all the conceited rockers with delusions of grandeur who want to bash your recording because they can't sell a hundred copies of their badly written, recorded, and produced vanity project. Next, collect your Grammy, hire a good accountant to count all of your money, go see your brother's hairdresser (he rocks), and take a trip to the islands.-Richie

And don't forget to eat something girl!

 

[omtayslick]

Oh man, I was gonna be Daisy. Now I have to take this dress back that I bought over the weekend.

Hey we can't all be Daisy. My personal theory is that she's Chessrock's sister.

 

[jjones1700]

Hang mic over bathroom stall wall, stick your finger down your throat and hurl. Triple track and pan accordingly.

ROFLMAO. Too damn funny. Would be some interesting resonance and tone in a confined space like that.

 

[Kramer]

Howdy boys,

I was just listening the other day to the song "Close to You."

And I just can't get over how amazing the production is. Does anyone know how I can get my stuff to sound as AMAZING as the Carpenters were able to on that song?

I especially like the part where the chorus kicks in and you hear that huge wall of sound going "AHHHHH AHHHHHH ... Close to you."

Any tips?

Thanks in advance Sweeties!

Daisy

Hey Chessrock. You should pay close attention to these songs. Richard carpenter pwns anything you've ever done!

Calling Occupants
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=u2-blWgVk-A

Mr. Postman
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=KItFpClyqOs&feature=related

Ticket To Ride
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=fsgj4xcxXyA&feature=related

CHRISTMAS SONGS ( From the best christmas album ever).......ahhhh, good times
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=QnT8sYz_ASk&feature=related

And the best Carpenters song ever!
All You Get from Love Is A Love Song
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=bw_1iUh72hY

 

[Kramer]

I thought Richard did the writing.

He did write some, but he was mostly an arranger, and an awesome one at that!

You also have to remember that they did a LOT of cover tunes, with their arrangement of course. They had an affinity for covering the Beatles.

 

[Massive Master]

Karen had a huge voice for such a tiny (!!!) woman. But getting "her" sound would really require "her" voice -- Or a similar voice.

A good ribbon, a great preamp, a LA-2A set to "stun" would be a nice place to be. But the voice in front of the mic isn't going to be unimportant.

 

[mrface2112]

I dunno, last Bacharach tune I heard had the lyric "I hope you don't get hit in the rear"

hmmmm.....i always heard that lyric as "licked in the rear", but maybe it's just me.

cheers,
wade
(who has nothing of real value to add to this banal thread)

 

[tremoloking]

wow, you guys are mean. i'd like to find that out myself. huge carpenter fan as well as burt bacharach fan! go ahead and make fun of me, i'm used to it.

here's my guess. analog of course, at least 1'' tape. great mics (neuman, etc). i'm also guessing compression would play a very important part. then there's reverb. plate reverb is my guess. finally, probably a combination of tube and solid state. btw as much as i love tube gear, some 70s and even 80s solid state gear is nothing to sneeze at. great preamps, musical eq as well! probably in some great 60s or 70s board.
as far as recording method, it would have been mostly close miking though probably not nearly as ridiculous as in the 80s. eg for drums: mike snare, hi hat, kick, toms and stereo overhead.

that's just my guess.