Do you like The Carpenters?

A very detailed analysis of Karen Carpenter's voice is in the first post in this Quora discussion thread on Ms. Carpenter. It was posted Jan 26, 2020 by Gregg Gray:

Explaining Karen Carpenter's vocal range

(Excerpted)
"....She [Karen] sang at the same levels that she talked at, and that was lower than the level of most folks. She was never accused of being a loud person. All of her recordings were done in analog as well, and that adds to the warmth as well as that mournful quality she was so well known for. There was a lot of pain in Karen's life and it translated well in her musical voice.

Richard also used a great deal of processing and overdubs on their recordings and her voice lent itself especially well to that as well. He also recorded at higher than usual tape speeds and that helps with clarity as well.

Karen was a dramatic contra alto, who could sing lyric contra alto; a very rare voice indeed. The range isn't great, her range was D3 to F5 and required that most music to be dropped down quite a bit to get it in her range. She was basically a two octave singer, but that didn't limit her as much as folks would think. (Taylor Swift is in the same range.)

The song We've Only Just Begun was written low in E Flat originally and even that was too high for Karen. "
 

Lethe200 said:
A very detailed analysis of Karen Carpenter's voice is in the first post in this Quora discussion thread on Ms. Carpenter. It was posted Jan 26, 2020 by Gregg Gray:

Explaining Karen Carpenter's vocal range

(Excerpted)
"....She [Karen] sang at the same levels that she talked at, and that was lower than the level of most folks. She was never accused of being a loud person. All of her recordings were done in analog as well, and that adds to the warmth as well as that mournful quality she was so well known for. There was a lot of pain in Karen's life and it translated well in her musical voice.

Richard also used a great deal of processing and overdubs on their recordings and her voice lent itself especially well to that as well. He also recorded at higher than usual tape speeds and that helps with clarity as well.

Karen was a dramatic contra alto, who could sing lyric contra alto; a very rare voice indeed. The range isn't great, her range was D3 to F5 and required that most music to be dropped down quite a bit to get it in her range. She was basically a two octave singer, but that didn't limit her as much as folks would think. (Taylor Swift is in the same range.)

The song We've Only Just Begun was written low in E Flat originally and even that was too high for Karen. "
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That isn’t a huge vocal range at all. That’s an interesting article. Thanks
We played quite a few of their songs in our stage band. I played the solo in ‘ Rainy Days and Monday’s.”
 

Keesha said:
Rainy Days & Monday’s
Note the sax 🎷 solo. Just sayin.’
An interesting fact about Karen Carpenter is that she played drums while singing which I’m assuming wouldn’t be easy. Plus not too many women play drums.
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In a TV piece about their history, their manager said Karen should be standing out in front singing; not hidden behind a drum set. They took his advice.
 
Grandpa was a carpenter
He built houses, stores and banks
Chain-smoked Camel cigarettes
And hammered nails in planks
He was level on the level
And shaved even every door
And voted for Eisenhower 'cause Lincoln won the war
-JP
 
I didn't hate them. Karen's voice was very smooth. Not sure how it can be described as "whiny," but everyone hears things differently, to an extent. I can take one, or two, tunes from them, in a row, but that's it.

We did, "We've Only Just Begun," infrequently. It was requested as a first dance, sometimes, so we had to be ready.
 


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