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📣 News Carpenters With The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra

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Rick-An Ordinary Fool said:
Without having listened to any of the songs yet and based on peoples comments so far, I can understand why Richard had to tread lightly over changing too much from the originals. I mean take away some of the original instruments like piano and you strip away what made the song so famous in the first place........I guess I'm just going by comments thus far and really need to wait till I give this a listen.
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What he said!^
I wish I could comment with the rest of you, but I enjoy reading your comments. That said I am not going to listen until it's released in it entirety. It's nice to see all the activity on A&M Corner about this release. I don't think any other (new) project has produced this much talk and excitement among Carpenters fans!
 
A couple of hours ago, I downloaded those three tracks off YouTube, converted to MP3 and put them onto cd. I`ve just sat and listened to all three tracks, twice on my Hi-Fi.
holy smokes, are you guys in for a treat :)
I seriously cannot get over how sharp and clear that orchestra sounds on these tracks and Karens voice, plain and simple, is on another level !
biggest surprise for me? Ticket to Ride. this has never been one of my favourite tracks, but listening to it just, the instrumentation of that orchestra, the slight changes and those vocals, are just off the scope, to the point that if I had to go 1st, 2nd and 3rd place with these tracks for enjoyment and just plain pure listening pleasure, it would have to be;
TICKET TO RIDE
MERRY CHRISTMAS
YESTERDAY ONCE MORE.

one thing I loved on MERRY CHRISTMAS near the end, was the stereo left to right from Karen to Richard .......... brilliant!

There`s a certain way I like to listen to my music, so everyone may hear these tracks differently. what I mean is, I have a graphic equaliser on my system, which is mostly set to the bass frequencies up, as well as the treble/high notes, but most of the mid-range stuff is barely audible, so what sounds great to me, may not to anyone else!

only one thing worries me with this cd when we get it. the sound quality is so out there on this cd, we won`t want to listen to our other stuff again :)
 
I have to give enormous respect to the people not listening to these tracks as they are released. The thought never even occurred to me. I had to listen to them. TTR is a favorite of mine. Could Richard improve upon a song I thought was great to begin with? I think he has. It's stunning. The ending when all the instruments fade away and it is just their two voices together. Quite moving. To me that's what their music has always been about. Two siblings from Downey making extraordinary music.
 
I find it interesting that no one has commented about the genius behind the overall treatment of Ticket To Ride as a ballad, as opposed to the way The Beatles originally presented it. I suppose that's already been discussed long ago, but Richard certainly marches to the beat of a different drummer (maybe Karen). :)
 
John Eidsvoog said:
I find it interesting that no one has commented about the genius behind the overall treatment of Ticket To Ride as a ballad, as opposed to the way The Beatles originally presented it. I suppose that's already been discussed long ago, but Richard certainly marches to the beat of a different drummer (maybe Karen). :)
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Yes John, absolutely. I suspect it's been discussed a lot previously over the years. What's even more astounding is how his fantastic reimagining (from 1969) has been reimagined again in 2018 - and it sounds even fresher now than ever. I'd bet the Beatles version wouldn't stand up to such reorchestrated scrutiny today!
 
John, funny you mention the Carpenters ballad version vs. the Beatles version. I never heard the Beatles version until years later as I was not a Beatles fan. I always thought TTR was a Carpenters song. I still do. Prefer their version. To me it is the definitive one.
 
I woke up this morning to an Itunes notification telling me TTR was available! A rather unexpected delight.

This is definitely my favourite so far. The mix has such a sparseness and clarity. Karen being so upfront is a revelation. The harmonys feel so fresh and present. Love the piano and string embelishments. It makes me feel parts of the song I never much realised.
 
John Eidsvoog said:
I find it interesting that no one has commented about the genius behind the overall treatment of Ticket To Ride as a ballad, as opposed to the way The Beatles originally presented it. I suppose that's already been discussed long ago, but Richard certainly marches to the beat of a different drummer (maybe Karen). :)
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I believe it is the first example of Richard's "call and answer" style of arrangement, where certain melody lines repeat throughout the song to create recurring themes. In TTR, you can hear this right after Karen sings one of the "I think I'm gonna be sad" lines, around the 2:40 mark, when the strings immediately repeat that line. It's very clever the way Richard weaves stuff into his arrangements like this. I also really liked the string glissandos in the new version, which add a little more flavor to the arrangement. I can feel that this is very much a labor of love, which is no doubt why it has been selected for this treatment.
 
Greg said:
Karen being so upfront is a revelation.
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Musicians who do their own mixing tend to augment what they love the most. Guitarists will make sure the guitars are done the most justice in the mix, drummers will make sure the drum track is noticeable enough, with cymbal crashes that are too high, etc. Richard is showing here what he loves the most. It used to be that the orchestrations would wrap around Karen's vocals like a blanket. Now those legendary vocals are up front where they should be, being supported by the orchestration rather than being enveloped by it. In the EPK, when he said that listening to her voice again when mixing these new cuts brought a smile to his face, I expected her to be prominently featured, which is refreshing when it comes to certain mixes like TTR, very much indicative of its times. Richard has just about come to full terms with his and his sister's roles it seems.

Karen was just starting to find her footing as a singer back in 1969, still using the more resonant chest voice, but with more of the refinement and style we have ultimately seen. Listening to Offering all the way through, you can hear the beginning of the evolution of her voice. They were sharing vocals, as well as her playing the drums and even bass on a couple tracks. For all intents and purposes, they were co-lead singers at this point and there was more of an equality. Karen was still just another part of the band. I believe original mixes of songs like TTR reflect that. But now, she is taking her rightful place as the lead voice of that group, unequaled not only in the group but in the world. Richard is lifting that up and it's glorious.
 
leadmister said:
Now those legendary vocals are up front where they should be, being supported by the orchestration rather than being enveloped by it. In the EPK, when he said that listening to her voice again when mixing these new cuts brought a smile to his face, I expected her to be prominently featured, which is refreshing when it comes to certain mixes like TTR, very much indicative of its times.

Richard has just about come to full terms with his and his sister's roles it seems.
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That last line says it all. Because even in 2001 when "As Time Goes By" came out, I think he was headed towards that conclusion, and now it seems to be fully realized. :)
 
On my lunch break I listened to "Ticket" about five times using ear buds, and I just have to say again how much I like it. It's gorgeous and it's really got me excited about what's to come. I'm especially curious about "Baby It's You." That song was such an unexpected choice that I have to believe it was selected because Richard felt it was one that would be especially suitable for the "Royal" treatment, at least I hope that's the case.
 
Remember when we thought Karen may not be featured at all and this was going to be another PACC style album from Richard? Lol And now I've read some comments saying Karen's brought too much out in front.
Well, I think these are fantastic! So nice to hear these fresh and newly treated in 2018. TTR is amazing. The A capella ending is well worth the listen. Richard's done a beautiful job.
 
WYBIMLA said:
Remember when we thought Karen may not be featured at all and this was going to be another PACC style album from Richard? Lol And now I've read some comments saying Karen's brought too much out in front.
Well, I think these are fantastic! So nice to hear these fresh and newly treated in 2018. TTR is amazing. The A capella ending is well worth the listen. Richard's done a beautiful job.
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I don't specifically recall anyone complaining that Karen was "too much out in front." It has been quite the opposite. Having Karen front and center is great!
 
It’s so hard not listening to these...we’ve never had a release like this before..tempting us along the way till release. I refuse to listen to a poor u tube rip as my first impression.
 
I'm enjoying the three advance tracks. Normally I'm the "wait for the album" type but in these times, these advance song "drops" are akin to the old days when singles would precede albums. We listened to "For All We Know" back then way in advance of the CARPENTERS (Tan Album), and simply accepted the fact that the single we knew and loved was contained on the album. In fact, that was exactly what most of us wanted, a good copy of the record on good vinyl, rather than the 45.
Rick-An Ordinary Fool said:
Reminds me of those long lost mono 45’s.
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Exactly! We loved hearing new stuff on those 45s even if the quality wasn't the best all of the time. It was OK, because we knew that when the album came out, we'd have a great copy on good vinyl.
 
Also, I expect that these three songs will sound different on the album with whatever connectors and segues may be attached, making these three tracks de facto single mixes!
 
And if they did video as was mentioned earlier then maybe.....

PBS special celebrating 50 years and can get for supporting -

A dvd of the whole process
A CD with a separate extra track
A cd of unreleased songs
 
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