SpondonBassed

It's an interesting topic. You're welcome.

From this it looks like you are right. "Carpenters’ version was punchier than the original, with a swinging harmony and shorter pauses. Richard used a click track to synchronise the vocals (masterfully arranged into four-part harmonies tripled into 12 overdubbed vocal parts) and achieve the right effect. It took 47 takes just to get the extended “wahs” the way he wanted on the closing chorus."

Hahahahaha! Nice of you to illustrate the chorus effect so literally.

A similar thing happened to me just over two years ago. Genuine sixties band, band member getting treatment for cancer - the singer this time - the others wondering if they'd have to find a singer as well as the other three roles they were looking to fill. Just to say before it is forgotten, the singer made a full recovery and is back singing. When you get to that age, you have the stamina to fight back. I was offered the role and accepted but then they went with someone else before my first practice! Later they contacted me again with the same offer. I am not one to wallow in self-pity and hold a grudge but my carer duties had grown significantly. This meant I could not deliver the commitment expected. I had to turn it down in fairness to the band. I just didn't want to become known as a flake if I had to cancel at the last minute for another domestic crisis. I wish I had thought of your job share idea then. It might have worked well. The core of band comprised of drummer, singer and guitarist. They were there playing the sixties hits as soon as they were released. They were in their late sixties and seventies too. It would have been a magnificent education for me. Ah well. I hope it works out like that for you at least.

I don't mind admitting to enjoying some of the Carpenters' music. I'd like to have heard Karen's voice without the chorus effect on it however. Did the vocalist use chorus too?

It amazes me that I can get strings made more quickly than one of the local music shop takes to get some in. Your situation is just as amazing. Well done for being patient. Most people these days would be ranting by now. Looking forward to your NBD post.

Thank you. I like the last image best.

Cor! That's a big 'un!!!

I sometimes wonder what would have happened with Disco, Soul and Funk had the 'Disco Sucks' movement not occurred. I think it had the effect of driving what was emerging from underground into popular culture right back down there again. Far from killing the genre it made it stronger. The underground (as perceived by mainstream culture of the time) was where these beats began. It's where they thrived. One megalomaniac DJ was never going to make much of a dent in it. Britfunk might have been on a slightly better footing because our music was being monopolised less by the broadcasters than ever before. Soul, Rhythm and Blues, Jazz/funk were all getting mainstream exposure and there was a bit of a revival that just carried on. Being able to record what you wanted to listen to made a huge difference to the youth now that they had the compact cassette. I see home recording more as a catalyst than a threat to the music industry. Stuff that is over commercialised always gets diluted 'till it's got that same packaging and bland delivery as everything else. Brit funk seems unaffected by Steve Dahl's hate campaign but I'd like to hear your take on that. Not being resident in the UK at the time, I missed out on a lot of the music that was played in the underground clubs. For instance, Northern Soul. Only now am I educating myself. You asked; "how would you know they were thumbing & plucking slapping the bass in 1975 if you had never seen the method done"? I remember where I first saw how that sound could be made. You will not like me for saying. It was when MK did an extended solo on Channel Four's The Tube in the early eighties. I was not a bass player then, I was a poser who'd been told by musical mates to hold this (a bass), put your left hand there and hold that string down and pluck. I became the bassist for Holiday Mood. Only when I saw MK did I think... AHA! It lasted for about two years then I dropped out to concentrate on my apprenticeship. I only picked it up again in my fifties.

...a great way to pop your bass builder's cherry!

Acrylic, showing the internals maybe? That's a challenge, I'll bet.

I was in an Irish secondary school at that time ('75 to '80). Our view of the disco dance phenomenon was propelled by the release of Saturday Night Fever. For a laugh, I took disco dancing lessons after school. The instructor was travelling around the country setting up courses for eager kids to dance like Travolta in that film. I enjoyed the experience. Since the school had subsidised the course, we had to put on a show with what we'd learned. That was the first time that I had performed for an audience. Thank you for provoking that memory in me. Those were indeed Good Times.

Welcome Donut.

Good thinking with regard to the finish. My sympathy on mounting costs. Did you set a budget or did you set out hoping you wouldn't scare yourself too early in the process?

I wouldn't know about MK or anyone else for that matter. Our influences were mainly Joy Division/New Order, early REM, The Smiths, that sort of thing. My interest in jazz/funk fusion occurred before MK with this LP: I was living in Ireland at the time and we were surrounded by a lot of C&W with a strong American flavour as well as rebel songs and traditional music. All of my mates hated it. I never really got exposed to American music other than pop on the radio and let's face it, that wasn't exactly inspirational. Visitor 2035 was when I first heard the funk in any form. I learnt of Bootsy and others by name much much later

If you use your common sense and choose your separates in the cold light of day you can't really go wrong. It's like you have just happened upon that discovery for yourself with outstanding results. I am happy for you. I used to think that you'd get the best sound out of a Hi Fi system by buying all of the kit from the same brand. Sony had planted the notion in me when I was young. Their glossy marketing was attractive. I went to a Sony outlet. A pushy sales rep tried to sign me up for a three year finance agreement for a separates system with a patented method for linking the units! When I did the ready reckoning on his figures I found that I would've paid half again on top of the all inclusive purchase price. I had a quiet word with myself and politely told the sales rep that I would let him know. I didn't. After that, I decided that I'd build a fully capable system from separates. Most of it was second hand. The only matching I did was to see if outputs and inputs were roughly the same between connected units of equipment. No two units were from the same brand. I always built my own speaker cabs back then using new drivers and crossovers, from Oxford Street electronics shops in home built enclosures. Between that and modifying near suitable units I always had a sound system that was the envy of my house mates because I got it for beer money. In some minor respects Sony had the edge but that wasn't noticed by my peers. They had signed up with the Sony rep you see. I rarely buy new. I am just the same with my rigs. Sure, I briefly envy the new kit on the block with its matching enclosures and it's advanced features and its popular image but I am a tightwad as dictated by genes from both parents and it doesn't make my sound, such as it is, suffer one little bit. If I was earning from my playing I am sure that I'd have another quiet little word with myself though.

Oh no. Really? It's pants.

Further to Jack's question... How do I get rid of that notification that regularly obscures the bottom of the page please? I like the roundel that is shown at the top right of the screen but I get the ache from having that rotten black ribbon notification suddenly block my view of what I am writing in replies to posts. I want to keep the orange roundel at the top right but eradicate that nasty notification that intrudes at the bottom of the page. It only repeats what is in the drop-down menu at the orange roundel. It's not clear which of those two I am dealing with in the account settings page. I only recently realised that there are three types of notification! I have stopped 'browser notifications' but I need help with separating the other two.

Serves you right for peeking. Until Head and Shoulders releases it's prototype development product - Nooks and Crannies - I shall be brushing dandruff off of my shoes for a while yet.

I'm just checking mine for scales...

Hi Matt. Welcome, even though you've been lurking.

If you are a trombonist I'd advise you to open the window first. That or have a glazier handy.

No. There's not enough strings.

I want to see this on an ironing board! It just looks daft on a Black and Decker Workmate.

I could accept this image if it wasn't for the 'stache. That's an excessive number of whiskers so it can not be considered to be a proper moustache.