Chicago – Hard Habit to Break – A&E Private Sessions
After speaking with some friends about Bill Champlin leaving Chicago, I realized that casual fans may not really be aware of how much their vocals are “doctored” in post-production. I tried to explain that Jason Scheff in particular has a tough time covering those Peter Cetera parts when performing those old Chicago classics. With protools plugins like “autotune”, producers/engineers can correct pitch-problems on vocal tracks on recordings and even at live shows, nowadays.
For some reason the producers of the A&E show “Private Sessions” chose not to do any post-production “sweetening” on Chicago’s performance. So this is an eye-opening (and ear-splitting) example of what the band can sound like without any processing done on their vocals – a ton of bum notes. Yes, one could argue that this was just an “off day” for the guys but I’ve seen Chicago several times live and I can attest to frequently hearing Scheff’s off-key vocals. His way of shouting/yodeling through a song can really put a strain on one’s ears. Watch this youtube video of them performing “Hard Habit to Break” to see what I mean.
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honestly, I’ve always thought Jason Scheff sounded like he was being strangled.