MGC59
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Lowdown (Chicago Cover)
Been recording quite a bit but forgetting to post. This is my rendition of Chicago's 1971 hit song "Lowdown" off the Chicago III album. I was inspired to try this out because I got the Session Horns with the NI Komplete upgrade a few months back. Sadly, that didn't work out. For some reason the large individual horn files kept crashing Sonar so I ended up using Kontakt Sax and Brass. The 16th notes in the horn parts also presented a few challenges. after doing this song I definitely have a much greater appreciation for Terry Kath's guitar work, Peter Cetera's bass playing and high range vocals and Danny Serafine's unique drum style. Enjoy! https://soundcloud.com/mark-casta/lowdown-cover
Mark Sonar Platinum by Bandlab Version: 2018.05 Build 19 (64-bit), Roland Octa-Capture Intel i7 CPU 930 @ 2.80GHz 2.83 GHz 12 GB RAM Windows 7 SP1 64-bit OS, A-800Pro Controller, Acronis True Image Home 2011,
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Dale Aston
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Re: Lowdown (Chicago Cover)
2016/05/20 16:21:02
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Mark -
Good rendition. Especially the horn part. They sound very good.
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MGC59
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Re: Lowdown (Chicago Cover)
2016/05/20 16:43:00
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Mark Sonar Platinum by Bandlab Version: 2018.05 Build 19 (64-bit), Roland Octa-Capture Intel i7 CPU 930 @ 2.80GHz 2.83 GHz 12 GB RAM Windows 7 SP1 64-bit OS, A-800Pro Controller, Acronis True Image Home 2011,
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thepogue
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Re: Lowdown (Chicago Cover)
2016/05/20 21:32:56
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Nicely done.....very much enjoy the lead w/B3 accompanying and you really nailed the horns!
thanks for sharing!
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MCi
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Re: Lowdown (Chicago Cover)
2016/05/21 07:46:59
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Great song, I am not particularly a Chicago fan but the wife and I really liked your cover. It sounded sophisticated and had all the elements that makes it true to the original. The guitars and horns all sounded great and to top it off your vocals really shined.
Fantastic and well done.
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SoundRegion
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Re: Lowdown (Chicago Cover)
2016/05/21 08:08:35
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Very nice. One thing I noticed was the killer bassline. Good guitar playing.
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MGC59
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Re: Lowdown (Chicago Cover)
2016/05/21 12:15:02
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Thanks everyone. As SoundRegion said, that bassline is absolutely killer. I tried to copy Peter Cetera's bassline note for note. I never realized just how great snd underrated his bass playing was!
The Terry Kath wah solo was nowhere near the original. I just paraphrased it...His playing was always off the rails hot!
Thanks for listening!
Mark
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tom1
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Re: Lowdown (Chicago Cover)
2016/05/21 13:02:00
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not too many bands or performers can do justice to Chicago's arrangements.
You did a fantastic job.
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Freddy J
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Re: Lowdown (Chicago Cover)
2016/05/21 13:25:23
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Great cover. I am in agreement with most of the comments above. I would just add that the vocals are doggone good as well!
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MGC59
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Re: Lowdown (Chicago Cover)
2016/05/22 10:02:47
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Guitarhacker
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Re: Lowdown (Chicago Cover)
2016/05/23 08:52:29
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Nice work all the way around..
Vox harmonies are nice too.
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markno999
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Re: Lowdown (Chicago Cover)
2016/05/23 16:11:22
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Mark,
Never heard this song, I liked your rendition on all levels. Checked out the original Chicago recording as a reference and yours is pretty close indeed. Very excellent work.
Regards
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MGC59
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Re: Lowdown (Chicago Cover)
2016/05/23 17:37:17
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Thanks Markno999!
It's early Chicago, when they would have a little jam with the horns and then turn Terry Kath loose. The vocals are really high and I don't ever recall them doing this live since 1972.
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dcumpian
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Re: Lowdown (Chicago Cover)
2016/05/23 20:29:13
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Mark, I always love your work! Great job on this. Too bad about your session horns trouble, those would have been nice to hear in this. During the jam section, I found that there were some dead spots between phrases that I don't recall in the original. Maybe not dead spots, but rather, the "room" is missing. If anything, Chicago's mixes were always pretty full. I'm not sure if a different reverb would make it better, but I'd suggest looking into that. Lastly, there were a few (very few) places where the bass sounded too tight and mechanical, I'd loosen the timing a touch in those spots. Oh, and more cowbell (and a tambourine!) :) Regards, Dan
post edited by dcumpian - 2016/05/24 10:29:19
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Wookiee
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Re: Lowdown (Chicago Cover)
2016/05/24 09:28:05
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Not familiar with this tune, this comes across well here and has some quite convincing elements. Vocal, guitar and bass sound well. Thanks for sharing.
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MGC59
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Re: Lowdown (Chicago Cover)
2016/05/24 11:32:11
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Thanks Dan! It is pretty empty in between...I use very little reverb in general. I only used the preset effects of that collection.
Now that I have the horn section arranged properly I might go back and load/freeze the session horns one at a time.
They take so long to load....
You are correct the bass was done very tight.
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stevec
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Re: Lowdown (Chicago Cover)
2016/05/26 14:07:42
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I'm not familiar with the original version, but after hearing your cover I don't feel like I need to. Everything about it is really well done across the board. And while it all has a bit of that Chicago magic the vocals in particular stood out for me - great performance.
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MGC59
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Re: Lowdown (Chicago Cover)
2016/05/27 22:23:34
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Stevec
You should YouTube the original...it's a half step higher than my version and nothing beats real horns. Peter Cetera's voice is amazing!
Mark Sonar Platinum by Bandlab Version: 2018.05 Build 19 (64-bit), Roland Octa-Capture Intel i7 CPU 930 @ 2.80GHz 2.83 GHz 12 GB RAM Windows 7 SP1 64-bit OS, A-800Pro Controller, Acronis True Image Home 2011,
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