It’s “Rooftop” single release day! Here is a lyric video for the song.
This outtake from The Droge & Summers Blend project is available wherever you find digital music. Find it HERE. Or you can buy it direct on Bandcamp.
“Rooftop” features an incredible cast of musicians:
Jay Bellerose played drums.
Paul Brainard played pedal steel.
Jennifer Condos played bass.
Elaine Summers sang harmony vocal.
Scott Weddle played guitar.
Paul Brainard played pedal steel.
Rob Stroup was on hand to engineer.
Vincent LaBelle was the assistant engineer.
I’m particularly fond of Jay’s drum track on “Rooftop.” I remember hearing it for the first time. The Puzzle Tree, my home studio, does not have a window between the drum and control rooms. So as Jay was setting up his array at the drum kit and I was dialing in sounds, I could not see him. The sounds coming through the speakers were so unique and unusual I could not fathom how they were being conjured.
After setting levels and getting balances, I stepped into the drum room to check out what he had going on. I was especially curious how he was getting that funky, filtered sound on the backbeats. It turns out he had placed a small ceramic drum on top of an open hi-hat cymbal and was hitting it with a mallet. The sound was a combination of the drum and the top hi-hat resonating. He played the ride cymbal as lightly as humanly possible with a brush. And he had shakers wrapped around his ankle! So everything you hear drum-wise on “Rooftop” was cut live with no overdubs.
During the song's outro, you can really hear what Jay is up to without all those pesky vocals and guitars getting in the way. I wish I had snapped a photo at the time, but I didn’t. Here is a shot of Jay working on another Blend session at Lynn Earle’s studio in Los Angeles.
Peace & Love Songs,
Pete
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