Kinstone Megalithic Gadens Photos 2018
World Flute Society Convention Photos 2018
MONA FOMA Festival Australia Photos 2016
Gong Meditation EPK - PDF Download
Solo Concert EPK - PDF Download
I was the featured guest on the Sound Heals podcast with Natalie Brown in August 2019:
I was the featured guest on the @percussion podcast in May, 2018:
An interview from May, 2016, for the blog/podcast, Core, The Power Of Living Your Truth. I discuss Gongs and sounds, as well as my personal journey from being a rock drummer to being an improvising percussionist and sound architect.
Radio Show/interview from January 25, 2015:
About Michael Bettine/GONGTOPIA
The genre-defying solo performance, GONGTOPIA, combines the soul of Asia, filtered through progressive rock, contemporary classical, and avant-garde musics. The repertoire of startling original compositions has been called "fascinating and inspiring" by Modern Drummer magazine. Surrounded by a wall of Gongs, Bells, Cymbals, Sound Plates, and drums, Michael Bettine creates a whirlwind of percussion artistry.
Michael was the 2016 Artist in Residence at the MONA FOMA festival in Hobart, Australia. He has presented his ideas on metal percussion at the Percussive Arts Society International Convention (PASIC) in 2012 & 2005. He's played festivals and concert halls with GONGTOPIA since 2002, and released some 14 albums of solo percussion music that had DRUM! magazine saying, "Bettine has a unique vision that sets him apart from the hoards."
His desire to reach a wide audience has seen him perform in schools, churches, Yoga centers, music stores—any venue that presents an opportunity to connect with people. He also presents workshops on sound and percussion for musicians and non-musicians alike. Hear why The IMPROVISOR wrote, "Bettine is essential listening for percussionists and anyone interested in solo free-oriented music." Experience the unexperienced. GONGTOPIA—The Alchemy of Sound
GONG MEDITATION
This 90 minute session is all about sound, resonance and its effects on the human body & energy systems. The vibrations of the Gongs, Singing/Rin Bowls, and Bells can help balance and cleanse the energy in your body. They work at a cellular level and can help with stress, fatigue, depression, anger, and blocked energy. The vibrations can release blockages at the Chakras and other energy points. People are encouraged to bring a Yoga mat and/or blanket on which they can sit or lie, while allowing the healing vibrations to wash over them.
A typical response from a participant is, ˝I felt that experience processing through me for days....truly magic.˝ After a recent session, one person even said, ˝I don't believe in this kind of stuff, but I came anyway. I was laying on the mat resisting, and when you hit the big Gong, I just opened up!˝
SOUND WORKSHOP
This session is designed to introduce people to various Gongs, Singing Bowls, Bells, and other metal percussion. Participants are taught about various types of instruments (history & construction), different mallets & sticks, playing techniques, and how to use the instruments for personal meditation & sound therapy. My workshops are about the possibilities inherent in all of us, and finding a personal direction with the Gong. If you open up to the Gong, it will reveal itself and its mysteries to you.
Quotes
Bettine’s work is the sonic equivalent of action painting. Using mallets as brushes and the Gongs as a canvas, he creates vast washes of vibration and punctuates them with stabs and slashes of crescendo. He’s a combination of abstraction and visceral physicality.
MONA FOMA, Hobart, Australia
Michael Bettine, a master gong musician, was the first performer I heard at MOFO last weekend. The sounds he was able to create, using metal and its interaction with air, were captivating.
~ Jann Williams, FIRE UP WATER DOWN blog, Australia
Bettine played the room as much as the instruments, exploring the beating tones of vibrations that when combined sounded like a train rumbling underground. Creating a shifting wall of sound that washed over the audience, Bettine offered us a distinctive exploration into the craft of percussion.
~ Delia Bartle, Real Time Arts, Australia