Percussion Deconstruction™

A beginner's guide to GONGTOPIA & myself. If you are new here, or have been reading this blog but never looked any deeper, let me (re)introduce myself: My name is Michael Bettine. I'm a musician, composer, writer, photographer, educator, and all around percussion geek . My passion is metal percussion: Gongs, Bells, Cymbals, Singing Bowls, etc. My blog here is all about my ideas on percussion, but you can also find me many other places on the web: Gongtopia  is my website. Here is where you can find my percussion music. Here is where you can find my books. Here are my photos. Here is my YouTube channel. Here are videos I did at the Memphis Gong Chamber. Here is my Soundcloud channel. Here is my Facebook. Here is my Twitter. Here is my Paiste bio page.

Art Imitates Life, or maybe more precisely, Art Imitates Practice . This post will refer back to my previous one from April 8, 2011:  Make Your Own Soundtrack . Currently, I'm having a great, real life example of having to create a musical soundtrack . My wife is the music director, and pianist, for a Middle School production of the musical, Mulan . A few weeks ago, she said that percussion would be great to have, especially since I have all the Gongs. I asked to see the percussion part, which they didn't have. So she called the publisher, who said that there is no percussion part/score for this version. Hmmmmm… Now this version can be performed with a full score CD of backing tracks (which is full of percussion), or a live piano score. They wanted to do the live music. So the first thing I did was listen to the CD, and it was overwhelming! There must be 5 percussion parts of all sorts: Gongs, drums, mallets, etc. What do I play? Which parts do I pick out? How can I basi...

We all love to play intricate, complex drum beats like this: But unless you play in an original music band, or some sort of prog tribute band, this will not get you work! The most basic beat is essential to master. It's also sold hundreds of millions of recordings. Listen to Charlie Watts. Listen to Levin Helm. Listen to Jim Keltner. Listen to Ndugu. Listen to Andy Newmark. Listen to Steve Jordan. Listen to so many other great drummers who may have massive technique, but choose to serve the song by playing this: Now if you can't play the above beat and make people dance and groove, you are in trouble! All the technical skills of playing paradiddles at 208BPM, or monster blast beats, won't necessarily get you work, or endear you to other musicians.  Most other musicians don't want to hear you   play  crazy, complicated drum beats—really .   What they want is something they can depend on that makes them feel good, makes them dance and groove. You ar...

It's right there next to you.  Your drum/guitar/keyboard/trumpet/voice—it's right there.  Turn this computer off and play it for half an hour, an hour, all afternoon.  Remember why you took it up in the first place... ~ MB

"The Gong Is the spiritual Universe manifested in physical form."   Singal Rinpoche  If you go through ancient sacred texts, and modern physics research, they will both tell you that the Universe is made up of vibrations. All matter is vibrating at different frequencies: sound, light, infrared, gas, liquid, solid, plasma—all are in a perpetual state of vibration. You are vibrations, I am vibrations, the chair you sit in is vibrations, the air you breathe, the water you drink—you get the idea.  The Gong is a portal to these vibrations. The Gong's vibrations can help activate and tune your vibrations, aligning & balancing your Chakras and energy grid. Think of it as a sort of sonic acupuncture . Bathing in the Gong's vibrations tunes the body. The other aspect is how the vibrations affect the brain. The 4 states of the brain are: Beta, Alpha, Theta, Delta.  Beta is the normal, wide awake state.  Beta waves range between 13-40 HZ.   Alpha...

Today's blog is a revised & updated blog I posted 3 years ago on my old website. I'm always having people ask me about buying a Gong. Well, here's some tips: •••••••• So you’ve decided to get a Gong. The first thing to ask is, what will I use a Gong for? What type of music do you play? Do you want to use it in a rock band, a jazz band, solo? Are you looking for a meditation device? These are important questions and will help determine what type and size of Gong to get.  One important thing to look at is how big a Gong do you want? Gongs are heavy. Gongs are not easy to transport. If this Gong will stay in your house/studio, then that makes it easy to have a larger size. But if you plan to travel in a band with it,  you need to look at the impact a different size Gong will have on transporting it.  A lot of drummers want a Gong because they look cool and sound cool. They also want that type of sound in their percussive arsenal.  A good place ...

Coming this summer: PERCUSSION DECONSTRUCTION the book! Yes, that's right. The best of the blog, along with new and expanded material just for your pleasure. Now you can bring PD to your gigs, on vacation, or read it with hot chocolate late at night in your living room. I'll keep you up to date here, on twitter, and facebook. Now I've got to get back to work… ~ MB