Taking Music to the Next Realm
Welcome to The Sound Chamber . Here we will explore different ideas of percussion sounds, techniques & set ups. This will not just be Gongs, but anything percussive and soundwise. One of the more interesting aspects of percussion is that it can be anything: there are no rules, no limits to using your imagination.
In my work as both a percussionist, I use everything at my disposal to create the sounds and music I hear in my head, and feel in my soul.
In addition, I’ve been a tinkerer over the years, making my own mallets and instruments. I’ve also done a lot of building of equipment racks. I built my 1st drum set racks back in the mid-1970s, way before any commercial racks were available. Besides racks for my drums, I had a large rack going around my set holding Gongs, bells, chimes, and other percussion instruments.
My self-made rack set up circa 1979
You can find plans below for building a versatile Gong rack out of Gibraltar rack hardware. I hope you enjoy these explorations!
~ Michael Bettine
There are no secrets, only things you do not know yet. ~ Singal Rinpoche
Extended Techniques:
Do It Yourself:
A Basic Guide To Gong Racks
A video showing how I set up my Gong rack, Gongs, & Singing Bowls
Build your own GibraltarGong Rack* as pictured:
(Download a PDF of this here)
For the actual Gong hooks, see the link above left.
* Note that there are a few differences between the rack pictured and the rack in the video.
I like Gibraltar racking because I can easily adapt it to my needs. You can easily
change this to create a larger (like below), or smaller, rack.
My current Gong rack set up as of September 2018. As you
can see, it is an expanded version of the one above.
Here it is all loaded and ready, with the front percussion table.
It’s now August 2019 and my set up has changed/expanded. Photos to be posted shortly…