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 festival, Hobart, Australia
Thank you so much for facilitating that amazing workshop on Friday
evening for our Sound School students. Everyone thought you were
wonderful and that they gained a lot of insight from the information you
shared.
~ Angel Light LLC, March 2022
I've been watching your Gongtopia videos for 3 years and I have to say, you have amazing insight as to what makes your music, improvisation, and gongs, so special to people like me and other fans.
~ Logan P, June 2022
You make such an impact on our community and clients.
~ Yoga Studio, December 2021
I really appreciate how you teach. If you had been one of my professors at music school, I would have stayed there.
~ Master Class Participant 2021
Gongtopia was beautiful last night! Thank you for sharing your amazing talents with us all!
~ December 2021 Session Participant
I am checking in to say thank you. I learned more from your videos than I did from the person I trained with.
~ Comment on GONGTOPIA YouTube videos, January 2022
I enjoy and appreciate all your work! You're the foremost influence on my gong music and knowledge base.
~ Zephram on the GONGTOPIA YouTube channel, 2022
Thank you so much for another incredible Gongtopia experience Sunday! …[participants] said it was phenomenal!
~ Yoga Studio, December 2019
Michael is one of North America's early contemporary Gong players and his legacy in Gong Culture is understated.
~ 9ways Academia
You’re really an important person in the gong world.
~ Erik Paiste, Paiste cymbal & gong company
I’ve never experienced anything like that in my 10 year yoga practice, absolutely mind blowing! Highly recommended. Michael from Gongtopia is amazing, a true professional!
~ Gong Session participant, 2019
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
Sinking into Bettine's sound world is fascinating and inspiring.
~ MODERN DRUMMER
Bettine has a unique vision that sets him apart from the hoards.
~ DRUM!
Bettine is essential listening for percussionists and anyone interested in solo free-oriented music.
~The Improvisor
The 3 M's at Gong Camp 2021:
Michael Bettine, Mitch Nur, Mike Tamburo
The fringe is the unexplored territory where truth and fantasy are not yet disentangled. ~ Freeman Dyson
In the bodhisattva path, we don’t assume anything is fixed and solid. ~ Norman Fischer
No great art has ever been made without the artist having known danger. ~ Rainer Maria Rilke
The goal of life is rapture. Art is the way we experience it.
~ Joseph Campbell
Enlightenment is not a one time event. We must each seek to become enlightened everyday. ~ Singal Rinpoche
The true artist is a man who believes absolutely in himself, because he is absolutely himself. ~ Oscar Wilde
Time is everything. ~ MB
Top photo of Michael at Blue Lotus Buddhist Temple, Woodstock, IL 2019 by Cindy Bettine.