Biographical Information -

Michael Bettel

Late 60's

He grew up near Hastings, worked as an very under-age pub assistant where Jeff Beck used to drink...having had an early aptitude and parental support for playing the drums it was natural that the 70's musicians who would join Jeff for a drink would be intrigued by the cherubic would-be drummer behind the bar...many late night sessions ensued...during the ensuing years, Michael had the opportunity, gratefully seized, of being in the presence of majesty like Michael Narada Walden (probably incorrect spelling but no offence intended) and, at the then at the height of his commercial success, YES percussion king, Bill Bruford. One weeps for such a wonderful basket of opportunity thrown to an extreme youthful talent. Thank you God! Now let's boogie. So what did he do? Sketch it in for your self. Yup, that's right, he got married. To be continued...

Mid 90's

"...drummer Michael Bettell, an ex- Ultimate Percussion clinician who has worked with many producers including former Rolling Stones man, Chris Kimsey. Disenchanted with the touring life, Michael has spent the last year working on his own instrumental material at home with programmer, Gerry Coleman, laying down the drum tracks at Studio Adelaide. He explains: "My initial plan was to record some drumming demos with minimal backing music. But people who heard the melodies I was coming up with thought they would be great for film or TV music. So I have been getting more and more into the keyboard side of things, although it's been a bit of a headache for Gerry who has relied heavily on his maths skills to programme my ideas, many of which are in difficult time signatures, like 14/8. Working with the Roland Studio MB-30 synth module/sequencer/MIDI mixer and Korg M1 as a control keyboard, Michael was able to perfect a melodic programme in his practice room at home using a number of bespoke sounds. The next step was to take his kit to Adelaide and work on eight-track. With time code applied to one track to synchronise the multitrack machine and the Roland MIDI mix, the remaining seven tracks were used exclusively for drums (Michael's 10-piece, double bass drum Tama kit). The mix was an extension of the drum sessions at Adelaide and an album is planned for release next year."*

 

Late 90's

Michael is working with fem-indie band Marnie as well as preparing to record a new concept album with legendary guitarist Gordon Giltrap. He brings huge experience and a powerhouse sound to CyclePath. Here's a pic of him recording a little something in 14/8.

 

Back to Main Page

*Copyright information *Reproduced from an article in RHYTHM magazine by kind permission of the author, Mark Cunningham, who also took the photos of Michael.   Mark C. is currently the publishing editor of TOTAL PRODUCTION magazine, and a regular contributor to music publications worldwide.