Michael Angelo Batio
Michael Angelo Batio (born February 23, 1956 in Chicago , Illinois ) is an American rock guitarist .
biography
Michael Angelo Batio (MAB) began playing piano at the age of five and guitar at the age of ten . At the age of 14 he played jazz and at the age of 16 won an award for outstanding performance as a jazz soloist on the guitar. He studied Music Theory at Northeastern Illinois University and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts .
Batio is famous for his extremely fast guitar playing, his extraordinary playing technique ("MAB - Over-Under" -technique) as well as for his playing on the doubleaxe he designed in contrast to the doubleneck, as used for example by Jimmy Page . The doubleaxe consists of two guitars connected to the body, a left-handed guitar and a right-handed guitar, which Batio plays simultaneously in any constellation of the hands. With Jim Gillette , Rob Rock (er), and TJ Racer he founded the metal band Nitro , with whom he released two albums. He also released several albums with the band Holland.
While at Nitro, he also released his first instructional video, Speed Kills , which was the top-selling guitar instructional video at the time. Nitro broke up in the early 90s . Batio founded his own record label MACE Music in 1993 , on which he mainly releases his own instrumental recordings , as well as those of other young guitar virtuosos . He is also a sought-after workshop guitarist and currently an endorser of Dean Guitars .
In 2005 he was voted number 1 in the top ten fastest guitarists by Guitar One magazine .
Equipment
Michael Angelo Batio is known for his typical electric guitar sound, for example in songs like Freight Train ( Nitro ) and No Boundaries . In his official forum he revealed the secret to this sound: He uses a “mid booster” (artificial mid-range boost) and overdrives the output stage of his amplifier using various overdrive pedals.
Initially, Batio used Gibson and Dean guitars with a BOSS "DS-1" or "OD-2" in conjunction with Marshall amplifiers . He was later endorsed by Randall (now NITRO) until the founder sold the company. There was a time after Randall was sold that Batio pretended to use these amps (live and on video - around 1990 and during the Speed Kills recordings ) but was actually playing Marshalls. When Dean Guitars was sold in 1986, he only played BC Rich guitars until he was endorsed by Washburn Guitars .
His famous sound, which is often described as soft but sawing, excessively overdriven, punchy and synthesizer-like, is initially just a combination of a Boss "OD-2" (with maximum distortion) and a modified Marshall JCM 800 Lead Series (with medium distortion and very high volume for the power amp distortion).
Around 2000 Batio acquired an original Ibanez TS-9 "Tube Screamer", which he has been using exclusively since then, although it represented a strong contrast to his previous sound (more treble, sharpness, transparency than the old "MAB synth tone"). Batio also uses custom-made, non-commercial Dimarzio pickups that sound like a mix of “Super 2”, “PAF” (in the neck position) and a “Super Distortion” (in the bridge position). Pickups from EMG and Seymour Duncan are also used.
As an amplifier especially for the rhythm guitar, he likes to use the "Dual Rectifier" from Mesa / Boogie , which gives a very pleasant contrast to his usual Marshall sound.
In 2007, T-Rex Engineering, in collaboration with Batio, developed a special overdrive pedal that is specially tailored to his needs. It is characterized by a harder distortion with more gain.
Discography
Albums
- 1989 OFR with the band Nitro
- 1991 HWDWS with the band Nitro
- 1995 No Boundaries
- 1997 Planet Gemini
- 1998 Gunnin 'for Glory
- 2000 Lucid Intervals and Moments of Clarity
- 2000 tradition
- 2004 Lucid Intervals and Moments of Clarity, Pt. 2 , compilation of Batios 3rd and 4th CD , remastered .
- 2005 Hands Without Shadows
- 2007 2 X Again
- 2009 Hands Without Shadows 2
- 2013 Intermezzo
- 2020 More Machine than Man
Instructional videos
- 1991 speed kills
- 1998 Jam With Angelo
- 2003 Speed Lives
- 2006 Speed Kills 2
- 2006 performance
- 2007 Speed Kills 3
Web links
- handswithoutshadows.com (Official Homepage)
- Dean Guitars homepage
- Excerpts from the instructional video "Performance" on Youtube.com
- Speed Kills 2010 - Guitar Lesson by Michael Angelo Batio on Youtube.com
- Streaming video on Sevenload.de
Individual evidence
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Batio, Michael Angelo |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American rock guitarist |
| DATE OF BIRTH | February 23, 1956 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Chicago , Illinois , USA |