Ancel got his first snare drum from his father who was a conductor and was immediately obsessed with the instrument.
He took lessons at the music school in Winschoten, The Netherlands from age 11 and studied classical percussion and drums at the Prins Claus Conservatory in Groningen (1993). He continued studying at the Drummers Collective in New York (1994) with Adam Nussbaum, Kim Plainfield and Zach Danziger, among others.
His focus on drum education led to private lessons in 2011 with John Riley, Bob Moses, Yoron Israel, Bob Gulotti, Leroy Clouden, Jim Payne and Nasheet Waits in NY and Boston. Ancel has played professional since the age of 17 playing operettas. He toured with the PBG brassband to Australia, played rock with Weekend at Waikiki, rhythm and blues with Jumping the Blues in the Netherlands + Germany and musicals like Chicago, 42nd Street and Annie.
Nowadays he plays modern creative jazz and recorded 6 CD's with Klatwerk3.
After 25 years of teaching Ancel wrote (with co-writer Peter Deiman) the Drum Grillbook and performed at clinics in Amsterdam, Belgium and New York (Drummers Collective 2023). The Grillbook got recommendations of Claus Hessler, Adam Nussbaum, Alex Acuna, Jim Payne and other great educators. Peter Erskine; "A brilliant method", with a foreword of Dom Famularo: "Be prepared to be challenged and get ready to grow!" Modern Drummer wrote : "Musical drumming concepts; challenging, rewarding and inspiring".