Charles Berthoud's tapping

[Paolo85]

Right, so that's absolutely magnificent

 

Admittedly, I spend a lot of time lately listening to solo fingerstyle guitar recordings so I may be more open to this than many bass player.

This is all magnificent but what stands out is how expressive his tapping is. I believe he is on another level compared to all the other youtube show-offs I am aware of. Not because of his chops, but because even at the frantic pace he has to publish videos in his line of business, he still often makes some great music.

The objection to youtubers is often that their chops won't account for much in a band context. Well I'd rather take this than the mediocre stuff that 99% of bands record.

 

[SimonK]

It is almost classical guitar but on a bass - except the longer scale length allows for the tapping which is much harder to get quite the same on a nylon string classical guitar.

 

But yes - I would rate Charles as one of the most impressive musicians on any instrument at the moment.

[MacDaddy]

Not bad playing for a man.

[sprocketflup]

His skill levels are through the roof, but when you see how much work he's put in to get to where he is today its deservedly so.

[Cato]

I've seen a few people doing that 2 handed 'piano' stlye tapping on extended range 'basses' over the years.

 

Charles is certainly one of the best I've seen, it's undeniably impressive and it works very well as entertainment in the short video format he excels at.

 

Would I choose to listen to an albums worth of it?

 

Probably not.

Edited March 8 by Cato

[Paolo85]

18 minutes ago, Cato said:

I've seen a few people doing that 2 handed 'piano' stlye tapping on extended range 'basses' over the years.

 

Charles is certainly one of the best I've seen, it's undeniably impressive and it works very well as entertainment in the short video format he excels at.

 

Would I choose to listen to an albums worth of it?

 

Probably not.

Well, that' the typical objection. Subjectively, fair enough. Question though: would you chose to listen to this album?

 

Or is there many recordings of one instrument alone (piano, cello, whatever) that you tend to listen to?

I see what you mean. A lot of tapping stuff (including a lot Berthoud's stuff) is just showing off and entertainment.

This, IMO, is different. It is a musician pouring his soul on a classic song. I don't see it as short-term entertainment - unlike many bands that apparently are shortlisted this year for the R'N'R hall of fame.

[asingardenof]

1 hour ago, Paolo85 said:

A lot of tapping stuff (including a lot Berthoud's stuff) is just showing off and entertainment.

To be fair to CB he happily admits this and even pokes fun at himself for doing it - see the number of "slapocalypse" videos he makes.

[Dan Dare]

He's a great player. I don't like a lot of his stuff, but it's good to see what's possible on an instrument. I pinch the odd (simple) thing from some of these YouTube monsters. Nobody is forced to watch/listen to them.

[Newfoundfreedom]

He's an absolute monster of a player, absolutely no doubt about it, and this kind of thing is great as an exhibition piece to show off his chops. But more than a few minutes of it would get tedious rather quickly. Despite how good he is. 

I think he's totally aware of this and uses these kinds of video appropriately as a showcase. He's an amazingly talented musician. 

 

[SimonK]

2 hours ago, Newfoundfreedom said:

He's an absolute monster of a player, absolutely no doubt about it, and this kind of thing is great as an exhibition piece to show off his chops. But more than a few minutes of it would get tedious rather quickly. Despite how good he is. 

I think he's totally aware of this and uses these kinds of video appropriately as a showcase. He's an amazingly talented musician. 

 

 

But I do have favourite classical guitar albums that I put on in the background from time to time - I'd absolutely play an album of this type of stuff so long as it didn't sudenly descend into a slapping apocalypse! Indeed while being uber impressed with his slapping stuff, I agree it is less listenable to than the OP video.

[sprocketflup]

As said above he's put in the hours and knows about music, can play piano, has busked, studied, and put himself into all sorts of band/musical situations in order to learn. 

 

If he was to put an album out I doubt it'd be an hours worth of the sort of blistering material that he crams into his 3 minute videos, I for one would buy it.

 

He's achieved what I believe the majority of us on here would probably like to achieve and most likely would try if given a different life/universe, and joined the ranks of the most well rounded players on the planet at this point. 

Kind of a Guthrie Govan for bass. I buy his stuff too.

[asingardenof]

On 09/03/2024 at 14:30, sprocketflup said:

As said above he's put in the hours and knows about music, can play piano, has busked, studied, and put himself into all sorts of band/musical situations in order to learn. 

 

If he was to put an album out I doubt it'd be an hours worth of the sort of blistering material that he crams into his 3 minute videos, I for one would buy it.

 

He's achieved what I believe the majority of us on here would probably like to achieve and most likely would try if given a different life/universe, and joined the ranks of the most well rounded players on the planet at this point. 

Kind of a Guthrie Govan for bass. I buy his stuff too.

You can see for yourself: 

He has other singles and EPs available but this is the only album I can see.

[EMG456]

Like Victor Wooten, Charles' bass pyrotechnics are unexpectedly musical.

His playing does seem to be from the heart and his musicality and self deprecating sense of humour shine through.