Bass Teacher REACTION | Dominic Forest Lapointe FRETLESS PERFECTION | First Fragment "GULA"

[@LowEndUniversity]

This blew my mind...truly. ENJOY!! And, who are some other fretless players I should check out?

[@f.b.jeffers0n]

Charles Berthoud! Great YT Bassist...

[@russellzauner]

Steve DiGiorgio Pino Palladino Jeroen Paul Thesseling Juan Alderete Tony Franklin Jeff Ament Sean Malone Thad Stevens Remco's Groove Lab (KZbin) not fretless but Kyotaro Katsuragi (Kyotaro & Rikuo) Tony Levin Steve Bailey Gary Willis Mark Egan Mick Karn not fretless but Miyu Yoshinaka (7 string bass player/Asterism) Bill Wyman Bernard Odum

[@Vincent_Roy]

I'm gonna make a very different and maybe obscure recommendation : Genticorum is a french canadian traditional music band, and they used to have a fretless bass player on their first albums. The song Hommage À André Alain has really sweet bass line. There are no videos unfortunately, only audio. There is also the great jazz musician Alain Caron. He comes from my town and the music school here bears his name !

[@This_Fretless_Guy]

Jeroen Paul Thesseling, Sean Malone, Michael Manring, Steve Bailey, Mick Karn

[@AbominationalFailure]

Glad you enjoyed :D

[@coltonpugh9669]

Forest is seriously one of the most unique and skillful bass players in metal history.

[@HSithis]

Dude plays a Bach etude on his fretless with a maximum clean tone and while holding it like a classical guitar. As a bassline for death metal. And somehow it sounds incredible. I am truly in awe.

[@madeinlabelle]

Forest is simply a legend, played so many shows with him, never seen him miss a note!!

[@LowEndUniversity]

I believe it!

[@danielsimard6506]

I also played a few shows with him (he was playing in Augury) and also didn't see him miss any notes :D Plus, he's a really cool and nice guy!

[@ahdykhairat]

I had the privilege of collaborating with Forest a few years ago. Not only does he possess exceptional bass-playing skills, but he also radiates an incredible personality. Working with him was an absolute breeze, as he proved to be one of the most agreeable and cooperative individuals I've had the pleasure of working with.

[@dimitriid]

Glad you already liked Gula but this is him working on a song a previous bass player wrote the part for the song. I mention because on First Fragment's newest record, Glorie Eternelle he was far more involved in composing his parts to what it can only be described as Lead Bass guitar: I am not kidding he has sometimes 4 or 5 or 6 bass solos on the songs (Even when the other 2 guitarists have well, a silly number of solos numbering as many as 6 or 7 each. They *really* like solos these 3) and it is something quite amazing to behold. So I'd say even outside of reactions, put it on your shortlist because it's like taking Gula to a true next level when it comes to bass playing.

[@zoedoesmusic4520]

not to forget the amazing slap groove on "le veuve et le martyr"

[@RustyGonzo]

Easily one of my top 10 favorite death metal albums, tbh. And focusing on Forest's playing in any given track is always a treat. But the nice thing with First Fragment is there's so much going on at any given point I feel like I hear something new each time I listen, and not just with the bassist.

[@Damnusernamestaken]

I could pick out Forest's playing in any band - he has a truly unique sound. A super nice and humble guy too. I used to run into him in downtown Montreal and he was always super down to earth and talkative. His work on Augury's Concealed album was the first time I heard him and abolutely dug his sound since then.

[@chrislctr]

I played with Forest when he was in Beyond Creation when I was out with LCTR touring with Obscura. He's the real deal. Super nice guy. Sick sick playing. Unfortunately I didn't know BC well enough to really watch the whole set, but goddamn I regret not watching their whole set in Montreal. He's nasty.

[@JanM457]

My mom haaaaaates metal. She's 70 and has been playing jazz saxophone for over 30 years. I showed her this playthrough and she got very quiet and just went from one FF video to the next. She sometimes asks "What's the name of that band again?" That says something to me! :D

[@missteak7576]

He was a Live Bassist for Quo Vadis too, their “Live in Montreal” is legendary

[@KalosPVP]

His work with Augury was incredible. Underrated band.

[@49riffinator]

Agree, they're great live too. Saw them last year, the vocalist is a charismatic frontman and they put on a fun live show

[@jonborrmann3124]

Everything this dude has done, from beyond creation, terimobil, or First Fragment is just magic..🤘🤘🤘

[@pavelack]

Forest has been in many epic technical death metal bands from montreal over the last decades. First time i heard him was like in 2004 in Quo Vadis

[@ryanwebb9979]

I got to actually take lessons from Forest for a short about of time, dude is super skilled but also really good at teaching and explaining.

[@romyx4426]

wait how did you get lesson from him?

[@eduardoibarra8458]

I'd like to know too​@@romyx4426

[@Legion_Victrix]

Awesome, Thanks you for this reaction !!! Cheers from Montréal, Quebec, Canada

[@R3tr0v1ru5]

This song is a masterpiece of guitar work. The solo is insanely beautiful.

[@thedarkenedsoul]

I love the fact that a lot of the extreme metal bands having the 70's/80's fusion jazz bass tone...

[@SvenMusic]

Love your content, something like this was missing for bass players, great work!

[@LowEndUniversity]

Cheers, appreciate the kind words Sven!

[@j0hnbr0ck]

"You don't see slap on fretless a lot" my mind went immediately to Les Claypool but he's the only one I could really think of

[@viewfromtheanglo4334]

I was thinking the same when he said that. Though Les is also an insane bass player so I guess you really don’t see slap on a fretless a lot. I would love to see Forest and Les do something together 😍

[@leonoff89]

Ryan martinie in soften the glare does as well in some songs

[@mladdplayGames]

Note that Vincent Savary wrote this bass line. He is an awesome bassist. Forest just do it perfectly :)

[@anushgunner9164]

I was searching for this xd.

[@bassimprovjams3772]

Dude so cool you did a video on him!! He is so amazing! I love his fretless tone so much!! It goes so cool with the metal music, it’s not often you hear fretless in metal glad you mentioned his wrist technique, it’s perfect almost classical trained

[@RustyGonzo]

Ha, I watch that playthrough every few months just to reblow my mind. His playing is just so mesmerizing lol

[@LowEndUniversity]

Right?! It's oddly soothing to watch, despite the intense music.

[@SheWasAsking4it]

How about Nick Shinz, (Schendzielos)? I love his style of bass playing, heavily influenced by Ryan Martinie, and especially his tone in Nuclear Power Trio! I am absolutely loving these videos Mark! Keep up the Great work. Love hearing your opinion on these great players. 🤘

[@CarolMarianaa]

I love Shinz! I miss when he played bass in Havok, he added so much groove to the songs!

[@GeorgeGrivas]

Since you were so kind in checking Forest out, how about you do the same with Cygnus from Ne Obliviscaris? "Devour me Colossus" would be a great example :)

[@TheSentry777]

First bass player I saw use the 'one finger for each string' thing was Roger Patterson from Atheist. Absolute monster bass player. He and, his replacement in Atheist, Tony Choy need way more notoriety.

[@polbecca]

There is a lot of Gary Willis in Forest's picking hand technique.

[@evilevie87]

I never realized Roger used that technique. Interesting. He is my all time favorite

[@mstrasser]

What else can I add, he's incredible. And you're so right on his efficiency. Every time I watch him it looks like he's not moving either hand, especially his plucking hand. Sounds like he moves a finger once, and 12 notes come out lol

[@sherpaluvzung]

Nice vid! Forest is a true master at his craft, nobody sounds like him! But they have a new album out, and the whole band went totally crazy! Forest bass on this new album is a world of his own, a true masterpiece!

[@LowEndUniversity]

Thank you! I'll be checking out more for sure!

[@nielbaluca28]

I following him eversince he joined FF but you're the only one I watched who run down his techniques one by one. As a guitarist and composer, im not aware of that and it really helps for me bigtime. Cheers!

[@LowEndUniversity]

Nice, thank you Niel! Appreciate the kind words, and glad you checked it out. See you around!

[@MercutioUK2006]

I am always mesmerised by his right hand, just beautiful, fluid and expressive.

[@ysyoon2124]

Glad you mentioned Sean Malone. And Dominic is real hell of a bass player as well.

[@Mettle_DAD]

I suppose you'll have to do equipoise next. First frag, beyond creation, archspire, equipoise and maybe obscura are like the top dogs of all tech death bass

[@bolognabong]

I can't help but believe that Forest influenced the bassists of a lot of my recent favorites. Equipoise is fantastic; along the same roots I found Dawn of Dementia, Vitrified Entity, Chiliasm, Coexistence, Ergodic, Virvum, and many more that it feels like are setting new standards for tech metal. Hell, even Job For A Cowboy went tech, and their bassist as of the 2014 album Sun Eater is pretty damn good.

[@jaumealcazo6386]

Thanks for this!!!! More of Dominic, please! For me, the best bassist in the world.

[@salottin]

I always played with the bass in the middle. It's so ergonomic for both hands, even more if you had long arms and fingers. The "rock style" makes me feel compressed and tucked in

[@KytexEdits]

PLEASE check out his playthrough of a song he actually wrote (Gula was written before his entry in the band) called Soif Brulante. There's a bass playthrough uploaded only a month ago and it's my favorite track the band has ever done possibly, and the bass is more prominent in the mix of that playthrough.

[@anddataforall]

Forest was the responsible for me buying a 6 string bass even tough i'm not even that good with a 4 string one. I heard his bass lines in beyond creation songs and automatically thought "I need to learn how to play this, that's a masterpiece"

[@ryothalka373]

YESSS I LOVE FOREST THANK YOU FOR MAKING THIS!!!

[@LowEndUniversity]

You are VERY welcome! Thanks for watching!

[@TheGeniesis]

Dominic is an another level. I'm sad, because his current band is "too technical" for me, I prefer his old songs with Beyond Creation. About other fretless players... There is not too many of them :c - Steve Di Giorgio - death metal (several bands) - Linus Klausenitzer - death metal (ex-Obscura, OBSIDIOUS) - Hugo Doyon-Karout - death metal (Beyond Creation) - Tony Franklin - Rock (The firm) - Colin Edwin - progressive rock (Porcupine tree), for now I don't remember which songs were played on fretless there - Guthrie Govan - Jazz/fusion - Fretless Guitar (The Aristocrats) - Zander Zon - solo bass player, mosty movie themes, but you can find his own compositions like ''A Whisper in Time' (two versions, the old one was played on cello, the new one on fretless) - Damian Coccio - solo bass player, music for relax (loops + solos)

[@MrBraz33]

I thought he sounded kind of familiar and no wonder he was like you said in Beyond Creation.

[@hazardeur]

check out randy coven. his playing on Ark's Burn The Sun is some of the tastiest and creative fretless stuff i've ever heard. check out the song Absolute Zero. Also, i want to mention Mick Karn

[@TheGeniesis]

@@hazardeur thank you for the recommendation, I checked Absolute zero and I know which band I will listen for next hours

[@hazardeur]

@@TheGeniesis my pleasure. alwas a good day if i can convince somebody else to listen to stuff i enjoy as well

[@DeanThomson]

I'm a drummer but I love watching other musicians deep dive on other instruments. His picking style reminds me of a classical/spanish guitarist which is really cool for all of those string skipping patterns. It was one of the first things I noticed about his playing style.

[@LowEndUniversity]

I agree - really fluid and efficient way of covering a lot of notes over a lot of strings. Thanks for checking it out, Dean! 🙏🏼

[@metalsalsa]

His playing in Augury was so influential for me.

[@matthewporter8141]

My fave band.

[@johnkostelidis8163]

his technique is INSANE.

[@LowEndUniversity]

Indeed!

[@davecrupel2817]

This dude is to the bass what Thomas Haake is to the drums. Just an utter *machine* on the instrument!

[@jamcam9]

You should check out Alain Caron, a Quebecois six string fretless bassist - Forest is basically the newer, not quite as proficient version of AC. Alain is well known for his fretless slapping, but his fretted slapping is beyond insane and always seemed a little odd to me. He does something odd with his thumb that I'm not good enough to decode, but it seems really efficient and seems odd to me. Slam the Clown and D-Code are good tracks to check out for his fretted slapping. My favourite fretless ballad of his is Apres La Pluie.

[@M6a6e6M]

First time viewer, great video. His technique is pretty much like classical guitar.

[@somberlight]

it is. modification of Apoyando.

[@LowEndUniversity]

Thank you so much! Appreciate you stopping by.

[@EtoDemerzelSpaceBurial]

Yes! Forest is so awesome

[@nothingtosee314]

Came for the reaction, stayed for the analysis, subbed.

[@LemmyGibbler]

Check out the “le veuve et le martyr” (I’m pretty sure) play through. These guys are out of this world.

[@thatguyonbass5616]

Check out his new stuff with first fragment their latest album this was their previous album. He left then rejoined. But literally the GOAT

[@pugmonzzz]

Amazing bassist. I'm primarily a drummer, but Forest inspired me to start learning bass as well.

[@bassimprovjams3772]

Had to watch this one again, I notice unlike most players his plucking hand the end or tips of his fingers are doing most of the movement vs like John Myung who’s entire finger is doing all the movement, very interesting

[@jnrickards]

I wondered myself about classical training. I took guitar lessons for only 3yrs (a few decades ago) and the guitar position and fretting hand position, thumb in the middle of the back of the neck, reminded me of how I was taught. Although, my guitar teacher wouldn't have stood for a reversed guitar: I'm left-handed and was taught to play the regular way. Awesome playing though. Additionally, I'm extremely impressed with his tapping, given that there are no frets to "correct" misplacement of the plucking hand, which would have less experience on the fret board.

[@TorbLlorts]

i was hoping for first fragment reaction from you so much. Now i reaaaly need one of the new albums songs reaction

[@iPivo]

His plucking hand technique reminds me of Gary Willis of Tribal Tech. Willis uses a similar hand positioning that allows him to use his fingers to mute strings while being ready to pluck. I hope that made sense, but you can also find Willis explaining his plucking technique on YT

[@XerenAMetal]

easy to understand the theory. really helpful for me. glad for nice vid

[@omarmoreira12]

I'm kind of a new subscriber based on your recent videos you put out and on the last one I've recommended Forest on the comments (I didn't know he was suggested already on previous videos), so now I'm in awe that even though it wasn't solely on my comment, you upload a new video with my suggestion :O When it comes to bass, I know that there's a lot of big names in the business, but to me Forest is the GOAT, at least among the heavier metal generes.

[@GameDevMadeEasy]

I ordered myself a 5 string bass. Can't wait to use it in my own compositions and try to learn the picking style of Nikko and Dominic. I got a Ibanez GSR205 5 String. Ibanez was always a brand I loved as a guitarist until I went to Schecter.

[@gotd4m]

I play guitar, not bass, but I do play in classical position. The first time I place a guitar in my lap I didn't know it was classical. it just felt right and I thought I was doing it "wrong" for years. I had tried at one point to put the guitar on my right leg but I felt like I lost all ability to play past the 9th fret.

[@JohnWayneGucci]

Really liking all these tech death vids. If you want another Canadian death metal band with interesting and interacte bass try Gorguts, specifically the album Obscura. Steve Cloutier style of playing really blew my mind when I heard it and changed how I approached my playing after hearing it.

[@havokmusicinc]

Forest's plucking hand technique, except for the pinky, is very reminiscent of the classical guitar resting position. It allows the thumb to come in and pluck, in addition to being very good for string skipping

[@353darkesthour]

This guy sounds like the ectoplasm of a haunted tree or something. Always loved how forefront he was as a bassist for BC.

[@jaysmith5035]

Making connections in the metal world, Nikko Whitworth the bassist you reviewed recently for Unleash the Archers, when he left, the guitarist in this band (Nick Miller) is in Unleash the Archers now as the bassist there... it's all a web of people =)

[@dangbassist5225]

First and foremost he's the bassist of Augury, another incredibly talented and underrated metal band.

[@Benobot99]

Forest is a bass god. His playing in the FF album "Gloire Eternelle" is out of this world.

[@donmcglothlin841]

Beyond Creation Earthborn Evolution and Omnipresent Perception are phenomenal. The video for Earthborn shows the new bassist but Forest does a play through like this one. Both on omnipresent feature Forest

[@LowEndUniversity]

Thanks Don! I did a video on Dominic a few weeks ago, and plan to do some Beyond Creation soon to check out the current bassist!

[@theRayzz]

Surgical bass playing, it

[@LowEndUniversity]

Oh yeah - incredibly precise. Surgical is a great word (and I mean that in a positive way. Incredible touch and finesse!)

[@pitpride1220]

Incredible! I can hear a lot of Petrucci influence in the guitar playing. The whole band is fantastic. He's got to be the best metal bass player. I haven't heard better.

[@KlesierTheSurvivor]

Forest is insane, and (as i discovered accidentally) gives online lessons. Maybe you could hit him up and do a Q&A or a play-sess while discussing the approaches and techniques

[@russellzauner]

Dominic is actually in at least 4 bands and IIRC teaches as well.

[@Necro-slaughter]

Hell yeah brother forest has alot of bass playthroughs f.fragment & Beyond creation....great job ill be watching more....im also a bassist i play fretless also 4,5 ,6 ,7 string basses forrest is a big influence for me ALSO STEVE DIGIORGIO(DEATH TESTAMENT, LINUSKLAUSENITZER(OBSCURA, ,obsidious) check them out also...

[@fieldofpads]

If we're going to talk technical DM bassists then Erlend Caspersen has to be part of the conversation. A fretless and fretted Swiss army knife in Spawn of Possession, Abhorrent, The Allseeing I and many more.

[@j__s8802]

Was going to ask for this, but here it is! Extreme talent on display. If i could humblybrequest a Dan Briggs or Alex Webster vid, that would be excellent. Thank you!

[@LowEndUniversity]

Alex video coming shortly! It's queued up for the next 2 weeks. I'm still circling the drain on which BTBAM song to do...any suggestions?

[@j__s8802]

@LowEndUniversity hey! Thanks for the reply to this! I was really surprised by the lack of Alex reactions and reviews tbh, so I'm stoked to see what project you reviewed. Everyone knows the CC chops, but Blotted Science has some crazy lines too. Dan is a little tricky to find clean video, so if it's a BTBAM jam, then probably a clip of Viridian live. From A Distance by OfficialSpector, Nova Collective - Ripped Apart or the Trioscapes Stream are probably the best quality vids of him playing overall though. Regardless, thank you again for the reply and putting out such enjoyable and interesting content on the often overlooked!

[@RadityoPramAdi]

wow.. dude is tappin on the fretless bass !!

[@scottm7720]

Wow, very interesting way of playing.

[@TheThingThatShouldNotBe]

You could of given me the shout out when I suggested this to you exactly 8 days a go lol, hes a personal friend if mine and I thought he deserves the recognition!

[@LowEndUniversity]

Ha - well, I had quite a few requests for Dominic and am just going down a list. Appreciate the suggestion, big time! 🙏🏼

[@grzegorzszopinski7111]

for me, his plucking technique was always super impressive - it looks so "economic", almost effortless - I get slight Gary Willis vibes here, but of course Dominic is brilliant bassist in his own right.

[@InMetalWeRust]

So a little bit of a correction Dasein is not FF’s new album. Gloire Éternelle is their newest album.

[@AncientEvil80]

Kudos to you for mentioning Sean Malone. You earned a sub just for that.

[@LowEndUniversity]

Aw, thanks Stef! I appreciate the support. Just posted a Sean Malone video a few days ago, actually. Hope you can check it out!

[@l.-._.-._.-._.-._.-.l]

Forest's fretting hand is so economical, reminds me of a classical guitar player.

[@xkarnajx]

Forest is the best metal bass player ever. He was also in the band Quo Vadis from Montreal

[@kiskep]

O brilho do professor sumindo a cada segundo do video hahahahahajahajaja

[@gstrfst]

You should cover Joe Lester from Intronaut!

[@hazardeur]

dont know this guy but him mentioning malone like this instantly told me he knows what he's talking about

[@alecrisser12]

I wish people who could play so well would play in a genre where you can hear what they're doing.

[@timgonzales2891]

He always looks like a mad composer lol Ive said it before. Steve digiorgio is the og of six string fretless in death metal.

[@yngvie659]

This is one of my favorite metal bands, but there are better metal bassist like the brain drill. Jeff Hughell and archspire is an amazing bassist. I had no idea he had his own band. I’m really glad I ran into this video because I definitely added it to my metal list on Pandora.

[@KaijuAlert]

Gorod are another death metal band doing those very French-sounding shuffle sections in the middle of brutal tech death songs.

[@darrendasenlee]

seeing teacher watching my teacher is fun

[@LowEndUniversity]

Ha! Nice! 🙏🏼

[@celtikk1]

I would like to suggest you Joe Lester from Intronaut, another mosnter on fretless Bass !

[@LowEndUniversity]

Joe's a long-time pal, and I've done 3 tours with Intronaut. Incredible band and I certainly plan to in the future! Hard to pick just one song...

[@j.alfonsoromero1483]

Dude I’m shocked you just seen this video!

[@paulstarnes3112]

Tone is 99% in the hands. Great video.

[@maxpower3327]

Vive le métal québécois tabarnac !! Hell yeahhh😊😅

[@ToddGillespie1977]

I think he’s using floating thumb technique of course but his plucking hand is also maybe utilizing the pinky to soft mute just in case. It’s so efficient. He’s getting some almost Rocco Prestia type tight muting with that technique. I’m sorry, I’ve watched this a thousand times and I’m still laughing at how great he is

[@LowEndUniversity]

He has some of the most interesting technique, for sure. Very adaptable and versatile, I gleaned a lot watching him!

[@franciscoarrieta75]

Forest IS amazing, hsve you reacted to jared from archspire?

[@LowEndUniversity]

I sure have! Check the channel page here - I think it went up 2-3 weeks ago for "Drone Corpse Aviator". Hope you dig it!

[@nachfullbarertrank5230]

His plucking technique is similar to that of lute players, rather than classical guitar players. Although he doesnt alternate pick with thumb and index lol

[@Miscellany]

Fyi, Dasein is their debut album, not their newest. Their newest album is called "Gloire Eternelle" and Dominic actually wrote the bass lines for that album, compared to Dasein where it was someone else. You should check out his "Pantheum" bass playthrough. Gnarly

[@LowEndUniversity]

Thanks for clarifying - I promise I knew that, just said "new album" out of habit for some reason, haha. I'll check that out ASAP!

[@Miscellany]

@@LowEndUniversity You're good haha, i figured i'd clarify it for those in the comment section who wouldn't have known! Can't wait to see more reaction to First Fragment!

[@LowEndUniversity]

You think “Pantheum” or “Soif Brûlante” for the next one?!

[@Miscellany]

@@LowEndUniversity Pantheum, 100%. It's a no brainer for sure! The chorus of that song makes it feel like you're listening to "What if Van Halen did technical death metal", it's a fun listen 😄

[@Necro-slaughter]

Hey bro he has been with F.Fragment for like 7 yrs now almost

[@Mettle_DAD]

13:28 alot of modern tech death is neo classical. Necrophagist? Fermented ophal discharge solo?

[@ifgwelf]

My best friend plays drums for these guys.

[@TheWarriorXander]

His posture makes it seem like he'd be some obnoxious elitist snob, but the look on his face says he's just having a good time, jamming out, and I'd bet money he's a super down to earth guy that's just a blast to talk to. Crazy talented player, definitely an inspiration for a lot of people. Even if for some he inspires them to quit lol

[@zanphore2489]

You should totally look up Felipe Andreoli he is an amazing bassist.

[@MadiUk77]

YEs Sean was an absolute innovator and i am sure if you ask Dominic himself he will tell you how much Sean influenced him.