The members of #Pentatonix. In this video we have: • First verse: Tall blond guy, Scott Hoying, lyric baritone. In describing a man's vocal range, "lyric" means that the actual range exceeds the nominal range. In Scott's case, he sings everywhere from about the middle of a normal bass range through a normal tenor range, with an excellent falsetto on top. In live performances Scott typically takes over the bass harmony line when their bass has a solo. • Second verse: Bearded guy wearing a stocking cap, Avi (pronounced Ah'-vee, emphasis on the first syllable) Kaplan, lyric bass. Avi is an operatically trained basso profundo - his lowest notes have blown out speakers in live performances - but his range extends to somewhere in the middle of a normal tenor range. If this were a live performance you'd be hearing Scott singing the bass line during Avi's solo, but if you listen carefully you can hear the bass starting up during Scott's solo, and the voice doesn't change as it continues into Avi's solo. So what gives? Early on, they decided that when they're recording in the studio for release on an album, it's worth a small cheat to improve the audio quality. The bass records one track with the bass line for the entire song, and a separate track with his solo, which is then layered in over the bass track. And since this is an official video of a song that was released on an album, that's Avi you hear singing bass while he's also soloing in the baritone and tenor parts of his range. • Third verse: The only woman in Pentatonix, Kirstin (also called Kirstie, which rhymes with thirsty) Maldonado. Kirstin sings everywhere from a low alto through coloratura soprano, the highest female range. And she has fantastic whistle notes on top of that. Lately Pentatonix has begun referring to her as an "alto soprano." • Fourth verse: Guy wearing a wide-brimmed hat, Mitch Grassi (pronounced Grah'-see, emphasis on the first syllable), natural contratenor. No one is certain whether Mitch can sing higher than Kirstin or Kirstin can sing higher than Mitch; I suspect that it varies from day to day, though everyone agrees that Kirstin has better whistle notes. Mitch is known for his ethereally beautiful (some say "angelic") high vocals. Shawn Stockman, of Boyz II Men, said Mitch has "one of the prettiest voices I have ever heard in my life." Mitch switches seamlessly from chest voice to mixed voice to head voice. He has a range of just over six octaves. And we call that stunned look people get the first time they realize that the beautiful high voice is coming from a man, "being Mitch slapped." • The fifth member of Pentatonix (PTX for short) is Kevin Olusola (pronounced Oh-loosh"-oh-luh', primary emphasis on the second syllable, secondary emphasis on the fourth), beatboxer extraordinaire. We don't get to hear Kevin sing as often as we'd like because he's generally too busy being the entire percussion section, but when he does sing he has a lovely tenor voice that occasionally descends to the uppermost reaches of a baritone range. He's also known for the beauty of his falsetto, which goes higher than Mitch's and Kirstin's voices. Kevin has perfect pitch. He began piano lessons at age 4, cello at age 6, and alto saxophone at age 10. When he was a teenager he performed at Carnegie Hall twice, once on the cello and once on the saxophone. He beatboxes while playing the cello, which he refers to as "celloboxing." He graduated from Yale in 2011 with a pre-med major and had already been accepted to Yale Medical School when he gave up his dream of becoming a surgeon to pursue his dream of becoming a professional beatboxer instead. He speaks five languages fluently: English, French, German, Spanish, and Mandarin Chinese. He's one of the kindest people in the world, and when he laughs the whole planet seems like a brighter place. In 2017 Avi found it necessary to leave Pentatonix, for a variety of personal reasons. He has since gone on to have a very successful solo career, and I strongly recommend subscribing to his UA-cam channel, which you can find here: youtube.com/@AviKaplanMusic Avi's replacement joined in either late 2017 or early 2018 (depending on how you figure it) and has now been with Pentatonix longer than Avi was. You'll see him in all of their newer videos: • The second black member of Pentatonix is Matt Sallee (pronounced Suh-lee', emphasis on the second syllable), lyric bass. In addition to being the newest member of Pentatonix Matt is also the youngest member, and I'm told that bass voices improve with age. Matt's range seems to be growing on a daily basis right now. His lowest notes don't blow out speakers (though that may change within a year or two). But on his high end Matt is very close to matching Kevin's falsetto.. To find his current range I recommend listening to a recent live performance of "Hallelujah." You can find one here: ua-cam.com/video/Se0BmDdZuX0/v-deo.html Matt's arrangement of the second verse seems to be designed to show off his full range, which is astonishing. I believe Matt has the largest range of any member of Pentatonix, past or present, though Scott is getting close to matching him.
Always great to find a new reactor to the incomparable Pentatonix! I very much enjoyed your reaction. The look on your face when you first heard Mitch's gorgeous counter-tenor voice is fondly referred to as a Mitch-slap. Yours was lovely! Subbed for more PTX!!!! ❤
Ah wow thank you! 😁 yeah that gave me tingles! 😲 it was epic! "Mitch slap" 🤣 i love that! Thanks for subscribing! More PTX will be coming soon! Welcome to the channel 😁
Where #Pentatonix came from: Kirstin, Mitch, and Scott all grew up in Arlington, Texas. All of them were involved with community musical theater as children, and Mitch met both Scott and Kirstin there (separately) when they were still pre-teens, and became friends with each of them. However, Scott and Kirstin didn't meet each other until they were fourteen and in the same high school class. All three were choir geeks (duh), and they quickly became best friends in high school. And if you're wondering what was in the water in Arlington in the early 1990s that three such remarkably talented people should all be born in such proximity, you aren't the only one. There was some kind of singing contest to meet the stars of _Glee,_ and the three of them wanted to enter, so they formed a trio which they named "The Trio." (I know; not very imaginative. They're somewhat better with that now.) They lost the contest, but they kept The Trio together anyway; they performed at school functions and occasionally on local television. Pentaholics still refer to these three as "the trio," and the trio is the heart of Pentatonix. Kirstin and Scott were a year ahead of Mitch; they graduated in 2010, when Mitch was still in eleventh grade, and both went away for their freshman year of college. Kirstin went to the University of Oklahoma (with a full ride scholarship!), and Scott went to the University of Southern Califonia. Scott is a very outgoing person, so he immediately began looking around for extracurricular activities where he could meet people and make new friends, and he found an award-winning amateur a cappella group named SoCal VoCals, which he joined. While there he met a former member named Ben Bram, who at the time was a coach on NBC's a cappella competition show named _"The Sing-Off."_ A cappella groups would audition for the show, and those that passed appeared throughout the season. There was a panel of three judges, all professional musicians, who would critique each performance. Along the way some groups would be eliminated, narrowing the field, and at the end of the season viewers would be invited to vote on a winner. The winning group would receive $200,000 and a recording contract with Epic, a minor subsidiary of Sony, the show's sponsor. Scott was intrigued. He thought The Trio could be competitive, and if they could get a recording contract they could have a career doing what they most loved, with the people they most loved. So he talked to Kirstin, who thought his idea had promise, and at the end of their first year of college the two of them headed back to Arlington to be there for Mitch's graduation and to talk with Mitch about Scott's idea. Meanwhile, back in Arlington Mitch had been having a very difficult year. His best friends weren't there, and as an out-of-the-closet young gay man with an unusually high voice he was being seriously bullied. And unfortunately, since the bullying was ostensibly for his voice he was quickly developing the notion that there was something wrong with his voice and that no one would want to hear him sing. So when Scott presented his idea Mitch was on board; it was a way to get away from the bullies. He had doubts about his ability to carry his weight in the group, because of the bullying, but he was willing to try, and if Scott and Kirstin said they could win, well, maybe they could. So with everyone agreed, Scott called Ben Bram to find out how to arrange for an audition, and this is where they met their first setback. _The Sing-Off_ had a size requirement; the minimum size allowed was five. The Trio needed two new members and a new name. They were stumped. Ben suggested that they'd profit from adding a rhythm section: a bass and a beatboxer, and he knew the perfect person to recommend for the bass, a guy named Avi Kaplan. They talked to Avi, and he was very interested, so that took care of the bass, but where to find the beatboxer? Ben didn't have any suggestions. So in desperation they typed "beatboxer" into a UA-cam search box and the first hit they got was a black guy playing a classical piece on the cello and beatboxing at the same time. And all of them said, "Wow! He's the one! How can we get in touch with him?" They were in luck. At the time UA-cam had something called UA-cam messages, which would allow private messages between members (now discontinued), so they sent Kevin a private message: "Hey! We really love your stuff, and we wonder if you'd be interested in flying across the country to join four strangers to audition for an a cappella competition show on television?" And Kevin messaged them back: "Normally I'd be there in a heart beat; I love a cappella and have been in a cappella groups before. But right now I'm studying for my final exams for my pre-med major from Yale." Oh. That sounded pretty definite; better keep looking. So they kept looking, and they found someone, but he was no Kevin Olusola. Oh well; you work with what you have. And two weeks later Kevin messaged them again: "Good news! I just graduated. If the gig's still open I can fly out." He arrived the day before their audition. Mitch had to skip his graduation ceremony to attend the audition. But even with just a day of rehearsal they still passed the audition; they were in. Oh, yes, the name. Pentatonix is named for the pentatonic scale, which has five (penta) tones just as Pentatonix has five (Penta) singers. In other words, it's a fancier way of saying they're now "The Quintet." 😂 Pentatonix appeared throughout season three of _The Sing-Off,_ and eventually won. All those performances are available on UA-cam and are well worth watching, preferably in order so you can see how they grew throughout the season. Some of them are as good as anything they've done since (which is saying a lot) and are only available in those old videos. (Note: If you decide to react to these, be sure and watch the versions that contain the show's introduction of Pentatonix just before the performance, and the judges' critiques of the performance, and any comments Pentatonix made backstage.) So, they'd won _The Sing-Off,_ complete with recording contract. Time to move to California permanently and begin recording. And a week later Epic reneged on the contract, saying that they didn't know how to market a cappella. But at this point Pentatonix weren't willing to give up; they *wanted* that career they'd been working toward. So they pooled their winnings and lived frugally. The four men shared two apartments, to cut down on expenses. They arranged music and rehearsed every day, and when they had a song ready they used their iPhones to record themselves anywhere they could find good acoustics, and sometimes in places with acoustics that were just okay. And they posted to UA-cam. Their fans from _The Sing-Off_ quickly found them there, and subscribed, and they began to get more views and more subscribers, and to pick up a few patrons. In fact, they were going viral. And Sony noticed, and approached them with an offer: Perhaps Pentatonix would like a recording contract with Madison Gate, another minor subsidiary? Hmmm. 🤔 Would they like a recording contract? Might have to think about that, for a second or two. Darn right they'd like a recording contract! And then came "Daft Punk Medley," and Pentatonix won their first Grammy. And again, Sony took notice, and approached Pentatonix: "We've been thinking about it and we believe you might find a better fit with our flagship label, RCA. Are you interested?" They've been with RCA ever since, though I believe they just signed with a new publisher. They go on tours world wide and perform to sold-out venues. They put out at *least* one album a year, frequently more (though it's beginning to look like they aren't putting out an album in 2024; I think they've run out of Christmas songs). One album has gone Gold and one has gone Platinum twice. They have three Grammys and recently received a star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame. And they are the only a cappella band to have won so much as *one* Grammy, or to be represented on the Walk of Fame. The most important part of this story is the fact that Pentatonix began with The Trio, three best friends so close to one another that they might as well be family. And from the very beginning, everyone who has joined with them to form Pentatonix has been incorporated into that family-of-choice. As a family, Pentatonix takes care of all its members. One of the things this means is that everyone gets time in the spotlight. Pentatonix has no lead singer. Yes, some songs call for a lead, and when that happens Pentatonix chooses the member whose voice best suits the song. This is one way that everyone gets time in the spotlight, and it means that no one is burdened with having to always be the lead. And when songs don't require a lead, Pentatonix frequently has each member solo on one or more verses. The members of Pentatonix are able to set their egos aside because each of them is already receiving as much acclaim as any healthy ego could need. And that leaves them free to concentrate on taking care of both the people they love and the music they love. This focus on doing whatever is best for the music is, in my opinion, *the* thing that makes Pentatonix greater than the sum of its parts. And their focus on caring for one another is the reason we like them as people, not just as singers.
Pentatonix a "brief" background. They won The Sing Off in 2011. They made a guest starring appearance on America′s Got Talent as non−competitors a couple of years after that. The founding members are:- Scott Hoying (tall blond guy, natural baritone but has an impressive five−to−six octave range, can go all the way up to high tenor and down to bass, sings the bass lines when the usual bass singer takes the lead);
Kirstin "Kirstie" (Rhymes with "Thirsty") Maldonado (the only female member, natural mezzo soprano, but can go down to low alto and as high as upper soprano, also can sing in whistle notes that are off the scale); For a time in 2018 between the group’s tours, had the female lead on Broadway in the production of “Kinky Boots”. Mitch Grassi (a true contra−tenor, can hit high notes in his chest voice with ease and go WAY higher in his falsetto, also with ease); Avriel "Avi" Kaplan (dark beard and long hair), true basso profundo, trained as an opera singer, also can go up into the tenor range; and Kevin "KO" Olusola (beatboxer extraordinaire, also is a world−class cellist who plays cello on some of their songs, has a beautiful high tenor voice and gets occasional lead vocal solos as well, graduated pre−med from Yale and speaks several languages including Mandarin Chinese). Kirstie, Scott & Mitch grew up together in Arlington, Texas, and began performing together as children in local youth musical theater. They ended up in high school together and performed in the choir. While there, they formed an a cappella group called The Trio which had several performance videos go viral on UA-cam, most notably a cover of Lady Gaga′s "Telephone". The three of them are best friends and consider themselves to be almost siblings. Scott & Kirstie (who were a class year ahead of Mitch) both graduated high school in 2010 and went their separate ways to different colleges, Scott at USC and Kirstie at Oklahoma. While at USC, Scott joined a USC−based a cappella group called the SoCal VoCals, where he met alumnus Ben Bram, who was now an arranger and vocal coach for the NBC TV show The Sing Off, an a cappella competition show. Ben convinced Scott to get The Trio to audition for the show. The three reunited (Mitch had to skip high school graduation ceremonies to go) in Los Angeles for the audition. They found out that the rules had changed, so they needed at least five members to audition. Ben put them together with Avi (a native of Visalia, California), who he knew from Avi′s performing days at Mount San Antonio College in California. They found Kevin (from Kentucky) through one of his UA-cam videos that had gone viral featuring him playing the cello and beatboxing at the same time, a talent that Kevin coined as "Cello−Boxing". Kevin arrived in Los Angeles literally the day before the audition! Scott came up with the name "Pentatonix" after the pentatonic scale. They performed a re−arrangement of "The Telephone" for the audition and passed, despite having been together as a five−piece group for less that 24 hours! They won The Sing Off that season (all of the performances are available on UA-cam), in which they received a substantial cash prize AND a record contract with Epic Records. They pooled their prize winnings together and all moved to Los Angeles, and all got apartments right next door to each other in the same building. But just a week later, Epic dropped them because the marketing people didn′t think an a cappella group could sell records. Instead of giving up, they were determined and began recording their own songs on UA-cam, hiring Ben Bram as their producer and arranger. These usually consisted of the five of them sitting on a couch and performing cover songs live. Several of the videos went viral, and Sony (the parent company of Epic) decided to give them another chance by placing them on one of their smaller labels, Madison Gate. They released two secular EPs and one Christmas EP on Madison Gate, all of which were strong sellers. But when their cover of a medley of songs by Daft Punk not only went super−viral, but also won them their first Grammy, they were promoted all the way up to RCA Records, Sony′s top label. They began writing and producing their own songs in addition to their covers, began putting out a Christmas album just about annually (which has become their best−selling genre), and have had multi−platinum album sales, sold−out world tours, and have won two additional Grammys. Avi began getting burned out with all of the touring and heavy recording schedule, was suffering from anxiety and personal problems, and learned that his mother had been diagnosed with cancer in 2017. He announced he was departing from the group and taking some time away from the music industry. Matt Sallee (from Baltimore) joined them in September 2017. He did only become official when they renewed their RCA contract in February 2018, but he recorded with them in September as a featured artist and went on their Christmas tour as a featured artist, as well. When he attended the audition for the group, he had already mastered the Bass part for most if not all their past catalogue. He was successful and has proved that he fits in well with the group. If you think there have been other changes to the line up - look again. This is the ONLY change. Kirstie and Mitch are like chameleons and change looks frequently. It is an often debated subject among the Pentaholics as to just how soon we introduce the "Beginners Guide" as we don't want to overdo the introduction. This is a compilation of snips of a whole load of songs which PTX have released. It highlights each member with some of their solos and then a brief history in video. It is quite long - 14+ minutes and is a little dated now (Feb 2020) but is a good watch ua-cam.com/video/lDxIfwfCmQE/v-deo.html&pp=ygUdYmVnaW5uZXJzIGd1aWRlIHRvIHBlbnRhdG9uaXg%3D. After a year away from music, Avi has now returned as a phenomenal solo artist in the Folk/Americana/Roots genre. Ben Bram has been in charge of their production, including arranging and directing from the beginning. He is often referred to as the sixth member. Scott and Kevin are major players in the arrangements, but every member contributes. A good watch is "The Recording of Evergreen" where a camera was invited into the studio for the second week of recording. Also, all members are songwriters for both Pentatonix and their own solo work. Ed Boyer who mixes everything of theirs (even the HWB Livestream) is the one who pulled Ben Bram into the sing off in the first place. They have Grammy wins for Daft Punk Medley, Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy, and Jolene featuring Dolly Parton. They were nominated for a 4th Grammy for their album Evergreen, but didn't win. Another nomination for Holidays Around the World album in the 2024 list! Kirstie became a new mum which caused a pause in touring after their Evergreen Christmas tour 2021. Mid March 2023 Kirstie has announced that she is engaged to Ben Hausdorff, their videographer. They married 22/04/24! Not clear how the future is to follow, but Kirstie has announced that she is expecting number 2 in early 2025. Not critical to the groups touring schedule, but Scott, Kevin and Matt are all married. Kevin and Matt with children. They have a star on the Hollywood walk of fame installed in February 2023. They are the only a capella group with a star! They came 3rd in the 2023 Masked Singer performing as "California Rolls" being unmasked in May 23. Things you need to know because if you get these wrong Pentaholics will come after you with pitch forks and torches! Ha Ha!! 1- There is NO Auto-Tune; what you hear is actually what they sing. They really are that good. One exception is the 90's Dance Medley where Cher used autotune as an effect - so they had to. 2- What produces everything that you hear in the video, you see in the official video. If there is an instrument used in the music, you see it on screen. In the 2022 Christmas album, there are some instruments not featured throughout the album. 3- They never release something on video they can’t reproduce with the exact same quality live on-stage. 4. It is "Pentatonix" there is no "The".
@@alan-freeman I just don’t want people overwhelming Mikey. It’s taken a lot of time and effort to encourage him to even start doing reactions in the first place. Of course I want as many people as possible commenting and giving him tidbits of information. Just not half an encyclopaedias worth all at once.
@@YorkshiremanReacts26 I understand your caution, however, once you break the PTX "wall", you will have a lot of people wanting to let the reactor know about the group. @alan-freedman has the bio on "cut/paste" and is a good way to get all the info to the reactor. His comments are always helpful. This is my first time on Mikey's page and it seems like he will do well with his honest reactions.
TX so much. We Pentaholics love our favorite group ever. PTX has 20,4 million subscribers on their UA-cam channel. They tour regularly and are so famous the venues are sold out. So glad you can experience them. Greetings from South Africa
They're awesome! I've heard literally one song and I'm already a fan! 😁 thank you for watching! Feel free to subscribe for more reactions! I'm SO excited to hear more! 😁
Definitely clicked for the Pentatonix! I've been following them sine 2011 and never tire of new people learning about this highly talented and inspiring group! Christmas is their forte! They have dozens of Christmas songs available. Recommend "O Come All Ye Faithful" so you can see how they put their spin on the holidays!
Thanks for watching! 🙂 I can't wait to react to more of their performances! I've got my friend and manager helping me to react to them in a sort of order? This was definitely a good place to start! Feel free to subscribe to see more as I post them! 🙂
Thanks for watching and subscribing! 😁 more PTX reactions will be coming soon! This one was so good and it's had such a great response! Welcome to the channel! 🙂
PTX has lots of great Christmas music. Some of my favorites are their original Christmas songs starting with “That’s Christmas to me”, “Kid on Christmas”, “Please Santa Please”, “Meet me next Christmas”. But if you want see Pentatonix range, watch their Daft Punk medley, the Evolution of Michael Jackson, their Amazing Grace, and their cover of John Lennon’s Imagine.
Oh wow I love the sound of all of that! 😁 I'll bear it in mind! My friend who is also my manager is helping me to react in a kind of order where I can understand the groups history 🙂 I'm sure I'll get around to ALL of those! 😁 thanks for watching! I can't wait to do more!!
Someone will tell you to also start following the acapella groups Voiceplay and Home Free. (So it may as well be I.) The setup is vaguely the same... two fairly high singers, one low singer, one VERY low singer, and a person who's primarily a beatboxer. But each group has a different vibe, personality, and set of specialties. "Acapella" means that that's the group's dedication as a whole. But they may occasionally put out songs with instruments (such as Kevin Olusola's cello). If instruments are used, you see them in the vid. No cheating. Many current and former members of these groups also have solo YT channels where they do their own thing. Not necessarily acapella. So, that's enough rabbit holes right there to keep you busy for a long time. And if you do go exploring, you'll pick up a lot of new subscribers.
Happy to see a new reactor popping up! This group is great and are amazing. They began as just the three from High school...Scott Hoying, baritone, Mitch Grassi, countertenor and Kirstin Maldonado, alto-soprano. That were known as The Trio. Once they graduated and entered collage, Scott found out about a TV a capella competition called The Sing-Off. They needed two more people for the group and found Avi Kaplan and opera trained bass and Kevin Olusola a beatboxer who happened to also play the cello and sax. They entered the competition and won ( all the songs they did are available on UA-cam), so they all decided to make a go of the group, took the money and moved to LA to begin their career...only to have Sony cancel the recording contract two weeks later stating they couldn't promote an a capella group sucessfully. But...they didn't stop and began recording their own videos of themselves sitting of a couch, singing and posting their pieces on UA-cam. Within a few months, they gained some notice and persevered, gained patrons and began to hire a film crew and eventually do really great videos. Sony eventally relented and gave them another contract with one of their lesser franchises, Madison Gate. Now, with years, major shows and parades spotlighting them, Disney doing PTX Specials and two movies featuring them, Grammys and awards under their belt They have just signed on with a major recording company, Republic Records. Subb'd to hear more PTX!! Some suggestions: Since it's still the Christmas season: O Holy Night, Please Santa Please, Pure Imagination/Christmastime is Here, Kiss From A Rose, Silent Night, Mary Did You Know.
Hey thanks for watching and subscribing! And thanks for all that info! Wow! I love learning about how bands find their way to the top, so inspiring! I'd love to react to something Christmas themed, but because of having to appeal to the copyright about how it's just a reaction video, I don't think I'll have time to do it before Christmas 🙄 i think the appeal for this one took about a week? I'm not sure. But there's still plenty more I can react to, and i can't wait! 😁 thanks for the support! Hopefully it won't be long before my next reaction to PTX arrives! ❤️ thanks again!
They hum better than most people can sing. They won a grammy doing an instrumental song with zero instruments. Dance of the Sugar Plumb Fairy. My very favorite by them is Amazing Grace. Second is their cover of Radioactive because I love Lindsey Sterling
Subscribed for more Pentatonix (PTX). PTX is the top a cappella band in the world, although there are a few more bands that are great in their own way. To avoid copyright issues, you may need to pause a bit with comments and use image filters. We don’t mind. They have an extensive song catalog from their 13 year history. The 3 main vocalists are Scott, Kirstin, and Mitch (the 1st, 3rd, and 4th soloists) in this video. They knew each other growing up and sang as The Trio in high school. In 2011 they added the bass, Avi (2nd singer) and the beatboxer, Kevin, to form PTX. In a cappella, the bass and beatboxer form the rhythm section that provides the foundation for the main vocalists. However, the rhythm section can sing and the main vocalists do effects. Avi left the band in 2017 and now has a successful solo career. Matt took over as bass so you will see him in their current videos. Recommend their version of Bohemian Rhapsody or their Grammy winning Daft Punk (Medley).
Thank you for subscribing, and I'm glad you enjoyed the reaction! 😁 I'm really looking forward to reacting to them more! Thanks for the tip about the filter and pausing, I'll try and do that next time! I don't usually like pausing songs but in this case, I may have to 🤣 Also thanks for the info about the band! It's really interesting! 😁 I love learning how bands start, there's always a good story there 🤣 I'm seriously looking forward to listening to more! This one really impressed me 😁 thanks again for watching and subbing! More PTX reactions will be coming soon!
Your friend steered you right, this is the perfect and the classic introduction to Pentatonix.Now to see a totally different side to them, check out their Daft Punk medley. And then to see them as they are today, watch their cover of Seal’s Kiss From a Rose. New subscriber, loved your reaction and good luck with your channel! Peace from Ohio …
Wow thank you for watching and subscribing! 😁 ah my friend has never steered me wrong! I've got every faith in him to guide me through this new journey! 😁 I'm loving it! I'll have to ask him about those! He lines my reactions up for me 😁 he's been right every single time! I don't know what I'd do without him 🥰 hehe. More PTX will be coming soon, thanks again for joining the channel! 🙂 Sending all my best wishes right back to you and Ohio! 😁
I’m so glad I was able to bring these guys to your attention! And you can bet that there’s some incredible experiences to come!! Watch this space! 👏🏻❤️
I'm glad you brought them to my attention! 😁 it was really something else! When you said there was no music i had something totally different in mind! 🤣 then I watched it and was blown away! Where do you find all these great artists??? 🤣
Great that you turned one of your friends to this group! Hi from Vancouver Island, BC !! Waves. Hope to see another reaction or two by you from PTX before the New Year!!
. It was hard to do both because the tall blond would have to take over his bass part while he was singing. Finally it just became too much. About 3 months after he left, a gentleman by the name of Matt Sallee became the new bass and has been with the group ever since.
Subscribed. If you decide to continue down this rabbit hole you can expect a *lot* of new subscriptions; #Pentatonix fans are enthusiastic about reaction videos to anything our favorite band puts out. Some useful terminology: • pentaholic = Pentatonix fan • PTX = abbreviation for Pentatonix - extremely useful in searches • the trio = Kirstin, Mitch, and Scott • Mitch slap = what you get the first time you realize how incredible Mitch's voice is. • Avi-lanche = like a Mitch slap, except with Avi instead of Mitch. • KO = like a Mitch slap or Avi-lanche, except with Kevin Olusola. • Matt attack = like a Mitch slap, Avi-lanche, or KO, except with Matt. • Great Scott! (or ButterScott) = like a Mitch slap, Avi-lanche, KO, or Matt attack, except with Scott. • Unfortunately, we haven't been able to come up with a good name for what Kirstin does to us. 😔 (Note: You never become immune to Mitch slaps, Avi-lanches, KOs, Matt attacks, Great Scotts, or the similar things that Kirstin does. They always have the ability to surprise us.) You can't go wrong listening to anything Pentatonix has released; it's all gorgeous. But all pentaholics have our own personal favorites that we like to recommend. These are some of my favorites: • "Hallelujah" ( a recent live performance, with Matt and a new arrangement: ua-cam.com/video/Se0BmDdZuX0/v-deo.html ) • "Imagine" (the official video) • "The Prayer" • "Bohemian Rhapsody" (the official video) • "Sound of Silence" • "Run To You" (an original, written by Avi and Kevin) • "Happy Now" (another original) • "Daft Punk Medley" (their first Grammy winner) • "O Come All Ye Faithful" • "O Holy Night" (they did a totally new recording for their 2023 Christmas album; you can find the official video here: ua-cam.com/video/ReJAU2mXm8w/v-deo.htmlsi=upj2Q3vLqigVEtgm ) • "Pure Imagination / Christmas Time is Here" • "Kiss From a Rose" • "You're A Mean One, Mr. Grinch" • "The Lucky Ones" (an original, written by Scott) • "Thank You" (an original, written by Scott and his then fiancé, now husband, Mark Manio Hoying, shortly after the end of COVID lockdown, about how much easier it was to get through that time because they were together) • "The Kevin Show/Kevin's Fifth." This is a live feed from a concert they gave in Owensboro, Kentucky, Kevin's home town: ua-cam.com/video/DbCasvcNx78/v-deo.html and this is the very special performance of "Kevin's Fifth" (without "The Kevin Show") from Kevin's birthday in 2022: ua-cam.com/video/7m0g7xThIWs/v-deo.htmlsi=99F7iG5qkdgPCm43 Additionally, *if* you're familiar with _"The Wizard Of Oz"_ (the 1939 movie starring Judy Garland), I recommend "Todrick Hall - The Wizard of Ahhhs (ft. Pentatonix)": ua-cam.com/video/QkVeKb2igrg/v-deo.html If you've never seen the movie it won't make sense, so take care of that first. Oh, and be sure to set aside enough time for your reaction; "Wizard of Ahhhs" is something like 8 minutes long.
They are not related, but 3 of them went to Martin High School in Arlington, Texas. If you want more people visiting your channel, react to them some more. The Pentaholics will follow! (But don’t do Little Drummer Boy. I am in my 12th year of winning the Little Drummer Boy Challenge and I want to keep winning!) You are so cute!!!
Welcome to PTX or Pentatonix like the Pentatonic Scale. You will be overwhelmed with their talents and their fan base known as Pentaholics. They tour the world from Singapore to Tokyo and Asia, then England and the UK, with little breaks and then the USA until October when they change to their Christmas Albums. Once you watch some of their videos and know a few songs, there is a "Beginner's Guide to PTX". They have multiple Albums and hundreds of songs. They own Christmas including a NBC special a few years ago. Christmas: Kevin has an arrangement of "O Come All Ye Faithfull" that will surprise you as he honors his parents African Heritage. Mary, Did You Know?, That's Christmas To Me, Please Santa -- Please and Thank You Good luck and don't worry when videos get blocked. We all know the system and the Pentaholics will guide you through the copyright process. Have fun as you dive into this very large rabbit hole.
Hello and thanks for watching! I really enjoyed this performance 😁 i can't wait to see more! And thank you for such a lovely welcome to the world of PTX! 😁 I swear, I'm a fan already after just one song! I love that song anyway, but this version was so special! What i talented group! My mind was blown away completely! My friend and manager Luke said they didn't use instruments and I was like "ok, might be fun"... I got so much more than I bargained for! 😲 I'm absolutely loving it! Very excited to do more! Thanks again for watching and for such a nice comment! 🥰 it means the world! It hopefully won't be long before my next reaction 🤣 👍
Subscribed for not Pentatonix or PTX. PTX do all genres and are fantastic in all. Over 200 videos and tons of live performances and special videos n tv appearances to choose from. There is one reactor with over 300 reactions and there are more to come. Every music video is good. They are the Kings of Christmas , have won 3 Grammys n have a Star of Fame Check out Come All Year Faithful, Fact Punk, 90s Dance Medley, O Holy Night, Bohemian Rhapsody or even the Evolution of Michael Jackson
Thanks for subscribing, and I'm glad you enjoyed the reaction! 🙂 yeah I've heard they've made loads of great songs! I can't wait to hear them all! 😁 some of those you've just mentioned sound really great, I'm really excited to see and hear more! 😁
This is a script I have saved for this very situation. Although they have changed labels since the first of the year, so we'll see how it goes from here, I hope it gets better for reactors. After all that is how they became so famous, reactors had a lot to do with that, so I can't understand why the label wanted to block the reactors. Now as you have found out their record company is stupid when it comes to copyright issues. But most reactors I have heard from (about 25-30 or so) have found they copyright the video more than the audio, so if you will 1. make the video more transparent, or blacked out and place some text over it (your name, Pentatonix, “covered with text for copyright”, a logo, raindrops on a window, just anything), and then 2. pause now and then to talk, it will help to keep from getting blocked. With their label and YT nothing is guaranteed, but from what the other reactors have said, these things create an 80%-90% improvement, at least you meet all the written rules, unless the reviewer is having a bad day.
Thank you, there are some good tips there! The dispute didn't actually take that long! Turned out i didn't notice they'd approved it 🤣 the little blocked symbol disappeared a couple of days after I submitted the dispute, but because it said "still in dispute" I just kept waiting 🤣 its only thanks to my friend and manager that I found out I could post it 🤣 but yeah, thanks for the tips there! I'll give them a go if I have difficulty in future 🙂👍 don't forget to subscribe if you haven't already to catch them as they land! 😁
Love this rabbit hole, but, it's only fair to warn you that their "record" lable will copyright strike you if you don't 1-blur the video 2- pause frequently 3-put a filter over the video, that sort of thing.
Thanks for the tips 🙂 but I sorted the copyright thing with a dispute, the label knows its a reaction video under the fair use policy and they allowed me to post it, so its all good 👍 but thank you for saying so 🙂
PTX has lots of great Christmas music. Some of my favorites are their original Christmas songs starting with “That’s Christmas to me”, “Kid on Christmas”, “Please Santa Please”, “Meet me next Christmas”. But if you want see Pentatonix range, watch their Daft Punk medley, the Evolution of Michael Jackson, their Amazing Grace, and their cover of John Lennon’s Imagine, and Bohemian Rhapsody.
Oh, Welcome to PTX. Enjoy the rabbit hole. You will not be disappointed.
The members of #Pentatonix. In this video we have:
• First verse: Tall blond guy, Scott Hoying, lyric baritone. In describing a man's vocal range, "lyric" means that the actual range exceeds the nominal range. In Scott's case, he sings everywhere from about the middle of a normal bass range through a normal tenor range, with an excellent falsetto on top. In live performances Scott typically takes over the bass harmony line when their bass has a solo.
• Second verse: Bearded guy wearing a stocking cap, Avi (pronounced Ah'-vee, emphasis on the first syllable) Kaplan, lyric bass. Avi is an operatically trained basso profundo - his lowest notes have blown out speakers in live performances - but his range extends to somewhere in the middle of a normal tenor range. If this were a live performance you'd be hearing Scott singing the bass line during Avi's solo, but if you listen carefully you can hear the bass starting up during Scott's solo, and the voice doesn't change as it continues into Avi's solo. So what gives? Early on, they decided that when they're recording in the studio for release on an album, it's worth a small cheat to improve the audio quality. The bass records one track with the bass line for the entire song, and a separate track with his solo, which is then layered in over the bass track. And since this is an official video of a song that was released on an album, that's Avi you hear singing bass while he's also soloing in the baritone and tenor parts of his range.
• Third verse: The only woman in Pentatonix, Kirstin (also called Kirstie, which rhymes with thirsty) Maldonado. Kirstin sings everywhere from a low alto through coloratura soprano, the highest female range. And she has fantastic whistle notes on top of that. Lately Pentatonix has begun referring to her as an "alto soprano."
• Fourth verse: Guy wearing a wide-brimmed hat, Mitch Grassi (pronounced Grah'-see, emphasis on the first syllable), natural contratenor. No one is certain whether Mitch can sing higher than Kirstin or Kirstin can sing higher than Mitch; I suspect that it varies from day to day, though everyone agrees that Kirstin has better whistle notes. Mitch is known for his ethereally beautiful (some say "angelic") high vocals. Shawn Stockman, of Boyz II Men, said Mitch has "one of the prettiest voices I have ever heard in my life." Mitch switches seamlessly from chest voice to mixed voice to head voice. He has a range of just over six octaves. And we call that stunned look people get the first time they realize that the beautiful high voice is coming from a man, "being Mitch slapped."
• The fifth member of Pentatonix (PTX for short) is Kevin Olusola (pronounced Oh-loosh"-oh-luh', primary emphasis on the second syllable, secondary emphasis on the fourth), beatboxer extraordinaire. We don't get to hear Kevin sing as often as we'd like because he's generally too busy being the entire percussion section, but when he does sing he has a lovely tenor voice that occasionally descends to the uppermost reaches of a baritone range. He's also known for the beauty of his falsetto, which goes higher than Mitch's and Kirstin's voices. Kevin has perfect pitch. He began piano lessons at age 4, cello at age 6, and alto saxophone at age 10. When he was a teenager he performed at Carnegie Hall twice, once on the cello and once on the saxophone. He beatboxes while playing the cello, which he refers to as "celloboxing." He graduated from Yale in 2011 with a pre-med major and had already been accepted to Yale Medical School when he gave up his dream of becoming a surgeon to pursue his dream of becoming a professional beatboxer instead. He speaks five languages fluently: English, French, German, Spanish, and Mandarin Chinese. He's one of the kindest people in the world, and when he laughs the whole planet seems like a brighter place.
In 2017 Avi found it necessary to leave Pentatonix, for a variety of personal reasons. He has since gone on to have a very successful solo career, and I strongly recommend subscribing to his UA-cam channel, which you can find here: youtube.com/@AviKaplanMusic
Avi's replacement joined in either late 2017 or early 2018 (depending on how you figure it) and has now been with Pentatonix longer than Avi was. You'll see him in all of their newer videos:
• The second black member of Pentatonix is Matt Sallee (pronounced Suh-lee', emphasis on the second syllable), lyric bass. In addition to being the newest member of Pentatonix Matt is also the youngest member, and I'm told that bass voices improve with age. Matt's range seems to be growing on a daily basis right now. His lowest notes don't blow out speakers (though that may change within a year or two). But on his high end Matt is very close to matching Kevin's falsetto.. To find his current range I recommend listening to a recent live performance of "Hallelujah." You can find one here: ua-cam.com/video/Se0BmDdZuX0/v-deo.html Matt's arrangement of the second verse seems to be designed to show off his full range, which is astonishing. I believe Matt has the largest range of any member of Pentatonix, past or present, though Scott is getting close to matching him.
Always great to find a new reactor to the incomparable Pentatonix! I very much enjoyed your reaction. The look on your face when you first heard Mitch's gorgeous counter-tenor voice is fondly referred to as a Mitch-slap. Yours was lovely!
Subbed for more PTX!!!! ❤
Ah wow thank you! 😁 yeah that gave me tingles! 😲 it was epic! "Mitch slap" 🤣 i love that! Thanks for subscribing! More PTX will be coming soon! Welcome to the channel 😁
Hello. Thank you for reacting to PTX. They are amazing. I subbed to see you do more.😊
Hey! 😁 you're very welcome, it absolutely loved it! Thank you for subscribing, I can't wait to react to more! 🙂 welcome to the channel! 👍
Where #Pentatonix came from:
Kirstin, Mitch, and Scott all grew up in Arlington, Texas. All of them were involved with community musical theater as children, and Mitch met both Scott and Kirstin there (separately) when they were still pre-teens, and became friends with each of them. However, Scott and Kirstin didn't meet each other until they were fourteen and in the same high school class. All three were choir geeks (duh), and they quickly became best friends in high school. And if you're wondering what was in the water in Arlington in the early 1990s that three such remarkably talented people should all be born in such proximity, you aren't the only one.
There was some kind of singing contest to meet the stars of _Glee,_ and the three of them wanted to enter, so they formed a trio which they named "The Trio." (I know; not very imaginative. They're somewhat better with that now.) They lost the contest, but they kept The Trio together anyway; they performed at school functions and occasionally on local television. Pentaholics still refer to these three as "the trio," and the trio is the heart of Pentatonix.
Kirstin and Scott were a year ahead of Mitch; they graduated in 2010, when Mitch was still in eleventh grade, and both went away for their freshman year of college. Kirstin went to the University of Oklahoma (with a full ride scholarship!), and Scott went to the University of Southern Califonia.
Scott is a very outgoing person, so he immediately began looking around for extracurricular activities where he could meet people and make new friends, and he found an award-winning amateur a cappella group named SoCal VoCals, which he joined. While there he met a former member named Ben Bram, who at the time was a coach on NBC's a cappella competition show named _"The Sing-Off."_ A cappella groups would audition for the show, and those that passed appeared throughout the season. There was a panel of three judges, all professional musicians, who would critique each performance. Along the way some groups would be eliminated, narrowing the field, and at the end of the season viewers would be invited to vote on a winner. The winning group would receive $200,000 and a recording contract with Epic, a minor subsidiary of Sony, the show's sponsor.
Scott was intrigued. He thought The Trio could be competitive, and if they could get a recording contract they could have a career doing what they most loved, with the people they most loved. So he talked to Kirstin, who thought his idea had promise, and at the end of their first year of college the two of them headed back to Arlington to be there for Mitch's graduation and to talk with Mitch about Scott's idea.
Meanwhile, back in Arlington Mitch had been having a very difficult year. His best friends weren't there, and as an out-of-the-closet young gay man with an unusually high voice he was being seriously bullied. And unfortunately, since the bullying was ostensibly for his voice he was quickly developing the notion that there was something wrong with his voice and that no one would want to hear him sing. So when Scott presented his idea Mitch was on board; it was a way to get away from the bullies. He had doubts about his ability to carry his weight in the group, because of the bullying, but he was willing to try, and if Scott and Kirstin said they could win, well, maybe they could.
So with everyone agreed, Scott called Ben Bram to find out how to arrange for an audition, and this is where they met their first setback. _The Sing-Off_ had a size requirement; the minimum size allowed was five. The Trio needed two new members and a new name. They were stumped.
Ben suggested that they'd profit from adding a rhythm section: a bass and a beatboxer, and he knew the perfect person to recommend for the bass, a guy named Avi Kaplan. They talked to Avi, and he was very interested, so that took care of the bass, but where to find the beatboxer? Ben didn't have any suggestions. So in desperation they typed "beatboxer" into a UA-cam search box and the first hit they got was a black guy playing a classical piece on the cello and beatboxing at the same time. And all of them said, "Wow! He's the one! How can we get in touch with him?"
They were in luck. At the time UA-cam had something called UA-cam messages, which would allow private messages between members (now discontinued), so they sent Kevin a private message: "Hey! We really love your stuff, and we wonder if you'd be interested in flying across the country to join four strangers to audition for an a cappella competition show on television?" And Kevin messaged them back: "Normally I'd be there in a heart beat; I love a cappella and have been in a cappella groups before. But right now I'm studying for my final exams for my pre-med major from Yale." Oh. That sounded pretty definite; better keep looking. So they kept looking, and they found someone, but he was no Kevin Olusola. Oh well; you work with what you have.
And two weeks later Kevin messaged them again: "Good news! I just graduated. If the gig's still open I can fly out." He arrived the day before their audition. Mitch had to skip his graduation ceremony to attend the audition. But even with just a day of rehearsal they still passed the audition; they were in.
Oh, yes, the name. Pentatonix is named for the pentatonic scale, which has five (penta) tones just as Pentatonix has five (Penta) singers. In other words, it's a fancier way of saying they're now "The Quintet." 😂
Pentatonix appeared throughout season three of _The Sing-Off,_ and eventually won. All those performances are available on UA-cam and are well worth watching, preferably in order so you can see how they grew throughout the season. Some of them are as good as anything they've done since (which is saying a lot) and are only available in those old videos. (Note: If you decide to react to these, be sure and watch the versions that contain the show's introduction of Pentatonix just before the performance, and the judges' critiques of the performance, and any comments Pentatonix made backstage.)
So, they'd won _The Sing-Off,_ complete with recording contract. Time to move to California permanently and begin recording. And a week later Epic reneged on the contract, saying that they didn't know how to market a cappella. But at this point Pentatonix weren't willing to give up; they *wanted* that career they'd been working toward. So they pooled their winnings and lived frugally. The four men shared two apartments, to cut down on expenses. They arranged music and rehearsed every day, and when they had a song ready they used their iPhones to record themselves anywhere they could find good acoustics, and sometimes in places with acoustics that were just okay. And they posted to UA-cam. Their fans from _The Sing-Off_ quickly found them there, and subscribed, and they began to get more views and more subscribers, and to pick up a few patrons. In fact, they were going viral. And Sony noticed, and approached them with an offer: Perhaps Pentatonix would like a recording contract with Madison Gate, another minor subsidiary? Hmmm. 🤔 Would they like a recording contract? Might have to think about that, for a second or two. Darn right they'd like a recording contract!
And then came "Daft Punk Medley," and Pentatonix won their first Grammy. And again, Sony took notice, and approached Pentatonix: "We've been thinking about it and we believe you might find a better fit with our flagship label, RCA. Are you interested?" They've been with RCA ever since, though I believe they just signed with a new publisher. They go on tours world wide and perform to sold-out venues. They put out at *least* one album a year, frequently more (though it's beginning to look like they aren't putting out an album in 2024; I think they've run out of Christmas songs). One album has gone Gold and one has gone Platinum twice. They have three Grammys and recently received a star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame. And they are the only a cappella band to have won so much as *one* Grammy, or to be represented on the Walk of Fame.
The most important part of this story is the fact that Pentatonix began with The Trio, three best friends so close to one another that they might as well be family. And from the very beginning, everyone who has joined with them to form Pentatonix has been incorporated into that family-of-choice. As a family, Pentatonix takes care of all its members. One of the things this means is that everyone gets time in the spotlight.
Pentatonix has no lead singer. Yes, some songs call for a lead, and when that happens Pentatonix chooses the member whose voice best suits the song. This is one way that everyone gets time in the spotlight, and it means that no one is burdened with having to always be the lead. And when songs don't require a lead, Pentatonix frequently has each member solo on one or more verses. The members of Pentatonix are able to set their egos aside because each of them is already receiving as much acclaim as any healthy ego could need. And that leaves them free to concentrate on taking care of both the people they love and the music they love.
This focus on doing whatever is best for the music is, in my opinion, *the* thing that makes Pentatonix greater than the sum of its parts. And their focus on caring for one another is the reason we like them as people, not just as singers.
Pentatonix a "brief" background.
They won The Sing Off in 2011. They made a guest starring appearance on America′s Got Talent as non−competitors a couple of years after that.
The founding members are:-
Scott Hoying (tall blond guy, natural baritone but has an impressive five−to−six octave range, can go all the way up to high tenor and down to bass, sings the bass lines when the usual bass singer takes the lead);
Kirstin "Kirstie" (Rhymes with "Thirsty") Maldonado (the only female member, natural mezzo soprano, but can go down to low alto and as high as upper soprano, also can sing in whistle notes that are off the scale); For a time in 2018 between the group’s tours, had the female lead on Broadway in the production of “Kinky Boots”.
Mitch Grassi (a true contra−tenor, can hit high notes in his chest voice with ease and go WAY higher in his falsetto, also with ease);
Avriel "Avi" Kaplan (dark beard and long hair), true basso profundo, trained as an opera singer, also can go up into the tenor range; and
Kevin "KO" Olusola (beatboxer extraordinaire, also is a world−class cellist who plays cello on some of their songs, has a beautiful high tenor voice and gets occasional lead vocal solos as well, graduated pre−med from Yale and speaks several languages including Mandarin Chinese).
Kirstie, Scott & Mitch grew up together in Arlington, Texas, and began performing together as children in local youth musical theater. They ended up in high school together and performed in the choir. While there, they formed an a cappella group called The Trio which had several performance videos go viral on UA-cam, most notably a cover of Lady Gaga′s "Telephone". The three of them are best friends and consider themselves to be almost siblings.
Scott & Kirstie (who were a class year ahead of Mitch) both graduated high school in 2010 and went their separate ways to different colleges, Scott at USC and Kirstie at Oklahoma.
While at USC, Scott joined a USC−based a cappella group called the SoCal VoCals, where he met alumnus Ben Bram, who was now an arranger and vocal coach for the NBC TV show The Sing Off, an a cappella competition show. Ben convinced Scott to get The Trio to audition for the show. The three reunited (Mitch had to skip high school graduation ceremonies to go) in Los Angeles for the audition.
They found out that the rules had changed, so they needed at least five members to audition. Ben put them together with Avi (a native of Visalia, California), who he knew from Avi′s performing days at Mount San Antonio College in California. They found Kevin (from Kentucky) through one of his UA-cam videos that had gone viral featuring him playing the cello and beatboxing at the same time, a talent that Kevin coined as "Cello−Boxing".
Kevin arrived in Los Angeles literally the day before the audition! Scott came up with the name "Pentatonix" after the pentatonic scale. They performed a re−arrangement of "The Telephone" for the audition and passed, despite having been together as a five−piece group for less that 24 hours!
They won The Sing Off that season (all of the performances are available on UA-cam), in which they received a substantial cash prize AND a record contract with Epic Records. They pooled their prize winnings together and all moved to Los Angeles, and all got apartments right next door to each other in the same building.
But just a week later, Epic dropped them because the marketing people didn′t think an a cappella group could sell records.
Instead of giving up, they were determined and began recording their own songs on UA-cam, hiring Ben Bram as their producer and arranger. These usually consisted of the five of them sitting on a couch and performing cover songs live.
Several of the videos went viral, and Sony (the parent company of Epic) decided to give them another chance by placing them on one of their smaller labels, Madison Gate. They released two secular EPs and one Christmas EP on Madison Gate, all of which were strong sellers.
But when their cover of a medley of songs by Daft Punk not only went super−viral, but also won them their first Grammy, they were promoted all the way up to RCA Records, Sony′s top label.
They began writing and producing their own songs in addition to their covers, began putting out a Christmas album just about annually (which has become their best−selling genre), and have had multi−platinum album sales, sold−out world tours, and have won two additional Grammys.
Avi began getting burned out with all of the touring and heavy recording schedule, was suffering from anxiety and personal problems, and learned that his mother had been diagnosed with cancer in 2017. He announced he was departing from the group and taking some time away from the music industry.
Matt Sallee (from Baltimore) joined them in September 2017. He did only become official when they renewed their RCA contract in February 2018, but he recorded with them in September as a featured artist and went on their Christmas tour as a featured artist, as well. When he attended the audition for the group, he had already mastered the Bass part for most if not all their past catalogue. He was successful and has proved that he fits in well with the group.
If you think there have been other changes to the line up - look again. This is the ONLY change. Kirstie and Mitch are like chameleons and change looks frequently.
It is an often debated subject among the Pentaholics as to just how soon we introduce the "Beginners Guide" as we don't want to overdo the introduction. This is a compilation of snips of a whole load of songs which PTX have released. It highlights each member with some of their solos and then a brief history in video. It is quite long - 14+ minutes and is a little dated now (Feb 2020) but is a good watch ua-cam.com/video/lDxIfwfCmQE/v-deo.html&pp=ygUdYmVnaW5uZXJzIGd1aWRlIHRvIHBlbnRhdG9uaXg%3D.
After a year away from music, Avi has now returned as a phenomenal solo artist in the Folk/Americana/Roots genre.
Ben Bram has been in charge of their production, including arranging and directing from the beginning. He is often referred to as the sixth member. Scott and Kevin are major players in the arrangements, but every member contributes. A good watch is "The Recording of Evergreen" where a camera was invited into the studio for the second week of recording.
Also, all members are songwriters for both Pentatonix and their own solo work.
Ed Boyer who mixes everything of theirs (even the HWB Livestream) is the one who pulled Ben Bram into the sing off in the first place.
They have Grammy wins for Daft Punk Medley, Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy, and Jolene featuring Dolly Parton. They were nominated for a 4th Grammy for their album Evergreen, but didn't win. Another nomination for Holidays Around the World album in the 2024 list!
Kirstie became a new mum which caused a pause in touring after their Evergreen Christmas tour 2021. Mid March 2023 Kirstie has announced that she is engaged to Ben Hausdorff, their videographer. They married 22/04/24! Not clear how the future is to follow, but Kirstie has announced that she is expecting number 2 in early 2025.
Not critical to the groups touring schedule, but Scott, Kevin and Matt are all married. Kevin and Matt with children.
They have a star on the Hollywood walk of fame installed in February 2023. They are the only a capella group with a star!
They came 3rd in the 2023 Masked Singer performing as "California Rolls" being unmasked in May 23.
Things you need to know because if you get these wrong Pentaholics will come after you with pitch forks and torches! Ha Ha!!
1- There is NO Auto-Tune; what you hear is actually what they sing. They really are that good. One exception is the 90's Dance Medley where Cher used autotune as an effect - so they had to.
2- What produces everything that you hear in the video, you see in the official video. If there is an instrument used in the music, you see it on screen. In the 2022 Christmas album, there are some instruments not featured throughout the album.
3- They never release something on video they can’t reproduce with the exact same quality live on-stage.
4. It is "Pentatonix" there is no "The".
I’m not entirely sure you’re familiar with the meaning of the word “brief.”
@@YorkshiremanReacts26 hence the "Speech Marks"!!
@@alan-freeman I just don’t want people overwhelming Mikey. It’s taken a lot of time and effort to encourage him to even start doing reactions in the first place. Of course I want as many people as possible commenting and giving him tidbits of information. Just not half an encyclopaedias worth all at once.
@@YorkshiremanReacts26 I understand your caution, however, once you break the PTX "wall", you will have a lot of people wanting to let the reactor know about the group. @alan-freedman has the bio on "cut/paste" and is a good way to get all the info to the reactor. His comments are always helpful. This is my first time on Mikey's page and it seems like he will do well with his honest reactions.
TX so much. We Pentaholics love our favorite group ever. PTX has 20,4 million subscribers on their UA-cam channel. They tour regularly and are so famous the venues are sold out. So glad you can experience them. Greetings from South Africa
They're awesome! I've heard literally one song and I'm already a fan! 😁 thank you for watching! Feel free to subscribe for more reactions! I'm SO excited to hear more! 😁
Definitely clicked for the Pentatonix! I've been following them sine 2011 and never tire of new people learning about this highly talented and inspiring group! Christmas is their forte! They have dozens of Christmas songs available. Recommend "O Come All Ye Faithful" so you can see how they put their spin on the holidays!
Thanks for watching! 🙂 I can't wait to react to more of their performances! I've got my friend and manager helping me to react to them in a sort of order? This was definitely a good place to start! Feel free to subscribe to see more as I post them! 🙂
Yes, I see. Probably a good idea, since he knows the group. There are, literally, HUNDREDS of videos! Have fun on your journey!
@vickiandrews4087 oh yeah he knows them really well! 🙂 Head over to his channel and watch his PTX reactions! It's TYMR 🙂
I look forward to more Pentatonix reactions, I subscribed for it!
Thanks for watching and subscribing! 😁 more PTX reactions will be coming soon! This one was so good and it's had such a great response! Welcome to the channel! 🙂
PTX has lots of great Christmas music. Some of my favorites are their original Christmas songs starting with “That’s Christmas to me”, “Kid on Christmas”, “Please Santa Please”, “Meet me next Christmas”.
But if you want see Pentatonix range, watch their Daft Punk medley, the Evolution of Michael Jackson, their Amazing Grace, and their cover of John Lennon’s Imagine.
Oh wow I love the sound of all of that! 😁 I'll bear it in mind! My friend who is also my manager is helping me to react in a kind of order where I can understand the groups history 🙂 I'm sure I'll get around to ALL of those! 😁 thanks for watching! I can't wait to do more!!
Someone will tell you to also start following the acapella groups Voiceplay and Home Free. (So it may as well be I.) The setup is vaguely the same... two fairly high singers, one low singer, one VERY low singer, and a person who's primarily a beatboxer. But each group has a different vibe, personality, and set of specialties. "Acapella" means that that's the group's dedication as a whole. But they may occasionally put out songs with instruments (such as Kevin Olusola's cello). If instruments are used, you see them in the vid. No cheating.
Many current and former members of these groups also have solo YT channels where they do their own thing. Not necessarily acapella. So, that's enough rabbit holes right there to keep you busy for a long time. And if you do go exploring, you'll pick up a lot of new subscribers.
Awesome Reaction -
Thank you! 🙂 I absolutely loved it! It was a beautiful interpretation of a song I've loved for so many years 😁 thanks for watching!
Happy to see a new reactor popping up! This group is great and are amazing.
They began as just the three from High school...Scott Hoying, baritone, Mitch Grassi, countertenor and Kirstin Maldonado, alto-soprano. That were known as The Trio. Once they graduated and entered collage, Scott found out about a TV a capella competition called The Sing-Off. They needed two more people for the group and found Avi Kaplan and opera trained bass and Kevin Olusola a beatboxer who happened to also play the cello and sax. They entered the competition and won ( all the songs they did are available on UA-cam), so they all decided to make a go of the group, took the money and moved to LA to begin their career...only to have Sony cancel the recording contract two weeks later stating they couldn't promote an a capella group sucessfully. But...they didn't stop and began recording their own videos of themselves sitting of a couch, singing and posting their pieces on UA-cam. Within a few months, they gained some notice and persevered, gained patrons and began to hire a film crew and eventually do really great videos. Sony eventally relented and gave them another contract with one of their lesser franchises, Madison Gate.
Now, with years, major shows and parades spotlighting them, Disney doing PTX Specials and two movies featuring them, Grammys and awards under their belt They have just signed on with a major recording company, Republic Records.
Subb'd to hear more PTX!!
Some suggestions:
Since it's still the Christmas season: O Holy Night, Please Santa Please, Pure Imagination/Christmastime is Here, Kiss From A Rose, Silent Night, Mary Did You Know.
Hey thanks for watching and subscribing! And thanks for all that info! Wow! I love learning about how bands find their way to the top, so inspiring!
I'd love to react to something Christmas themed, but because of having to appeal to the copyright about how it's just a reaction video, I don't think I'll have time to do it before Christmas 🙄 i think the appeal for this one took about a week? I'm not sure. But there's still plenty more I can react to, and i can't wait! 😁 thanks for the support! Hopefully it won't be long before my next reaction to PTX arrives! ❤️ thanks again!
They hum better than most people can sing. They won a grammy doing an instrumental song with zero instruments. Dance of the Sugar Plumb Fairy.
My very favorite by them is Amazing Grace. Second is their cover of Radioactive because I love Lindsey Sterling
Subscribed for more Pentatonix (PTX). PTX is the top a cappella band in the world, although there are a few more bands that are great in their own way. To avoid copyright issues, you may need to pause a bit with comments and use image filters. We don’t mind.
They have an extensive song catalog from their 13 year history. The 3 main vocalists are Scott, Kirstin, and Mitch (the 1st, 3rd, and 4th soloists) in this video. They knew each other growing up and sang as The Trio in high school.
In 2011 they added the bass, Avi (2nd singer) and the beatboxer, Kevin, to form PTX. In a cappella, the bass and beatboxer form the rhythm section that provides the foundation for the main vocalists. However, the rhythm section can sing and the main vocalists do effects.
Avi left the band in 2017 and now has a successful solo career. Matt took over as bass so you will see him in their current videos.
Recommend their version of Bohemian Rhapsody or their Grammy winning Daft Punk (Medley).
Thank you for subscribing, and I'm glad you enjoyed the reaction! 😁 I'm really looking forward to reacting to them more! Thanks for the tip about the filter and pausing, I'll try and do that next time! I don't usually like pausing songs but in this case, I may have to 🤣
Also thanks for the info about the band! It's really interesting! 😁 I love learning how bands start, there's always a good story there 🤣 I'm seriously looking forward to listening to more! This one really impressed me 😁 thanks again for watching and subbing! More PTX reactions will be coming soon!
@@MJBReactions Take it from me, your "manager" lol, pausing during the reaction makes absolutely NO difference whatsoever. 💯
@YorkshiremanReacts26 I've never doubted you 🙂 I didn't think it would after thinking about it!
Your friend steered you right, this is the perfect and the classic introduction to Pentatonix.Now to see a totally different side to them, check out their Daft Punk medley. And then to see them as they are today, watch their cover of Seal’s Kiss From a Rose. New subscriber, loved your reaction and good luck with your channel! Peace from Ohio …
Wow thank you for watching and subscribing! 😁 ah my friend has never steered me wrong! I've got every faith in him to guide me through this new journey! 😁 I'm loving it! I'll have to ask him about those! He lines my reactions up for me 😁 he's been right every single time! I don't know what I'd do without him 🥰 hehe. More PTX will be coming soon, thanks again for joining the channel! 🙂
Sending all my best wishes right back to you and Ohio! 😁
Welcome to PTX! No, not related, lol - just destined. 😉Subbed for more!
Thanks for watching and subscribing! 😁 more coming very soon! Welcome to the channel! 🙂
I’m so glad I was able to bring these guys to your attention! And you can bet that there’s some incredible experiences to come!! Watch this space! 👏🏻❤️
I'm glad you brought them to my attention! 😁 it was really something else! When you said there was no music i had something totally different in mind! 🤣 then I watched it and was blown away! Where do you find all these great artists??? 🤣
Great that you turned one of your friends to this group! Hi from Vancouver Island, BC !! Waves. Hope to see another reaction or two by you from PTX before the New Year!!
. It was hard to do both because the tall blond would have to take over his bass part while he was singing. Finally it just became too much. About 3 months after he left, a gentleman by the name of Matt Sallee became the new bass and has been with the group ever since.
Subscribed.
If you decide to continue down this rabbit hole you can expect a *lot* of new subscriptions; #Pentatonix fans are enthusiastic about reaction videos to anything our favorite band puts out.
Some useful terminology:
• pentaholic = Pentatonix fan
• PTX = abbreviation for Pentatonix - extremely useful in searches
• the trio = Kirstin, Mitch, and Scott
• Mitch slap = what you get the first time you realize how incredible Mitch's voice is.
• Avi-lanche = like a Mitch slap, except with Avi instead of Mitch.
• KO = like a Mitch slap or Avi-lanche, except with Kevin Olusola.
• Matt attack = like a Mitch slap, Avi-lanche, or KO, except with Matt.
• Great Scott! (or ButterScott) = like a Mitch slap, Avi-lanche, KO, or Matt attack, except with Scott.
• Unfortunately, we haven't been able to come up with a good name for what Kirstin does to us. 😔
(Note: You never become immune to Mitch slaps, Avi-lanches, KOs, Matt attacks, Great Scotts, or the similar things that Kirstin does. They always have the ability to surprise us.)
You can't go wrong listening to anything Pentatonix has released; it's all gorgeous. But all pentaholics have our own personal favorites that we like to recommend. These are some of my favorites:
• "Hallelujah" ( a recent live performance, with Matt and a new arrangement: ua-cam.com/video/Se0BmDdZuX0/v-deo.html )
• "Imagine" (the official video)
• "The Prayer"
• "Bohemian Rhapsody" (the official video)
• "Sound of Silence"
• "Run To You" (an original, written by Avi and Kevin)
• "Happy Now" (another original)
• "Daft Punk Medley" (their first Grammy winner)
• "O Come All Ye Faithful"
• "O Holy Night" (they did a totally new recording for their 2023 Christmas album; you can find the official video here: ua-cam.com/video/ReJAU2mXm8w/v-deo.htmlsi=upj2Q3vLqigVEtgm )
• "Pure Imagination / Christmas Time is Here"
• "Kiss From a Rose"
• "You're A Mean One, Mr. Grinch"
• "The Lucky Ones" (an original, written by Scott)
• "Thank You" (an original, written by Scott and his then fiancé, now husband, Mark Manio Hoying, shortly after the end of COVID lockdown, about how much easier it was to get through that time because they were together)
• "The Kevin Show/Kevin's Fifth." This is a live feed from a concert they gave in Owensboro, Kentucky, Kevin's home town: ua-cam.com/video/DbCasvcNx78/v-deo.html and this is the very special performance of "Kevin's Fifth" (without "The Kevin Show") from Kevin's birthday in 2022: ua-cam.com/video/7m0g7xThIWs/v-deo.htmlsi=99F7iG5qkdgPCm43
Additionally, *if* you're familiar with _"The Wizard Of Oz"_ (the 1939 movie starring Judy Garland), I recommend "Todrick Hall - The Wizard of Ahhhs (ft. Pentatonix)": ua-cam.com/video/QkVeKb2igrg/v-deo.html If you've never seen the movie it won't make sense, so take care of that first. Oh, and be sure to set aside enough time for your reaction; "Wizard of Ahhhs" is something like 8 minutes long.
I subbed too for more PTX reactions!! Go down this rabbit hole and your subscriptions will go waaaaay up!
Thank you for watching and subscribing! 😁 oh trust me my sub count has already shot up from just ONE reaction! 🤣 I'm very excited to do more soon! 😁👍
They are not related, but 3 of them went to Martin High School in Arlington, Texas. If you want more people visiting your channel, react to them some more. The Pentaholics will follow! (But don’t do Little Drummer Boy. I am in my 12th year of winning the Little Drummer Boy Challenge and I want to keep winning!) You are so cute!!!
I definitely plan on reacting to more! I think they're amazing!!! 😁 feel free to subscribe if you haven't already 🙂
what’s the little drummer boy challenge??
You could also do their live version of this and be really weirded out when it sounds almost exactly the same as the production one
Welcome to PTX or Pentatonix like the Pentatonic Scale. You will be overwhelmed with their talents and their fan base known as Pentaholics.
They tour the world from Singapore to Tokyo and Asia, then England and the UK, with little breaks and then the USA until October when they change to their Christmas Albums. Once you watch some of their videos and know a few songs, there is a "Beginner's Guide to PTX".
They have multiple Albums and hundreds of songs. They own Christmas including a NBC special a few years ago.
Christmas: Kevin has an arrangement of "O Come All Ye Faithfull" that will surprise you as he honors his parents African Heritage.
Mary, Did You Know?, That's Christmas To Me, Please Santa -- Please and Thank You
Good luck and don't worry when videos get blocked. We all know the system and the Pentaholics will guide you through the copyright process.
Have fun as you dive into this very large rabbit hole.
Hello and thanks for watching! I really enjoyed this performance 😁 i can't wait to see more! And thank you for such a lovely welcome to the world of PTX! 😁 I swear, I'm a fan already after just one song! I love that song anyway, but this version was so special! What i talented group! My mind was blown away completely! My friend and manager Luke said they didn't use instruments and I was like "ok, might be fun"... I got so much more than I bargained for! 😲
I'm absolutely loving it! Very excited to do more! Thanks again for watching and for such a nice comment! 🥰 it means the world! It hopefully won't be long before my next reaction 🤣 👍
Hello just subscribed cribe more Pentatonix please
Awesome! 😁 thanks for subscribing, and I'm glad you enjoyed the reaction! 🙂 more will be coming soon! 👍
Subscribed for not Pentatonix or PTX.
PTX do all genres and are fantastic in all. Over 200 videos and tons of live performances and special videos n tv appearances to choose from. There is one reactor with over 300 reactions and there are more to come. Every music video is good. They are the Kings of Christmas , have won 3 Grammys n have a Star of Fame
Check out Come All Year Faithful, Fact Punk, 90s Dance Medley, O Holy Night, Bohemian Rhapsody or even the Evolution of Michael Jackson
Thanks for subscribing, and I'm glad you enjoyed the reaction! 🙂 yeah I've heard they've made loads of great songs! I can't wait to hear them all! 😁 some of those you've just mentioned sound really great, I'm really excited to see and hear more! 😁
This is a script I have saved for this very situation. Although they have changed labels since the first of the year, so we'll see how it goes from here, I hope it gets better for reactors. After all that is how they became so famous, reactors had a lot to do with that, so I can't understand why the label wanted to block the reactors.
Now as you have found out their record company is stupid when it comes to copyright issues. But most reactors I have heard from (about 25-30 or so) have found they copyright the video more than the audio, so if you will
1. make the video more transparent, or blacked out and place some text over it (your name, Pentatonix, “covered with text for copyright”, a logo, raindrops on a window, just anything), and then 2. pause now and then to talk, it will help to keep from getting blocked. With their label and YT nothing is guaranteed, but from what the other reactors have said, these things create an 80%-90% improvement, at least you meet all the written rules, unless the reviewer is having a bad day.
Thank you, there are some good tips there! The dispute didn't actually take that long! Turned out i didn't notice they'd approved it 🤣 the little blocked symbol disappeared a couple of days after I submitted the dispute, but because it said "still in dispute" I just kept waiting 🤣 its only thanks to my friend and manager that I found out I could post it 🤣 but yeah, thanks for the tips there! I'll give them a go if I have difficulty in future 🙂👍 don't forget to subscribe if you haven't already to catch them as they land! 😁
@@MJBReactions You don't need to do any of these things. I didn't.
Love this rabbit hole, but, it's only fair to warn you that their "record" lable will copyright strike you if you don't 1-blur the video 2- pause frequently 3-put a filter over the video, that sort of thing.
Thanks for the tips 🙂 but I sorted the copyright thing with a dispute, the label knows its a reaction video under the fair use policy and they allowed me to post it, so its all good 👍 but thank you for saying so 🙂
Mary, don't you know? - Pentatonix
Mary Did you know.*
Is that a song of theirs? 🤣
Mary, did you Know ?
That's right, Mary, Did you know.
OMG .... cut your hair ! LOL
OMG. No! Lol.
You should listen to "Hallelujah - Veteran's Version" by Sailor Jerri
ua-cam.com/video/SOIjNk__0m4/v-deo.html
PTX has lots of great Christmas music. Some of my favorites are their original Christmas songs starting with “That’s Christmas to me”, “Kid on Christmas”, “Please Santa Please”, “Meet me next Christmas”.
But if you want see Pentatonix range, watch their Daft Punk medley, the Evolution of Michael Jackson, their Amazing Grace, and their cover of John Lennon’s Imagine, and Bohemian Rhapsody.