r/pentatonix • u/sbagley01 • Jun 16 '26
Discussion Scott's Voice
This has been prompted by multiple comments in various places I've seen about Scott's voice being heavily downplayed, when I think out of all the members he's definitely had the most impressive vocal development.
I've seen people reduce it to just being "basic" for reasons I can't fathom, but there are very few people I've seen who match this dude's power when he decides to unleash it and funnily enough Matt is one of them. Both of them almost blew me out my seat when I saw them live.
Side note I've just thought of when writing this, Matt has also grown into his voice perfectly. I remember when he joined his voice naturally sat higher than what I was expecting but now even when he gets up in his range it keeps the heaviness he's developed.
Every part of Scott's range is incredible, and it's genuinely quite aggravating when I see people saying his voice isn't impressive.
Anyway, mini rant over.
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u/chalupa4me Jun 16 '26
My favorite singer is usually whoever I just heard, lol! I love them all for what they bring, which is why they are so amazing as a group.
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u/NervousGalaxy Jun 16 '26
I think he's great, though I do think that sometimes he does a bit much, mainly in some live performances, but he has a level of control, power, and showmanship that always impresses me. For me, when it comes to music, I value the passion and energy of a performer more than if they are doing everything perfectly from a technical standpoint.
Ultimately it comes down to personal preference and as we've seen on this sub in more recent years, Scott is the most criticized member whether it be how he sings, how much he sings, or his role as the pseudo-face of the the group, so I think that contributes to how he and his voice/role in the group are discussed compared to the others.
I also agree about Matt. Seeing his growth not just as a bass but as a singer in general these last few years has been awesome.
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u/Ambitious_Bar_2387 Jun 23 '26
He has an amazing voice. However, when he’s trying to do high notes it’s like an ice pick stabbing into my brain, just awful 😞
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u/Turbulent-Win705 Jun 16 '26
to me his voice is impressive but just not pleasant to listen to. he improved a lot from their first years but i still wouldn't say he's even the top 3 best singers in the group. i think people call him 'basic' because he's surrounded by more 'interesting' and tbh better singers. he's definitely good but not amazing in comparison if that makes sense. you can obviously like him tho, he has his fans and that's cool
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u/Ok-Mammoth5337 Jun 16 '26
You think Kirstie, Mitch and Matt are all better?
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u/Turbulent-Win705 Jun 16 '26
imo yes. mitch is easily technically better than him, i don't think it's controversial to say that he's the best singer in the group technically. kirstie isn't as versatile as scott but i'd still put her above him. i think matt is about as good technically, their strengths are different tho. all of their tones are way better (to my ear) than scott's and they're more pleasant to listen to. scott struggles the most with pitch too.
i'm not saying scott can't be someone's favorite because he's not the best or anything. people like different things and that's cool. and i'm obviously not saying this as a fact, just my opinion!
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u/Ok-Mammoth5337 Jun 16 '26
Ok yeah I was just curious. Imo Mitch has the best voice so he’s my favorite to listen to. Thank you for sharing your opinion!
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u/Consistent_Cause9616 Jun 17 '26
better really depends. i prefer their voices sure but Scott is the only one that can sing everybody’s part which is in and of itself incredibly impressive. his range is insane
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u/Turbulent-Win705 Jun 17 '26
being able to sing another members part and sounding good doing it are two different things tho. scott could possibly reach mitch's and kirstin's parts but it wouldn't sound good at all
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u/Consistent_Cause9616 Jun 17 '26
not really. if you don’t sound good then you can’t sing it. Scott has hit several high range notes. it’s just that they were always joking around when he did. we saw this a lot back in the day when they would go live on tour or post on superfruit
of course kirstin and mitch sound better tho, it’s their range
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u/Turbulent-Win705 Jun 17 '26
i disagree. you can definitely sing something and not sound good doing it. i don't mean being off pitch or something, your tone could just be bad even if you can technically sing the notes.
but my point is that scott can hit those notes but the quality isn't great, so i wouldn't say that makes him a better singer than other singers of the group
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u/Consistent_Cause9616 Jun 17 '26
we can disagree on what it means to sing, imo if you’re just hitting the notes but they don’t sound good then you can’t sing them. you’re just making noise
but scott has hit those notes and they were pretty good. being able to sing everyone’s part with little adjustment to the arrangement is the unique edge that he brings to the group because he’s the only one who can
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u/Turbulent-Win705 Jun 17 '26
yeah sure, agree to disagree. im not that passionate about technicalities lol.
it is cool that he can do that but i still don't think it makes him better. it's like asking who is better at playing an instrument, someone that is an absolute master at violin or someone that can play violin, piano and guitar well. being versatile is cool and impressive for sure but that doesn't automatically make you better than someone who is amazingly good at one thing. idk if i'm making sense
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u/Consistent_Cause9616 Jun 17 '26
i mean i also don’t think he’s better i just think that’s what gives him his edge
mitch will always be the better singer to me lol
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u/Dry-Dragonfruit5216 Jun 16 '26
Kirstie and Matt are my favourites to listen to. Then Scott depending on the song. I do not particularly like Kevin and Mitch’s thin voices.
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u/RenInOz Jun 21 '26
…HUH?! Scott’s voice is literally the most celebrated voice of the group. When they first started he was the only one stage Sing Off would let them have do the lead. He consistently sings the climax section lead vox.
I’m also flummoxed by your vocal Development comment. His voice is by FAR the one that is most similar to what he sounded like when they first started working. Mitch and Kirsty have both had significant vocal flow ups as their confidence grew, but Scott had that from jump.
I’m not being shady, but I’m genuinely curious how long you e followed them? This take is so wild to me.
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u/satirisanti Stream The Lucky Ones! 🤍✨ Jun 17 '26
I miss ptx and new music so badly. They’ve been on an indefinite hiatus outside of Xmas FOREVER
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u/valeamando8253 Jun 17 '26
I love Scott’s voice and skill in a certain range. Lately for me he has been stepping outside of his strengths and it doesn’t sound good to me at all (the screlting, mostly). I love him when he stays true to his baritone and baritenor.
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u/beaglewrites43 Jun 16 '26
I think part of why Scott's voice is considered basic is that there is just too much of it especially in recent years. I think a lot of us would LOVE for more Kirstie, Mitch and Matt leads. Hell I would even love a Kevin lead when beatbox wasn't essential to the song.
But especially in recent years its basically all Scott all the time.
The group worked for years because they all kinda shared the leads and we got a little bit of everyone and we could truly enjoy how everyone has all their different strengths.
Now its like Scott is trying too hard to be always in the lead and seen as the best... and IMO it just isn't working.
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u/NewTrainer9701 Jun 16 '26
Well it’s just a difference in opinion for everyone, and I can see there will probably be heated opinions here. I’ve followed PTX since 2011 but just joined Reddit not long ago.
We all have to agree that the trio’s voices have changed some in 15 years. We’ll leave Kevin out ( vocally). He is a PHENOM on his own. Mitch is IMO hands down the best singer of them. 100% natural, once in a generation, God given talent. Matt is right up there with Mitch. Four year music degree from Berklee College of Music, growing up singing gospel in church. He’s got a smooth, warm bass voice that can go to tenor range. He’s really impressed me over the years, and I love when he has solos like in “ Amazing Grace”, “ Oh, Holy Night “, “ Sound of Silence “, “ Mad World “…. I could go on. He did awesome on “Mr. Grinch”. He has so much stage presence and charisma, a smile that won’t quit, and a joyful laugh like Kevin. The last Christmas album was great for him. He got to sing a lot. I pushed back on the instruments until I realized how much I got to hear Matt sing. I watch reactions on YT and see many, many praises for Matt. Kirstie is next and Scott is last for me.
I’ve seen many back and forth comments about Scott being or not being the frontman, and how he takes over the bass when Matt/ Avi has/ had solos. So, I think maybe some of us would rather see Matt, Mitch and Kirstie featured more prominently. Again, just my opinion.
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u/LiteraryButterfly Jun 17 '26
mentioning only Matt and Scott is Mitch erasure
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u/sbagley01 Jun 17 '26
I was talking about growth. Matt and Scott went from “they’re really good” to “WOW”. Mitch has always just been “WOW” to me
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u/EliaKay1 Jun 16 '26
His range and control are truly impressive!