Two great bass singer youtube channels are “Marcello Bass” and “The Oktavism Channel”. You can also check out all the older Pentatonix songs, or “The Bass Gang” or Voiceplay” with Geoff Castellucci

Cello? That thing is pretty high. I think you mean a bass.

@@Evsta brother I’m a professional classical musician 💀 a cello is tuned C, G, D, A, in which the C string is tuned to a C2, about 65 Hz. The cello is one of the lowest playing instruments in a typical symphonic setting. Listen to the Elgar Cello Concerto in E Minor, Op 85, l Adagio. You’ll see the range the cello has.

@@Smoke---me who is in band acting like I know this

I wouldn't be surprised - to be honest though at his lowest range he starts to lose his musicality. Still he is as good as any a capella bass. The lowest bass by far is Tim Storms, who can hit a G-7, but it almost becomes inaudible at that range. (He might be the best bass most people on KZfaq don't know, even though he is a huge star in Branson and other places - just a brilliant and talented singer (he also has a really nice upper range as well.)

@@jamesrawlins735 alr heres my take on it but I think the reason why avi can't sing as low as people lie tim faust or geoff castellucci is because he tries to keep his tone and volume his priority instead of sheer lowness, something both tim and geoff do.

Avi cannot go an octave lower than this in chest.

I liken his voice to a brownie. A really fudgey still warm brownie. It's rich and thick like dark chocolate but it has all the substance like a brownie. It's actually filling and satisfying in a way that plain chocolate is not.

😁🥰

Matt is fine bro. I dont know why people hate Matt so much he's just a different bass. Avi is just one of kind a kind vocally and is clearly more than a bass. I cant imagine going bud dum do do and have so much more color in my voice for so many years. Then not being able to see my family and only going do do 😂😂😂

Isn't his replacement just a Baritone who can hit some low notes? He definitely cannot hold a candle next to Avi. I pretty much stopped listening to Pentatonix when Avi left.

@@tobiaspowell1848 I think some of it because they (Pentatonix) had to re-arrange most of their songs for Matt's range. He lacks probably a full octave of range in comparison to Avi, and when he does try to get to his lows there's no support or resonance. In the American vocal classification, Matt is a bass-baritone, while Avi is a choral basso profondo known as an octavist.

​@@tobiaspowell1848Yeah agreed, Matt is doing fine with the band. It's been 5 years since Avi left and yall still being annoyed that he left is crazy... Take a look at Matt in You're a Mean One, Mr Grinch, he shines in that song with his passion and baritone, which Avi may not be able to do. We all know how incredible Avi's bass is, but don't discredit Matt's bass cuz it is also really good too.

It really is a shame that Matt's talents cannot be viewed objectively, because he DOES has a lovely voice, and a great vocal range. However, it's also true that Avi is (and will likely always be) the superior bass. And without Avi, PTX's sound isn't as full or resonant. So, because of the quality difference in the two basses ... Yeah, the discussion that pits their voices against each other will continue.

Exactly! I always tend to go kinda flat with Eb2 and under, but this is the thickest, richest D2 I've heard

He even goes down to Db2 in the next clip. insane how clear and crisp it is that low

D2 is pretty low considering full voice (not forced, murky, ambiguous buzz).

@@BaritoneMike Yes, that's my point. The note as just a note is not super impressive, but his control, support, tone, and resonance at that note are the real showing of skill and talent.

@@LittleB1gMan not sure about skill and talent in relation to the note ;) more of a genetic thing. But I get your point and do agree!

Thanks for the addition to my vocabulary. I've always categorized basso profundo as the lowest of the bass ranges. I had no idea there was a subheading of singers in the lowest basso profundo range, though those Russian basses are in a class of their own.

@@kayecastleman6353 The word "oktavist" actually has two different uses. Some use it as a term for singers with a range lower than a typical profundo while others use it to refer to a role in a choir (namely, the one doing the lowest notes, regardless of technique). Although I'm no expert and don't have any degrees or formal training in vocals, I don't think the first usage is proper given that you don't even need to be a REGULAR bass to be an oktavist, and you definitely don't need to be a profundo. Thus, I think it's more of a role than a vocal classification, and that's how I used it in my initial comment here. Check out Pavel Myakotin, for example. He's a baritone but has extended his mixed chest/fry down to Bb1 and uses subharmonics down to F#1.

@@GamingDrummer89 When I read your comment, the first thing I did was google it. Several authorities define oktavist/octavist as the lowest part of the basso profundo range, often a full octave below the normal bassline. That made sense to me, given the nomenclature. So I suspect that's the formal or denotative meaning, which has evolved to include the connotation of anyone singing the lowest notes. That would be a customary etymological pattern. In any case, great word, and one I'm not likely to forget. Thanks!

@@kayecastleman6353 No problem! The word's usage has indeed ballooned outward to include people of various vocal classifications performing a particular role, though, so I believe the formal definition of the word needs to evolve accordingly.

Geoff Castellucci is definitely comparable for richness and tone.

Oh yes. That is only a D. I have heard him hit an Ab cleanly, over 4 notes lower

Indeed he is

Personally I think he’s far better solo. He’s released as Avi Kaplan and Avriel & The Sequoias. His newest album is👌😘 🤌

No comment on whether he's better solo, but I do absolutely adore the Avriel & The Sequoias project, especially the song Fields and Pier. It's really stunning

I wish he never left Pentatonix. His voice brought so much personality to the group

​@@loweffortproductions1985while I think Avi's a better singer than Matt, I think Matt is a better fit for their poppy sound.

He isn't using subharmonics. He is using his chest voice. He is a low Bass.

@@antemahoney4376 Thanks for your input but for us both, allow me to assist you here - by subharmonics, I'm refering to the tonal oscillation with a frequency equal to an integral submultiple of another frequency... I'm literally hearing what you are saying isn't there... Can someone help me please! Also, he's vocal bottom range isn't much at all compared to bass singers like Tim Storms, Tim Riley, Tim Foust, Gene McDonald, J.D. Sumner, Harold Gilley, George Younce, Alvin Chea, Anders Jalkeus, Mike Holcomb, Jim Ayers, Jeff Pearles, Jeff Chapman, Paul David Kennemer... (I could go on). He's value lies in something other than his low notes... Thats why I love Avi!

The undertone at 0:05 blew me away, I honestly don't think I've ever heard an undertone before

​@Benisuber1 I play trumpet and when I play fifths with my friends to goof off I commonly hear an undertone more than an overtone. It's very cool!!

I hear it every time! It sounds like someone plucking a harp!!

Yeah the overtones are incredible

Russian oktavists, many opera basses and some Gospel basses certainly have more resonant and heavier voices than Kaplan.

He's not gone. He sings with The Sequoias now.

He has his own channel and he is amazing.

Avi has been making music for years. You should check out his channel.

You're right that it has a lot to do with the motion. If you compare it to the first version (D, C, B flat, A in that part) the pattern of whole steps and half steps is preserved by using B double flat instead of A. You could think of it as a descending D flat minor scale, maintaining the stepwise motion of the scale. It also avoids using a diminished 3rd (from C flat to A natural) and augmented unison (A natural to A flat) which can be difficult to process while performing, particularly for singers who largely rely on relative pitch. The major and minor 2nds are much more really interpreted. The bar lines are really there for convenience, mostly; they don't truly separate the notes from each other (besides a handful of notation conventions).

That's a very good question! There's certainly no "right" or "wrong" answer, I just chose to do it because the way you would formally write that 2nd to last chord would be in thirds, so since it starts on some sort of E, it should be E G B D of some sort. Since it's Eb half diminished, that makes it Eb Gb Bbb Db. Writing it as Eb Gb A Db isn't wrong at all, it's just a slightly less formal way, from my understanding. Also for me I like being able to see the downwards motion from the Db to the Cb to the Bbb to the Ab. If it went Cb to A natural, it looks like it's gonna be a third (because C and A are in thirds) but since Cb is B, it's just a second, so seeing Cb to Bbb makes more intuitive sense to me to read, and so does Bbb to Ab because you can see the downwards resolution whereas if it were A to Ab, the only thing that would change is the sign. Again, there's no right or wrong, and I fully understand if some people prefer A natural in that case, or in any other case where double accidentals are used, those are just the reasons I chose to do it :)

​@@jasonfielerThe harmonic stacking is an excellent point as well! Another possibility I just thought of, which might make more sense to some, is writing the whole thing with C sharp as the tonic, instead of D flat, in which case you would probably write the final note in the top voice as an E sharp. This would preserve the more "traditional" notation and voice leading while avoiding any double flats or sharps (and I think there would be fewer accidentals overall).

@@JosiahBode That whole middle paragraph is some of the theory stuff I've just never learned, or really had a reason to. That's for the explanation but I doubt it will stick haha Good point on the "how singers read music", I hadn't thought of it that way. I play an instrument, so Bbb and A-natural are the same note to me for all intents and purposes.

The most important reason for double flats/sharps is the harmony, its relation to other notes. The chord has to make sense in and of itself: you wouldn't write a C major chord C Fb G, but not because the flat is ugly, but because the chord contains a major third and no flat fourth. It could be very confusing for a singer to have to sing the flat fourth, when he so clearly feels that it actually is a major third. Now if we are in a key with many flats, like Db major in this instance, this might lead to double flats. On "made" in measure 8, we have a major chord with the fifth in the bass. We could either write this chord as the major chord on the augmented fifth or minor 6th of the scale. The main reason why it definitely is the latter is that the lead's post on the root note Db is the major third of this chord. But a major third down from Db happens to be Bbb. There are other reasons for double flats/sharps, but I hope I could make things a bit clearer for you

Yes it's originally part of a whole song (arrangement), but also yes everyone is just singing this line - perhaps taking turns (with other singers not in picture) to make up ad hoc quartets all singing the same thing. In barbershop culture, specifically hanging out in groups and singing for pleasure (eg at an 'afterglow' after a concert or rehearsal), it's common to sing just the closing phrase of a song (which is often elaborated to provide interesting extended chords), which we call the 'tag'. A tag like 'Cry' can be taught and learned quickly, and generally doesn't raise copyright/licensing issues since it's just a small part of a whole song/arrangement.

@@alexanderson8239 thank you for the thoughtful reply. I’d love to hear the full piece.

@@joshuajacobtaylor There is a 1983 performance of the whole song (classic styling, try not to worry about the lyrics) at kzfaq.info/get/bejne/sNejfrmGu5mWqJc.html

@@alexanderson8239 Brilliant!

we need a transcription of baby back ribs by voiceplay

we'll just put aside the fact that Avi has sung much lower than that but note that the impressive part of this is the resonance of that D2 and Db2 and the fact that he keeps holding it really consistently

Avi is opera trained and was hired with the L.A. opera house as a basso profundo before deciding to go with PTX instead. If you ever heard him live, you would know his voice is POWERFUL. He also doesn’t overpower others he is singing with for his own “glory”, not because he can’t but bc he respects the music. He also now focuses on using all of his 5+ octave range as opposed to “just being a bass”. But haters gonna hate.

@@5thgentexan95 Plus a big part of Avi's relationsip with music is about teaching. When he is working with other singers at the Academy his goal is to support their musical evolution, not outshine or impress them.

biology is truly miraculous. it turns out that a person with the music taste of a monkey can exist after all