What Makes Diana Ankudinova’s Performance of Rechenka THE BEST
Voice Teacher, Vocal Coach, Performance Coach, & Opera Stage Director Dr. Marc Reynolds reacts and teaches how to sing and perform like the top performers in the world .
Original Video: https://youtu.be/35Dwo4QVLqs
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English Transcription:
Hi, I’m Dr. Marc, and
I’m going to help you sing
and perform more like the
top artists around the world.
I’m a professional voice
teacher, performance coach,
and opera stage director.
I’ve helped thousands of
singers around the world
learn the techniques and
methods that got the top singers
to where they are.
Let’s learn from Diana
Ankudinova performing Rechenka.
Here we go.
(sultry soulful singing)
These hand movements, is that okay?
Can I do that?
I get this response from
performers all the time.
Can I actually do those type of things?
Yeah, you can as long as it’s
not nervous performer you,
it’s the person singing the song.
It’s the character singing the song.
It’s obvious that that’s
it from the beginning.
Nervous character performer
there then would not
do these hand things.
They’re so unique and
specific to this moment.
Love it, so cool, it catches
our attention right away.
It kind of creates this dance-like thing
or this ritualistic movement, so fun.
The other thing I want to point out here
is her left hand going up here.
Her left hand goes up and
the difference between
a gesture like that working
and not is that even though
it’s not moving a lot, it goes
up and kind of stays there
for a second, it’s not
rigid, it’s not frozen.
It still kind of moves.
The other thing is you’ll
notice her fingers up there
were not rigid and super splayed.
By splayed I mean like that
and super tight and tense.
They weren’t, they still
had kind of some uniqueness,
some organic-ness to it which didn’t read
as scared performer or
the performer just doing
a pre-planned gesture.
It really seemed like a
real person doing this kind
of ritualistic interesting gesture.
Thought I’d take a moment to point it out.
Really, really cool.
Really shows that on a subconscious level
that she is engaged with this
character in this moment.
These aren’t just pre-planned gestures,
these are gestures that
she associates with
a specific character in a specific moment.
So really, really cool.
(soulful singing)
That sound is staying really
consistent even with all
the movement and swaying back and forth
which shows that she has
worked really hard to make sure
that any extraneous
tension up here is gone,
that her voice is not
relying on any tensions
that sometimes we use to
manipulate or change that sound.
That that voice is just
really free and relying
on efficient sound making
and not tension to produce
that sound.
So really, really cool.
You can try it today.
Go and try to move and dance
around and keep that singing
free and flexible.
If your sound changes, then
there’s something we need
to let go or change, or
rethink how we’re singing.
If you’re able to keep that
sound relatively consistent
and fluid and free even
when you’re moving about,
obviously if you’re jumping up and down
that’s going to kind of
jar things a little bit.
But if you’re staying really
fluid and being able to move
through entire phrases
over big leaps and jumps
then that’s a sign that things are working
pretty well for you.
(sultry dark singing)
Notice we have this huge,
big transition in relative
quietness in the stillness
that’s building up
before this song.
Now it’s matching.
These people are not rushing
or doing huge gestures.
But all the sudden we see
these bodies coming on
and crawling on.
Oh my gosh, it’s so awesome.
It builds the tension, it
really prepares us for this big,
huge moment.
This is actually the first
time I’ve watched it,
so I don’t really know what’s coming next.
But I’ve got to anticipate
that all the sudden
we’re about to have
something really big happen
because they’re building up that tension.
Transitions are the place
to make things happen
and this is a big transition
moment that could be
relatively still with nothing going on.
But they are really using it
to heighten the emotion here
by adding these people,
changing the lights,
keeping the movement going
of the background behind them
and her intensity is just
building and building,
love it.
(dramatic singing in a foreign language)
Okay, notice that when
she got to the high note
and in some of this is
sounds a little bit scream-y.
That’s got to be bad, right?
No, it’s not.
In fact we can tell it’s
not bad because we’re not
seeing big stressors come up.
She’s getting that kind of scream sound
by putting extra air through it.
She’s not pushing.
We’re not feeling this
(straining) build up behind it.
She’s keeping it moving
really consistently, freely,
and not pressing, but
using those higher notes,
a forward placement.
That’s really, really
forward and keeping it easy
to get the sensation of
scream through this microphone
without actually having
to push and do any damage
to the voice.
You just keep it nice and easy.
How do we know it’s
not damaging her voice?
Well we’re not hearing any
of this fatigue later on.
And as she’s sliding down it
just stays nice and consistent
and gets into this clear
sound as she goes down.
Which also suggests that
there is not a compression
on those vocal folds with
pressure building up below
and they’re not getting tight and tense.
But she’s keeping it
relatively easy and free.
Try it today, try just
going really breathy
up on top with this (singing).
(dramatic singing)
Do you ever have problems
staying right on that beat
and keeping it going, but
still letting it be musical?
The definition of
musicality is no two notes
back to back are the
same dynamic or duration.
But that the pulse stays consistent.
Yeah, she’s doing that here.
But have you ever found
that it’s difficult
to kind of keep that
really, really steady?
Sometimes you speed up
and slow down that pulse.
Notice here there’s dancing here.
That’s really awesome,
especially in a pop song.
And if that pulse is
really great that helps us
tie into that beat too,
and really works with
her character here.
But say you have a character
that can’t do that.
A really great way is to start practicing
with a metronome or
that beat staying steady
right here in your chest and
tapping here in your chest.
Then slowly getting rid of that tapping,
but imagining that you still
feel that response here
in your chest.
You still feel that thumping.
Then you can still move and
have that kinesthetic response,
that feeling that that
pulse is staying consistent
right there in the center of your body
to make sure you stay right on that beat.
That’s really important,
especially if we’re dealing
with recording or pop music,
or dealing with a pre-recorded
audio track.
Or just about anything
where we really need to keep
that pulse steady.
We need to find ways to
make sure that mentally
and physically we’re staying
steady, not just trusting
our ears, but that we’re on top of that.
And as performers, we’re
even slightly anticipating it
a little bit.
She’s doing a gorgeous job here.
The cool thing is with her dance and beat
there isn’t rigidity to it.
It’s actually helping her
stay flexible and loose.
She’s using everything to
help reinforce her technique
and keep it loose and free, and
that’s really cool to watch.
(yodel-style singing)
(clapping and cheering)
(sultry singing)
Okay why did they all
push the button there?
Well partially because they
probably thought it was over
and were like oh, they’d
gotten so transfixed
by what she’s doing they
forgot that they were in a show
where they were supposed to
be pushing buttons as judges.
So there’s this pause and
they’re like oh yeah, it’s time.
That’s awesome, that’s a
sign of a really, really
great performer where the people watching,
especially the people who are
responsible for judging you
and being analytical and critical forget.
They get transported to somewhere else
and they’re just kind of
sucked into your performance
and forget about everything around them.
That’s awesome.
To me, that’s one of the
pinnacle goals of a performer
is to transport this
audience and help them forget
that they are where they
are and they get pulled
into this imaginary new world.
Obviously she does a
fantastic job doing this.
How does she do it?
First and foremost she does
it by living in that world
herself and committing
to being that person
in this imaginary world 100%.
(soulful singing in a foreign language)
Oh okay, one of the things
that drew my attention
was these judges that are
looking at each other sideways
and kind of disturbed.
Yeah, it’s kind of creepy and
she’s doing an awesome job
of setting the mood of this song.
But I think if I were
them, the other thing going
through my mind is wow.
Someone of this age that’s
able to commit to a performance
this completely and have their
technique be so consistent
and solid that they can invest
this intensely in the song
and have their voice work so
efficiently for them, wow.
Now because she’s able to
invest and stay so invested
in this song and committed to it,
it helps her technique as well.
It frees that technique,
but yes you can’t just
invest 100% in a song and
imagine that that voice is going
to work consistently for
you and do what you want.
Yes, you do have to practice
and training definitely helps
with getting your body to
identify this muscle memory.
That it can keep certain
things consistent.
That things that are crucial
for you to have that voice
work efficiently so that
then the things we can change
in our voice, change the color and shape
and get these expressive
elements, are then free
to respond to the subconscious impulses
so that the body is then
free to feed the voice
subconscious impulses and
little nuances of what the body
would actually do if it was this person
in this imaginary situation.
To give us these nuances
and all this variety
and this really unique sound
that has so much expressive
quality it to it and so much
variety in what it’s doing.
So awesome.
So what can you do today
to sing and perform
more like Diana?
You can study with someone
who’s going to help
unlock your voice, help
your voice work efficiently,
free, healthy so there’s
no strain or tension
or discomfort here in your throat.
So we’re just producing
good, healthy sound.
Then also on your own and
with a coach and people
who are working with you,
help you to really learn
how to invest 100% in a character,
in an imaginary situation
and unlock that voice
and your natural subconscious potential
to be so expressive and engaging.
And at the same time keep
that technique so consistent
and free and easy.
I love what she’s doing here.
Is that something you can do today?
Yeah, you can go to find coaching
and help today to do that.
But if say that’s not possible to you.
Really what can I go do right now?
Go play, go pretend.
See if you can get yourself for
a designated amount of time,
three minutes.
Start with one minute, then three minutes,
five minutes, 10 minutes.
Let yourself 100% live in an imaginary,
made-up circumstance.
Let yourself be, inhabit
a different character.
Someone totally different and
mentally let yourself believe
you’re that person in that imaginary world
for x-amount of minutes
and see what happens.
Say you’re only like ah,
I was about 10% there,
20% there, 50% there.
Try to get to staying as close to 100%
for as long as you can possibly go.
The more you practice that the
more you’ll be able to do it.
Is it easy?
No, it’s not, not for most people.
Most people find it extremely hard,
especially the older get
and now more and more
when we’re indoctrinated in
society because it kind of
beats it out of us, right?
If we saw this person just
walking down the street,
we’d all change sides of the street.
But in a performance and as a performer
it’s absolutely essential
and she does an awesome job.
If you want a voice lesson
or performance coaching,
or want me to work with you or your group
to help you sing easier or
perform more consistently
book a time with me at
Mrperformingartsstudio.com.
I look forward to working with you online.
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