Voice Teacher Reacts to Dimash Kudaibergen – SOS
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Voice Teacher Reacts to Dimash Kudaibergen – SOS

November 17, 2019


Hi my name is Sam Johnson and I am a
voice teacher. To learn more about me or to sign up for lessons go to my website
vocalease.net. I’m gonna be reacting to Dimash singing SOS. So confident. You can tell he knows he’s about to just do something cool. Nice French “R”. That “R” is kind of hard.
In classical music usually they flip it they go pourquoi versus pourquoi in
classical music. But he’s singing current music that little R is interesting it
raises your tongue in the back, and then it just kind of buzzes with your hard
palate. Cool, so he starts at the bottom. It’s a
really big sound but then as he starts going up it gets lighter every single
time because he’s preparing for his bridge. But he doesn’t start the
lightness at the bridge, he starts it well before. It’s just that first one he
started in complete chest voice so that he would feel his vocal cords together
and be able to carry that sensation up. He’s a countertenor. I really respect those staccato parts up
at the top of his voice. Being able to control his airflow so that it
stays consistent while breaking it up like that in the middle is really hard
because our tendency is on onsets and offsets for the breath flow to change. For
it to either be more breath or less breath. He’s starting with a very
controlled, very small amount of air. He made that vowel kind of like a
classical female singer, where it’s a little bit further back sounding. It’s
very round and it’s tuning to the fundamental harmonic. I’m pretty sure
based on how that sounds it’s not tuning to the second harmonic or third like you
might in a mix. And because of that it doesn’t have a ton of energy up in the
top top part of the spectrum. It just sounds a little bit Hollow
through it. It’s a great strategy, I mean there’s a reason why people do it and it
produced that kind of rounder sound. And then he goes back to more of a mix where
it’s it’s more forward there’s a lot more cord closure with it. And that’s why it doesn’t sound as
breathy as the one before. He’s going back and forth between this
gentle, beautiful, small, low-volume kind of rounder classical voice where it’s
very round and very small to a really whiny, forward, intense — he’s going back
and forth, but he has control of those shades in between. He doesn’t have to be
at one extreme or the other, he’s moving between them to get to the extremes and
that’s very skilled. Usually if it starts falling back if the
sound falls back it’s on a more open vowel like ah or oh.
Generally it falling back means his tongue is pulling back it’s a way to
suppress the larynx so if you find your larynx, with girls it’s kind of harder
with guys we get a big bump. But if you find this hard cartilage area in here
and swallow it comes all the way up. If you if you kind of pull your tongue back
or go like this your larynx drops, and that’s how you
make it kind of hootier sound. What he’s doing is for an effect he wants
that sound from this he is way too good to be doing this on accident. Up to the E!? But he slid up to it that’s
why it worked for him. So he slid up to it he didn’t try to just attack that
high E he started like a 7th below, and then slid up to it. That allowed his
vocal cords to stretch out even though it was very quick they were able to
stretch out and still find a balanced place. He also didn’t crescendo as he
went up. One thing that’s kind of crazy is an octave above something I think
doubles the amount of sounds that’s perceived by the listener. So because he
moved from that down there where it was it was a little bit lower (It’s insane
saying that an E4 is a low note, or an E5 is a low note) but then he jumps up. The
perceived volume is going to also jump up by 100%, and so he
compensates for that by pulling back on volume. It’s kind of like he’s decrescendoing on the way up, which along with the glide helps make that a very
easy very smooth very beautiful note on the top. It’s still a round sound its robust. I kind of
like thinking of it like a tweeter and woofer. If you only have tweeter the
sounds gonna be kind of brittle. If you only have a woofer it’s gonna be really
wolfy and you’re not gonna be able to hear any of the high overtones with it.
He’s not neglecting either of them. He’s letting both of them have a say in this,
and it’s a nice sound. It does sound more classical, because he has a little bit
more of the (UH) sound to it. Good, so on the word haut you can see
how wide he’s going. It’s gonna be very difficult to get pure oh up at a D5 in
mixed voice like that. And in like a really strong mixed voice if you’re
leaning into it as much as he is right now it’s gonna just be super hard for it to be that round so he opens it up. And it’s
high enough that he has to. That’s the only way that he can produce that tone. Interesting on that last one – ooh and
then he leans into it. On that last one enfant is usually nasalized, and I like
nasal sounds because it helps me find more cord closure usually. A little bit
more balanced than cord closure. On that last one he didn’t want cord closure. He
was singing so breathy for effect, that if he went to the __ that would pop out of the texture, so he doesn’t nasalise that vowel he just says ___
and by doing that it can keep a consistent tone until he wants to lean
into the cord closure, which he does at the end with his crescendo from ah. He
crescendoed in volume, and he also crescendoed in amount of cord closure
intensity. That guy’s a rock star. Dimash is awesome. He has complete
control over his voice there are very few things you can say that he’s doing
wrong because they all sound intentional, and all of them are pretty healthy. You
can’t sing the way that he’s doing if it’s unhealthy. Like these extremes of
the voice the really really high notes and going that small with volume, and
then back to that loud of volume, and using all of the shades in between– you
can’t do that if you’re singing something poorly. He’s proof he’s not
really doing much that’s super inefficient because it’s consistent. You
never are questioning whether he’s gonna hit a note, it’s just there. He just does
it and because of that as an audience member we can just watch him and not be concerned with if he’s gonna sing something right. We can just be like oh
my gosh he’s so good what’s going on and what’s he saying and I’m so invested in
the story and now you’re telling me the story cuz he’s a good storyteller, and
all of that stuff the most important part of of singing the storytelling is
what we can focus on rather than having to focus on technique like I did in this
video. I mean for this video series I am just breaking down technique but it’s
because of the technique that he can do whatever he wants and people are just in
the palm of his hand all the way through it. He can make people care greatly about
story rather than technique, and I think that’s a win. Thanks for watching please
smash that subscribe button like it leave a comment in the bottom I can’t
believe I just said smash that subscribe button but yeah I really appreciate it.
Tell me something else you want to learn more about.

100 Comments

  • josimar doda

    October 2, 2019 at 4:23 am Reply

    Hey… Love your react… But can you wait until the singer finish the phrase or the word while they're singing. thanks…

  • Aga Chojnacka

    October 3, 2019 at 2:03 pm Reply

    Thank you for this video. Since I think Dimash is absolutely incredible I wanted to hear some specialist commenting on his performance. I probably just wanted to make sure the guy is actually from our planet… Anyways, I've seen few reactions but you are the only one sounding professional and explaining what's going on on the stage. I really appreciate 🙂

  • Marie Poppins

    October 4, 2019 at 7:46 pm Reply

    "Je crois capter des ondes venues d'un autre monde" … Indeed Dimash, you are getting vibes from another world. Maybe that's why you love that song so much. <3

  • sorri fann

    October 4, 2019 at 10:09 pm Reply

    Он пел с больным горлом! Даже говорить не мог! Но вышел и спел и выиграл! Этот парень – космос! Ангел

  • Steven Dehoyos

    October 5, 2019 at 3:56 pm Reply

    I don’t even sing but your explanation is so clear and simple to understand. I can tell you are great vocal coach

  • N B

    October 6, 2019 at 5:28 am Reply

    Her is truly amazing, he is known for his wide vocal range of 6 octaves, this spans from below the bottom of the bass range to far beyond the top of the soprano range. He is truly unique.

  • Lisa Sicre

    October 7, 2019 at 4:23 pm Reply

    I have listened to many different voice teachers and you are by far the one that stands out in technique and analysis.

  • Bethany Hunt

    October 8, 2019 at 2:19 am Reply

    Ok, Dimash is a good looking guy, but what is it that makes him so sexy? Is it pure talent? Confidence? Probably all – and just the way he carries himself. Very confident but with a sense of humour that shows he doesn't take himSELF too seriously. Obviously takes his job seriously!

  • Kostolom. rektur

    October 8, 2019 at 7:50 pm Reply

    Далбаеб тупой, на каждом слове паузы🤦‍♂️все самые крутые моменты паузы🤦‍♂️диз

  • Marion Jelley

    October 9, 2019 at 5:18 am Reply

    Really enjoyed your reaction to various singers and was really impressed with the SOS song by Dimash. I started watching various versions of the song and came across this singer from Austria by the name of Piet Arion, who sang the SOS song quite different from Dimash, but just as good, if not better. He hit some incredibly high whistle notes towards the end of the song! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MBHB3j4MqAw You might really like this version as well!

  • Лариса Мамедова

    October 10, 2019 at 5:25 pm Reply

    Что-то ф мне ты товарищ не нравишся.Несёшь какуюту фигню. Тебе до яДимаша не дотянуться.

  • Ansell Gilmore

    October 12, 2019 at 1:01 pm Reply

    When you're accepting your (created for you) Nobel prize for voice coaching I'll be able to tell my grandchildren I watched just about all your YouTube videos before they were born.

  • Mary Lyman

    October 14, 2019 at 8:34 am Reply

    SAM…I'VE WATCHED ALOT OF VOCAL & VOICE TEACHERS…BUT YOU BEAT THEM ALL!
    GREAT REACTION..TRUELY ENJOYED WATCHING YOU..YOU ARE VERY SMART BUT YOU ENJOY DIMASH ALSO
    THANKS 🙂

  • YourPersonalSalesTrainer

    October 17, 2019 at 1:35 pm Reply

    loved the surprised look on your face, how stunned you were but still be able to analyse it so well. nice. quality recognized quality

  • Раиса Стасилович

    October 24, 2019 at 6:46 pm Reply

    Спасибо за интересную реакцию!!! Отдельное спасибо за русские субтитры!!!

  • Shireishou Author

    October 25, 2019 at 1:34 pm Reply

    I'm not a singer. Nor understand about singing (I were kick out from vocal group at ny high school bc my ugly Alto voice). But listening how you reacting to Dimash, make me want to sing again. You really are amazing vocal teacher.

  • Pedro Pascual Losa

    October 25, 2019 at 4:02 pm Reply

    Por qué coño paras tantas veces la canción, no ves que le quitas la magia al momento? Cuando acabe, ya dirás lo que quieras que pesado joder

  • Jared Rypka-Hauer

    October 28, 2019 at 8:49 pm Reply

    Hey Sam… question for you after having watched dozens of your videos:

    Who would you say is the best trained and disciplined singer you’ve reviewed? I’ve never heard you have such high praise for a singer before and it got me wondering…

  • Сэр Алекс

    October 30, 2019 at 12:46 pm Reply

    👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍Незнаю о чем он говорил. Но Димаш это космос.

  • Jean-Pierre De Vent

    November 4, 2019 at 10:35 pm Reply

    You are the first who is not so completely baffled that you can't still analyze what he does. I don't know if he has other songs that are just as beautiful. I only know I don't like his "Adagio" because Lara Fabian has already done that perfectly for me.

  • Miguel Gagné

    November 5, 2019 at 1:03 am Reply

    Such a wonderful rendition of a deep song. Here is a rough translation of the lyrics.

    Why do I live, why do I die

    Why do I laugh, why do I cry

    Here is the S.O.S. of an earth being in distress

    I never had my feet on the ground

    I would prefer to be a bird

    I feel bad about myself (feel bad inside)

    I would to see the world upside down

    What if it was prettier, prettier from up there

    I always confused life

    with comic books

    I have desires of metamorphosis

    I feel something

    That draws me, that draws me, that draws me

    Up there

    In the big lottery of the universe

    I didn’t draw the right number

    I feel bad about myself (feel bad inside)

    What if it was prettier, prettier from up there

    Up there

    Why do I live, why do I die

    Why do I laugh, why do I cry

    I believe I’m hearing sounds

    Coming from another world

    I never had my feet on the ground

    What if it was prettier, prettier from up there

    What if it was prettier, prettier from up there

    Dodo l’enfant do (It’s part of a french nursery rhyme meaning Sleep, my child)

  • Cecilia Park

    November 8, 2019 at 5:30 pm Reply

    This is the first commentary/reaction video in which i could actually watch without skipping 🙂 Subscribed. Keep up the good work!

  • Mathilde Buffereau

    November 9, 2019 at 2:27 pm Reply

    I really loved this video as always. The technical analysis is great. But I have to say that, i'm french and I think (it's really personal) that, in terms of interpretation, he made the song way too much powerful for the subject and the lyrics.

  • solomon faber

    November 11, 2019 at 8:38 am Reply

    Problem with Dimash is that, once you hear him, you don't really enjoy anyone else. This narrows your enjoyment pallet. I can't listen to anyone else. Oh well, I guess I have to find another hobby other than listening to auditions! Please don't misunderstand my next statement because I swear it is true from my own experience. He is channeling the Divine in a 3-dimentional form. I am not some flaky spiritual guy. This is my knowing and my experience as being a extreme sensitive in my guiding work with people and singers. There has never been someone like him in recorded history that I am aware of. The closest evidence is Angelina Jordan but she is still young and has some maturing to do. This man is not a man but has no gender. He is genderless in his energy that he channels. He will be shocked to find out just who he is in the coming years. He still doesn't know who he is. He is given a gift and when he see where it comes from, he will be the one whose mind is truly blown. The Divine is coming to Earth is so many ways and it now can't be denied in Dimash!

  • Shelby Raymond

    November 12, 2019 at 1:07 am Reply

    I am tone deaf, with a hearing loss & can't imagine what you hear…I'm watching because I love the journey in your face when you hear something you appreciate

  • Coleman S

    November 12, 2019 at 1:36 am Reply

    I've always wanted to learn to sing but been to nervous. Watching this video, you seem like a teacher that could make even the most self conscious student comfortable! Great explanations on the technique and processes! Loved every moment! Subbed.

  • Haj S. T. Ibrahim

    November 14, 2019 at 2:29 am Reply

    I also watched a number of reaction videos before yours, and you are the only one I subscribed to. Your easy going, non pretentious approach explanation helps one understand how the voice works. Thank you!

  • Ry Li

    November 14, 2019 at 7:12 am Reply

    Димаш ,как дирижер ,играет своим голосом и в то же время контролирует его .Это фантастика , феномен ,никто до него ещё так не пел .Слов нет ,только восторг и восхищение .Браво ,Димаш ,ты непревзойденный певец !

  • Thanos snap

    November 16, 2019 at 12:47 am Reply

    I love your reaction, man. Because you go from the initial reaction 1-2 sec of "omg, wtf was that?" and righ back into scholar mode. Love that you can still really appreaciate surprises, but keep your stoke for later 🙂 Keep it up.

  • Багульник Гука

    November 16, 2019 at 3:06 pm Reply

    Если бы Сэм видел самое начало , даже выход Димаша перед этой песней и лицо Димаша за сценой, он не сказал бы, что Димаш уверен в том впечатлении, которое он произведет на слушателей. Но на сцене Димаш удивительным образом преображается и весь растворяется в песне.

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