Customer Reviews

Pro Secrets of Heavy Rock Singing

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

* First off, this is a very good book that I ejoyed quite a bit, and will go back to re-read several times, I'm sure. I'd give it 4.5 stars if I could. I say this because most of my comments below will sound a bit critical, but I don't mean to convey a negative impression, necessarily, I just state where this book might have been even better. Bill Martin did a fine job overall, IMO.

This book was supposed to be entitled "Metal Pipes" from what I'd heard about beforehand, and only recently learned that it had been released under the eventual title. It's a very good read, mostly because of the interviews with star rock/metal singers. A couple of comments...

1. The first section of chapters, which is actually quite short and repeats phrases/views from the subsequent interviews with the singers, is actually sort of okay, but not that good. If you've never learned anything about singing at all (e.g., the importance of hyrdation, warmup, and sleep/rest), it will be of help, but it is of limited value and really is a rather half-hearted attempt at delivering the basics of vocal production/technique and maintenance/care. It probably would have been better to integrate more on these topics with some of the sources cited on vocal technique/production and the interview comments/opinions in a summary section at the end of the book. The section on producing 'rasp' was quite unique, however, and one I've not seen before, even in Mark Baxter's "Rock and Roll Singer's Survival Manual".

2. Most of the interviews are quite good, but they are of varying quality, not because of the questions asked, but rather because some of the singers didn't really say that much in their responses (e.g., Rik Emmett, surprisingly). My favorite interview was with Tim "Ripper" Owens, who was very forthcoming in his responses (and he's a really good guy, I e-mailed with him a few times on vocal technique). I'd heard that Michael Matijevic, of Steelheart and "Rock Star" fame, was going to participate, but apparently this didn't ultimately happen.

3. Finally, a word of caution - although most of these singers have had some lessons at some time in their careers, none of them are experts in vocal production, so I'd say to take their advice if it seems logical or workable, apply it, and if it doesn't seem to be working out for you, drop it. Just because they sing well does not mean that their advice will necessarily work for you - every voice is different.

* Bottom line: Very good overall, could have been a bit better. Maybe I'll write a follow-up that addresses some of the shortcomings I saw in this book and interview some of the missing greats (e.g., Halford, Dio, Kiske).

This book is overall a great read. I am not a lead vocalist, I am a guitarist, but I know a lot about singing and other instruments. A few things I suggest you skip over are anything said by Chuck Billy(although I'm a huge fan of Testament, his vocal techniques are very harsh and damaging on your vocal chords)and the guy from Disturbed(he apparently damaged his voice so bad that he needed surgery). Other than that, this is a great book. Winger-haters, don't skip over the Kip Winger interview...Although Winger had horribly cheesy music, Kip is a very knowledgable musician and gives great advice. Bruce gives awesome but common warm-up tips, and James Labree obviously knows what he is talking aboot, eh? Geoff Tate's advice did not impress me. I expected more out of such a vocal god. I do recomend this book for any lead or backup vocalist. It gives great insight to whatever style you are playing, especially Metal. Well, I hope this review helped you. My Metal Hails hgo out to all of you!

The title is unfair, because it leads you to think that you will actually have a solid vocal lessons book on heavy metal,
It ain't true. the book should have been titled "Interviews with heavy rock singers". Now "Bill Martin" who ever you are, your book !!sucks!!. If the title would have been another, then it probably wouldn't suck. I wish somebody would write a real book on heavy rock singing. There are a lot of kids outhere that would love to learn this technique, and it is not fair that jerks that aren't even singers, take advantage of this by putting misleading titles to there books just to sell them.

This is the first vocal instruction book for rock singers, which addresses the voice from the professional singer's point of view. Pro Secret's of Heavy Rock Singing contains 25 interviews from professional rock singers, such as, Bruce Dickinson of Iron Maiden, Geoff Tate of Queensryche, James Labrie of Dream Theater, and David Draiman of Disturbed.

This book presents the "secrets" of professionals that will help you to sing like a professional, improve your range, increase your power and avoid vocal burnout. Bill covers the basic aspects of a rock singer's voice starting with voice types. He discusses voice range classifications and differences between male and female voices. He explains breath control and utilizing resonance for power. He then moves on to explain how to warm up the voice. Rock singing is about range and rasp, both of which are covered in detail. Finally, Bill touches on vocal health, discussing such important factors, such as hydration and sleep.

This is an excellent book for getting the basics of rock singing. The book is worth buying for the interviews. What better way to learn how to sing rock, than by words of wisdom directly from the masters. Many of the singers discuss singing metal music by way of falsetto. I am not a big fan of using falsetto for singing all of your upper notes because I know that you can develop your full voice to achieve the same range. Regardless of each individual vocalists approach, each interview has several gems detrimental to developing your voice. I recommend this book for all serious rock and hard rock singers.

Just flipping through the first few pages it reads like just another vocal coaching book. But wait - get your form and posture correct because what you are about to read will change your vocals forever. Bill asks the best vocal singers the questions we all long to ask. This book delivers. Page after page I thought, "this is unbelievable!". These Metal Heroes really tell all their secrets. They share tips, tricks, techniques...everything!! I felt just by reading a couple of the singers interviews I could sing easier. This is the closest thing to a weight loss pill that requires no exercise. I just kept reading and thinking "I can do this now!". This book motivates as well as it removes mental barriers. It removed all the blocks I had. I can sing all the way to the limits of my range and 5 notes beyond what I thought was possible. There is no other book like this in any style of music. My only dissapointment was the fact that Halford and Steven Tyler weren't included. But then who would be left for the sequel? The quality of these singers interviewed in this book is literally the best in the world. I think heavy metal singing is the most difficult style in the first place. In this book you get all the masters of metal to tell you exactly how they do it. Does anyone agree that heavy metal singing is the hardest stlye? Ask Brittney Spears to sing Eyes of a Stranger- Queensryche. Ask Jennifer Lopez to sing Screaming for Vengence-Judas Priest. How about the Back Street Boys singing Time Bomb-Annihilator. How do you think they would sound? Only a few people can sing these songs and most, if not all, will own this book or they're in this book. Band together all heavy metal fans of the world. Buy this book and let these Metal Heroes show us the way.

I agree with Gregg in previous review. The book (or should we call it a magazine?) consists mainly of interviews with rock stars on techniques they're using. There are no vocal lessons as stated in description. If you're looking for vocal excersizes, this is not quite the book.
The picture of the product is deceptive - it's actually white, with the fill of what's displayed here and this fill takes on only 1/3 of the front cover.
Again, I agree, the title should be changed.

The title of the book is a bit deceiving. If one does not know what kind of information it consists, then you would be under the assumption that the title "Pro Secret of Heavy Rock Singing" would be an instructional book of how to sing heavy rock. Since it's cheesy anyway to have any kind of instructional material of how to sing rock I found what this book has inside is more valuable. It does consists of some basic vocal explanation, but mostly it's heavy laden with opinions and interviews with some of the most famous metal singers. Famous vocal books like Jerome Hines' "Great Singers On Great Singing" has always been one of my favorites on my shelve, cause Hines took the time to interview famous opera singers about their opinion on singing. This book does the same concept. It deserves a high rating just for that fact that the writer Bill Martin took the time to find people like Geoff Tate, Bruce Dickinson, James Labrie, etc. and interview them about singing. The interview consists of questions like: Range, Warm-Ups, Preparation, Sensation, Technique, Health etc,. You'll also find out about of their influences, and how they started to sing. I have to admit that their were some metal singers I was not familiar with, but then again for the fact that Bill Martin got Dickinson and Joe Lynn Turner to give lengthy answers is worth the price of the book. When I saw at the end of the book the further reading that Martin recommended I agreed with his recommendation 75%. Bill Martin is not off track. I am sure he knows quite a bit about vocal theory, but do we need another instructional book? Bill Martin gave me exactly what I am more interested in. Interviews of famous rock singers that have various different opinions. Some are good, and some bad, but it's up to you to discern what will work for you. This book is a testimony of what they do, and it becomes valuable when you are trying to align your own theory what works for you with somebody else. Anybody that truly considers themself a singer will attest that singing is a personal discovery. So another "how to sing rock" book is ridiculous in my opinion, cause rock to begin with has a primitive edge to it. The attitude has always been "don't think just rock." Interviews like Geoffe Tate's was especially hard to get a solid answer, but to Tate's credit he answered the best he could. The reason is simple. It's hard for a some singers to explain what they are doing, cause intrinsically it works for them, and the truth of the matter is IT MIGHT NOT WORK FOR YOU. The point for books like these is to find one singer that answers your long awaited questions, and that confirms a technique that personally works for you. I sensed a common thread to all these singers. That they are naturally gifted with their vocal endowment in their genre. So some do attest that their voices did improve through certain methods, but they already had those kind of voices. Why am I stating the obvious? It's because the obvious is that if you think you are going to be a metal vocal god, and you have a James Taylor voice, than you are sorely mistaken that a rock instructional cd or book will get you pipes like James Labrie. I hope the important point you get from reading this book is that every singer is different, and also hopefully you will find that there are some close defined theories, but they are not set in stone. Hopefully through the testimony of some these singers you will begin to be inspired to work hard and find your own pro secrets of rock singing.

I gave this book to friend that has been singing for a long time. He indicated that he learned so much from the book in such a short time. He knew he was doing things differently too as he was getting sore muscles from singing in a more appropriate fashion. He has improved and is very happy to have such a reference book in his collection!

As a long time fan of heavy rock, I found this book to be original, providing very useful tips from the legends themselves. I've not found anything else like it. It was exciting to hear about the pros' secrets to success. Heavy metal singing is a difficult genre. It takes a special style and hard work. This book breaks down the steps. It's easy to digest, motivating and enjoyable to read. You'll be off and singing before you know it. I highly recommend you check it out!!! Rock on.