Pro Secrets of Heavy Rock Singing

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.

* 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 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.

Thick book, on white paper, lots of various techniques and information to nail those chords. Regardless of gender obviously.Loads of information, havnt finished book yet. Recommended if you're a vocalist keen to learn or improve harsh vocals.

eccellente rassegna di interviste a cantanti rock e metal (Dickinson e Tate, tra gli altri). L'autore pone domande legate alla tecnica di canto, azzardando pure una sintesi degli spunti raccolti. Originale, uno sguardo molto interessante sul mondo dei vocalist nei generi musicali più aggressivi.

おそらく、ヘヴィー・メタル、ハード・ロックのボーカリストのために書かれた世界で唯一の専門書。ブルース・ディッキンソン、ジェフ・テイト、ジョー・リン・ターナー、ジェームス・ラブリエなど世界を代表する25人のメタル・シンガーたちのインタビューが載っており、テクニック、練習、ウォーミングアップ、コンディショニングに至るまで丁寧なアドバイスをしてくれている。あまり表に出ることのない、スターたちの影の努力を伺い知ることができる。メタルに興味がなくても、歌に関わる人には是非おすすめしたい。MERCENARYのボーカルであるミッケルもこの本を愛読しているとBURRN!誌のインタビューで語っていたが、彼の言葉を借りれば、この本はまさに「メタル・シンガーのバイブル」である。