Herman Li facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Herman Li
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Li with DragonForce in 2019
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| Background information | |||||||||||||
| Born | 3 October 1976 British Hong Kong |
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| Instruments | Guitar | ||||||||||||
| Years active | 1993–present | ||||||||||||
| Chinese name | |||||||||||||
| Chinese | 李康敏 | ||||||||||||
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Herman Li (Chinese: 李康敏; born 3 October 1976) is a musician from Hong Kong and Britain. He is one of the two lead guitarists for the power metal band DragonForce. He also helps produce and write songs for the band. Li has played with DragonForce since it started in England in 1999. He and Sam Totman are the only original members left in the band. Before DragonForce, he was in a black metal band called Demoniac.
Contents
Early Life and Languages
Herman Li was born in Hong Kong on October 3, 1976. As a teenager, he moved to France, then later to England. He is very good at speaking three languages: English, French, and Cantonese.
Herman Li's Guitar Style
Herman Li's guitar playing is inspired by rock, all kinds of metal music, and even video game music! He often makes sounds that remind you of old arcade and PC games from the late 1980s and early 1990s.
His style is super fast and exciting. He uses techniques like legato (playing notes smoothly) and staccato (playing notes short and sharp). He also uses special scales and moves the whammy bar on his guitar a lot to create unique sounds. He can play very fast sweep picking and two-handed tapping on the higher parts of the guitar neck.
Sometimes, Li uses a special device called the Hot Hand. It fits on his right hand like a ring. When he shakes his hand, it creates a strong vibrato effect. This helps him make even more video game-like sounds. Li has said that guitarists like Joe Satriani, Steve Vai, and Tony MacAlpine greatly inspired his own style. Even though he is left-handed, he plays the guitar right-handed.
Herman Li's Guitar Gear
His Signature Guitars
Herman Li mainly uses his own signature Ibanez guitars, called the Ibanez E-Gen models. These guitars are based on his older Ibanez S Series. The EGEN18 has a cool transparent purple color, and the EGEN8 has a natural wood finish. Both have a rosewood fingerboard and gold parts.
The E-Gen guitars have many special features. They have special pickups called DiMarzio HLM (the EGEN8 has Ibanez pickups) that give them a great sound. They also have a unique "Kung-Fu grip" on the upper part of the guitar body, shaped by Li's hand. These E-Gen models are currently Ibanez's top guitars in the S body style.
In 2010, Herman Li shared that he got a custom-made Ibanez 7-string guitar. This guitar has seven strings instead of the usual six. It's not known if this special guitar will be sold to the public.
Before the E-Gen, he used other Ibanez S Prestige guitars. He also owns an Ibanez Jem7BSB, which he uses to record rhythm guitar parts for every DragonForce album. He also has an Ibanez RG2228 (an 8-string guitar) and a PRS Modern Eagle, which was a gift from Paul Reed Smith.
Amps and Effects
For his main sound, Herman Li uses a device called a Kemper Profiler. This acts as his primary amplifier.
Awards and Achievements
Herman Li has won and been part of many awards:
- RIAA Certified Platinum Single for "Through the Fire and Flames"
- RIAA Certified Gold Record for "Inhuman Rampage"
- UK Silver Record for "Inhuman Rampage"
- Music Radar/Total Guitar 2017 – Best Metal Guitarists in the World
- Metal Hammer Golden Gods 2009 – Best Shredder Award
- Grammy Awards 2009 – Nomination for Best Metal Performance for "Heroes of Our Time"
- Guitar World Reader's Poll 2007 – Best New Talent (he won by a lot!)
- Guitar World Reader's Poll 2007 – Best Metal
- Guitar World Reader's Poll 2007 – Best Riff
- Total Guitar Reader's Poll 2007 – Best Solo for "Through the Fire and Flames"
- Terrorizer Reader's Poll 2006 – Best Band for "DragonForce"
- Terrorizer Reader's Poll 2006 – Best Musician for "Herman Li"
- Terrorizer Reader's Poll 2006 – Best Live Act for "DragonForce"
- Metal Hammer Golden Gods 2005 – Best Shredder Award
- Guitar World Magazine – Listed as one of the 50 fastest guitarists
See also
In Spanish: Herman Li para niños
