Sam Totman facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Sam Totman
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Sam Totman performing with DragonForce at the 2019 Rockharz
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Ian Samuel Totman |
| Born | London, England |
| Origin | New Zealand |
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| Occupation(s) |
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| Instruments | Guitar |
| Years active | 1992–present |
Ian Samuel Totman is a talented musician from New Zealand, born in England. He is famous as the lead guitarist and main songwriter for the awesome power metal band, DragonForce.
Contents
Sam Totman's Early Life
Sam Totman was born in England. He spent most of his childhood growing up in New Zealand. When he was about 22 years old, he moved back to England. He did this because England had many more music shows to see every week. New Zealand, being far away, did not have as many options for live music. Sam started playing the classical guitar when he was nine years old. He even had formal lessons for several years to learn how to play.
Sam Totman's Music Career
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Sam Totman was the guitarist for a band called Karnage. This band was based in Masterton, New Zealand. They released one demo tape called "Dead." Later, Sam joined a band named Demoniac. This band played a style of music called black metal and power metal. His future bandmate from DragonForce, Herman Li, was also in Demoniac. While in Demoniac, Sam was known by the name Heimdall. This name comes from a Norse god known for being watchful.
Demoniac tried hard to become famous, but they mostly stayed known in Australia and New Zealand. They released three albums and even moved to London, UK. Demoniac eventually broke up around late 1999. This happened shortly after their album The Fire and the Wind came out.
Forming DragonForce
Most of the members from Demoniac then formed a new band called DragonHeart. This band later became known as DragonForce. Some members, like keyboardist Steve Williams, left DragonHeart. They started a band called Power Quest. Sam Totman helped Power Quest by recording on their demo. He also played on their first album, Wings of Forever. Sam even played as a guest musician on their next album, Neverworld.
As the main songwriter for DragonForce, Sam Totman has created most of the band's music. He also writes the lyrics for many of their songs.
Sam Totman's Guitar Style
Sam Totman is known for his amazing guitar playing. He uses many cool techniques. One is called double-handed tapping, where he taps the strings with both hands. He also uses the whammy bar a lot, which changes the pitch of the notes. Sam is also great at alternate picking, which is picking strings up and down very fast. He plays quick staccato (short, sharp notes) and legato (smooth, connected notes) scales. He also uses sweeping and other shred-guitar techniques. He uses these skills both when playing solos and when playing in harmony with Herman Li. Like Herman Li, Sam often makes his guitar sound like music and noises from video games.
External Links
- Sam Totman's profile at DragonForce.com
- DragonForce official website: http://www.dragonforce.com
See also
In Spanish: Sam Totman para niños
