Electric Violinist Plays Virtual Orchestra

Before you book those New York City box office tickets, you may want to take a look at what's happening in your own town. A rich, cultural life can be found taking place between the book shelves in the Matawan Aberdeen Public Library during their After Hours Music performances held once a month on Friday evenings.

On Friday, Aug. 12, Caryn Lin brought an entire virtual orchestra to the library - and she played every part herself. Through the use of an electric violin, guitar boxes and a sound engineer named Bruce, Lin was able to record and loop each instrumental part, replaying it while she recorded the next one. This resulted in songs that slowly grew and filled the room, making the audience feel as if they were sitting in front of an entire group of musicians.

Lin first played an original piece including elements of Native American, West African, techno, tribal, Australian, cosmic, Celtic, dance, rock and Egyptian.

"The style really, I think, is a mix of classical music, new age and world music...virtual orchestral," Lin said. She explains her music as "ish," using so many styles that is it, "Classical-ish, new age-ish, Celtic-ish," and more.

After receiving her degree in violin performance from Northwestern University, Lin traveled to Germany for masters classes. There, Lin played in an American country band and began to discover the unique style that now defines her music. After a fellow musician who first hooked up her electric violin to a guitar pedal, Lin began trying different types of musical technology with her violin, creating her new sound. 

Her songs, such as No Lines Drawn, At the Risk of the Sun, Voices of Our Ancestors and Little King, told stories to her listeners through her music, such as the birth of her nephew and the co-existence of opposites in life. With her unique music, energy and story-telling in-between songs, Lin enchanted the audience throughout the entire performance.

Currently, Lin offers her talent to schools, teaching students about music while having fun at the same time. During her performances, children are allowed to play with different sounds and even create their own "looped" performance using instruments to mimic animals, aliens, Godzilla and more. Lin also explains her experience of being told when she was nine years old that she had no musical talent and teaches the valuable lesson: Don't let anyone tell you that you can't live your dreams.

If you are interested in having Caryn Lin come to your school or event, please visit www.carynlin.com or email her at carynlin12@aol.com for more information.