University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

RETURN TO ROCK STARDOM THE PERFORMERS, COMPOSERS, LUTHIERS AND EDUCATORS RE-ESTABLISHING BOWED STRINGS AS PREMIER PERFORMANCE VEHICLES VOLUME 1: ELECTRIC EDITION

Bontrager, Charles

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/128319

Description

Title
RETURN TO ROCK STARDOM THE PERFORMERS, COMPOSERS, LUTHIERS AND EDUCATORS RE-ESTABLISHING BOWED STRINGS AS PREMIER PERFORMANCE VEHICLES VOLUME 1: ELECTRIC EDITION
Author(s)
Bontrager, Charles
Issue Date
2025
Director of Research (if dissertation) or Advisor (if thesis)
Taylor, Stephen
Doctoral Committee Chair(s)
Haken, Rudolf
Committee Member(s)
  • Koo, Salley
  • Portuguez, Guido Sanchez
Department of Study
School of Music
Discipline
Music
Degree Granting Institution
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Degree Name
A.Mus.D. (doctoral)
Date of Ingest
2025-05-14T13:27:03-05:00
Keyword(s)
  • Electric
  • Violin
  • Cello
  • Viola
  • Bontrager
  • Technology
  • Electronic
  • Strings
  • Rachel Barton Pine
  • Mark Wood
  • Jean Luc Ponty
  • Dr. David Wallace
Language
eng
Abstract
The capabilities of electric strings have evolved dramatically in the last few decades, and the number of devotees of these instruments has increased proportionally; yet there exists no “who’s who” of the innovators driving this evolution. There are fantastic artists working on stages and in studios and workshops – in every musical genre – yet most labor in relative obscurity. This thesis shows the members of the modern bowed strings community to be widespread, accomplished, and imminently capable musicians. The bulk of this work is in two sections, focusing on established and emerging artists, respectively. Established performers and luthiers were personally interviewed, and up-and-comers responded to a provided questionnaire. The scope (with a few notable exceptions) was limited to artists already known to the author, well-known (at least within the community) for their work on electrics and based in North America. The results were formatted and lightly edited where necessary, and all interview subjects were given a say in the final form. All of the artist chapters are printed with the full blessing and approval of the subjects. The appendices consolidate and detail the knowledge and experience the author has acquired over more than 25 years of working with electric violins, amplification, and processing. The purpose of this study it to reveal just how many highly accomplished artists are extant, and to assemble a pool of material as a starting point for an online, all-things-electric-strings archive to be hosted and curated by the Electric Strings Program at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. This work additionally offers a window onto a burgeoning sea-change in music performance, technology, composition, and education.
Type of Resource
text
Copyright and License Information
Copyright 2025 Charles Bontrager

Owning Collections

Doctoral Project Theses [Option 2] - Music PRIMARY