McNeese State University

Dr. Michael Buckles, a violinist and assistant professor of performing arts at McNeese State University, has an upcoming recording planned with Matthew Burtner, an innovative composer who combines electric string music with computer-synthesized sounds.

Classical musician Dr. Michael Buckles wants to learn guitar solos from rock and roll history. He’s even considered tackling Hendrix.

It’s probably not too unusual to find a classical musician who occasionally kicks on “Purple Haze,” but for Buckles, there are two things that make this endeavor extraordinary: he is only vaguely familiar with rock and roll, having listened to classical music his entire life, and when he tackles the elusive success of playing a Hendrix riff, he’ll be plugging in a violin, not a guitar.

For Buckles, a violinist and assistant professor of performing arts at McNeese State University, the violin is “the most vocal of instruments.”

“Many instruments were created to mimic the voice and in my opinion, the violin comes closest to doing that,” he said.

A graduate of the prestigious Cleveland Institute of Music, he has performed with the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra, the Rapides Symphony and the Lake Charles Symphony – but always unplugged. The traditional violin has been a part of his life since the day Santa delivered him one for Christmas when he was five years old.

Last week, Buckles received another wrapped violin. This time, it was from Lake Charles Music and it was electric.

Buckles has an upcoming recording planned with innovative composer Matthew Burtner, so his interest in the electric violin has practical purposes. Burtner, assistant professor of composition and computer music at the University of Virginia, is best known for instrumental and electroacoustic music that explores ecoacoustics, interactive media, extended rhythmic and noise-based musical systems. His work has been described as “eerily effective electroacoustic music.”

Buckles’ recording will feature an electric string quartet, including his violin, intermingled with synthesized music. The computer-generated sounds are designed to imitate those of string instruments, but on a much broader pitch scale.

“The physics of a string wave are similar to those of a computer, but obviously computers have a much wider capability. The sounds you can produce on a computer are virtually infinite,” Buckles said. “That combination makes Burtner’s music very strange, yet interesting, to listen to.”

Although Buckles ordered the electric violin specifically so he could produce the necessary sounds for the Burtner recording, he plans to incorporate it into his classes.

The greatest and most obvious difference between the traditional and electric violin is the way the sound is delivered. The traditional violin relies on the hollow-bodied “f-holes” on either side of the violin’s waist to deliver notes to the audience, whereas an electric violin uses an amplifier. The electric violin also creates opportunities for supplemental sound tools, like foot pedals, which can produce a wailing sound more often associated with an electric guitar.

According to Buckles, the technique for playing electric guitar is similar to the violin.

“That’s why I’ve considered learning some rock and roll guitar riffs. It would be a challenge for me, and the students would probably find it interesting to hear familiar music in a different way,” Buckles said. “I’ve made a point to listen to the radio so I can familiarize myself with rock music. I’ve heard a couple songs from the 80s that might work. And I’ve thought about doing some Jimi Hendrix. I don’t know much about rock and roll, but from what I understand, that would be a challenge.”