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[[quoteright:300:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/LindseySterling_fiddle_wall_673.jpg]]

->''Have you ever seen a violinist really rock out??''
-->'''--[=YouTube=] {{tagline}}'''

26-year-old Lindsey Stirling is a quirky American violinist, musician, dancer, performance artist, and composer. Her music is mostly InstrumentalHipHop combined with classical violin. She has also arranged film and videogame themes and incorporated dubstep in some pieces, e.g. her most popular track "Crystallize".

Shortly after her performance on the fifth season of ''AmericasGotTalent'' in 2010, cinematographer Devin Graham contacted her via Facebook in hopes of making a Website/YouTube video together. A few months later, Stirling replied to him and they scheduled to shoot a music video for her new song, "Spontaneous Me". It was filmed the week of May 9, 2011 while Graham was on a nearby business trip. The video gave a major boost to Stirling's popularity and she began making music videos for her Website/YouTube channel regularly.

One of her [=YouTube=] channels can be found [[http://www.youtube.com/user/lindseystomp here]]. She also has [[http://lindseystirlingviolin.com/ her own website]].
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!!Tropes found in her music and videos:
* AbandonedWarehouse:
** "[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRPOztxXWlQ Spontaneous Me]]", along with a couple other pieces, includes her dancing in empty parking lots or on abandoned and run-down buildings.
** Her video "[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jg4sZZaf3Gg Celtic Carol]]" uses a warehouse as Santa's workshop, which Lindsey spends the video decorating for Christmas.
%% * {{Adorkable}}
%% Please do not un-comment the above item without providing an explanation for WHY Stirling is an example (and not just "Oh, most definitely", because that is WordCruft).
* AffectionateParody:
** In [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tm41FW5cFgg the behind-the-scenes]] for her ''Videogame/AssassinsCreedIII'' medly, one of Stirling's crew dances about whilst holding two sticks to imitate bowing a violin, in a parody of her own moves. Everyone ends up laughing, though Stirling also pretends to be indignant and say she doesn't look like that.
** Her collaboration with Music/ThePianoGuys, ''[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9p0BqUcQ7i0 Mission Impossible]]'', is an affectionate parody of the ''Film/MissionImpossible'' movies, notably the [[MissionImpossibleCableDrop Cable Drop]] as well as LatexPerfection.
* AfterTheEnd: The setting for her and Music/{{Pentatonix}}'s cover of "[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aE2GCa-_nyU Radioactive]]". The video is filmed around some old graffitied buildings and junk in the middle of a desert, and the desolate feeling is enhanced by the heightened contrast in the video.
* AgonyOfTheFeet: Although it can't be seen in the finished video, the [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-XDL2MQ9Bs behind-the-scenes]] for "Elements" shows it was rather painful to make -- she wore thin sandles in a forest full of prickly plants, and had to dance and spin barefoot on a salt flat.
* AllJustADream: The zombies in "[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0dfZ9BXaNyE Moon Trance]]". Lindsey's friends are surprised to see her fall over when they vanish, and don't appear to have noticed anything odd.
* BeYourself: The main theme of "[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EiyPRqP5glY Transcendence]]" is about being who you are and the happiness and freedom that comes with that, rather than trying to fit ideas other people project onto you or how culture says you should be.
* BookEnds: The ''[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCL94-MsxYc Phantom of the Opera]]'' video begins and ends with aged footage of Lindsey entering and leaving the theatre place.
* BuffySpeak: When [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uzVIq7X-EiM explaining the process of making her music]], she describes how she will just do away with dictionary words altogether when trying to express what she wants to do. This is followed with a rather amusing demonstration.
* CheerfulChild: "[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0g9poWKKpbU We Found Love]]" was made in Kenya and includes a number of local people. Some are children who she holds briefly or plays with. She also performs in their classroom, and they clap along happily. Later, she describes what an honor it was to be with them.
* ColorCodedElements: The music video for "[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sf6LD2B_kDQ Elements]]" uses this a lot, with water, earth, fire, and air having different dominant colors. For fire and water, she also uses face paint/makeup in blue or red.
* {{Cosplay}}:
** She's done arrangements of themes from ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'' and ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim'' ([[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3KUyPKbR7Q here]] and [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BSLPH9d-jsI here]] respectively), and the videos for them include her dressing as a variety of characters. A friend of hers often makes costumes for these.
** In her "[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCL94-MsxYc Phantom of the Opera]]" video, she credits Shannon Cheek for designing the costumes she wore, as well as her costumes in the [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQiNVk_u0po "Lord of the Rings" Medley]].
* CoverVersion: As well as working with other musicians, she has covered arrangements of themes from several films and videogames. Stirling has also stated that she enjoys adding a violin part to popular radio songs.
* CreepyCemetery: "[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0dfZ9BXaNyE Moon Trance]]" features a misty and dark cemetery, and she's creeped out even before the zombies come.
* TheDeadCanDance: The aforementioned "Moon Trance" features a circle of dancing zombies. They then set up a band, and she joins on her violin.
* DeliberatelyMonochrome:
** This is used at the beginning and end of the ''Phantom of the Opera'' piece along with artificial aging to make it look like the film is old. Color is introduced when the texture and tempo pick up as the band appears.
** The entirety of "Shadows" is done this way, since it is about the shadow and color isn't needed. It adds to the surreality of that video.
* DoubleVision: Several videos, e.g. "[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCaOS3TAjbI On the Floor Take Three]]", feature multiple versions of herself dancing or playing the violin, usually using split screens over several takes so it appears she has clones even if they're dressed differently.
* {{Dubstep}}: Some of her pieces are self-described dubstep violin, with synthesisers used for some rhythm/base instruments and sounds.
* DutchAngle: A variety of angles and dynamic shots are used in her videos, including this one. It's especially noticeable in "Spontaneous Me", where the camera ends up rotating nearly upside down while going into this shot.
* ElectronicMusic: She has at least two electric violins -- one is bright purple and shows up in the ''Phantom of the Opera'' piece -- and many more electric instruments feature in her songs. A video about making her music shows the layering process using computer programs and a keyboard set with weird sounds.
* FairytaleWeddingDress: One shows up in [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TCL94-MsxYc her remix]] of ''ThePhantomOfTheOpera'', when she stands on the stage of an empty theater.
* FantasticLightSource: The "[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=inb8MMZ-QmA Song of the Caged Bird]]" video features many lightbulbs and candles packed into old crates. After Lindsey finds a violin and begins playing, they slowly come on until the tiny room is full of light. At the end, her violin glows too.
* FashionableAsymmetry: In the form of odd socks.
%% * FriendToAllChildren
%% Please do not un-comment the above item without providing an explanation for WHY Stirling is an example.
* GraveRobbing: In "Moon Trance", Lindsey scrabbles at a grave and steals a violin from it to defend herself.
* GenkiGirl: She has a very energetic performance style, involving lots of quick motion and dance on her part and exaggerated body movements, often with a big happy grin on her face while doing so.
* HappyDance: Lindsey sings about how "[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9Qskb3gQW0 We're in Europe!]] We're here in Europe right now, gonna be awesome, so excited!" whilst doing some kind of dance across the screen and back again.
* HappyRain: The water part of "Elements". To make the rain show up on camera, the rain is actually two people with hoses and sprinkler nozzels, backlit to highlight the drops. It's also more reliable than real weather.
* ICallHerVera: The main violin she uses is a feminine Excalibur, and her stunt violin is named Ingrid.
* IcePalace: The setting of "[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aHjpOzsQ9YI Crystallize]]". She prances through the (manmade) corridors and in the courtyard, and at night the palace glows.
* IdeaBulb: Inverted in "Song of the Caged Bird" -- the initial lightbulb she finds by accident gives her the idea of opening the rest of the crates.
* IncorruptiblePurePureness: Even if YMMV, you have to admit, she's about as close to this as any real person of legal age is going to get.
* InstrumentOfMurder: The ''Skyrim'' video had an acted battle. Lindsey used her violin bow as a sword against the bandit.
* LaserHallway: One of these features in her collaboration with Music/ThePianoGuys, with the red lasers contrasting with a predominantly black-and-white video. Lindsey carefully plays her way through, around, and under the beams, but the cellist simply turns off the alarm system to walk through.
* LivingShadow: The aptly-named "[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGCsyshUU-A Shadows]]" doesn't have as many quick cuts and varied angles as some other videos, since it's just her and her shadow projected on a piece of plywood. They start out in synch, but soon the shadow does movements in canon and then puts down its violin to just dance. Lindsey's expression is one of bemusement as she watches, but she keeps playing.
* MeanCharacterNiceActor: She arranged some music from ''Videogame/AssassinsCreedIII'' and her character in the video was Connor, a deadly assassin. In the [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MOg8Cz9yfWg behind-the-scenes]], she lampshades this:
-->''So, I'm a pretty, you know, smiley/quirky/dorky little person, and here I was. I was wearing the costume of Connor, the assassin in ''Assassin's Creed'', who is anything but quirky and smiley and dorky.''
* MessyHair: Averted; it doesn't tangle no matter how much crazy dancing she does, and her [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQWG7rHprrg hair tutorial]] shows that she wakes up with it fairly smooth and neat.
* MissionImpossibleCableDrop: This features, fittingly enough, in the ''Film/MissionImpossible'' video. Lindsey is lowered on a cable to steal music off the pianist's stand, throwing a small object to distract him long enough for it to be snatched. She plays her violin whilst being dropped.
* MobileShrubbery: When infiltrating the building during the ''Mission: Impossible'' piece, both Lindsey and [[Music/ThePianoGuys Steven]] carry potted plants with them briefly in an attempt to hide themselves.
* NotAMorningPerson: Well, she is, but others aren't. For Easter 2013, Stirling [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kOPrGPU-SXE arranged an Easter Egg Hunt]] for everyone else on the tour bus. She was up bright and early setting out eggs, baskets, and a trail of footprints supposedly by the EasterBunny, but trying to wake up those touring with her didn't quite go so well. They wondered at how she could do it given that they'd done a show the night before.
* OneOfUs: She arranges video game and film music, and described herself as a video nerd in the behind-the-scenes featurette for "Elements".
* OrbitalShot: There's a particularly large one is in the ''[[Film/TheLordOfTheRings Lord of the Rings]]'' medly. She stands in the wind on a hill by the sea, and the shot goes around and above/below her.
* OurElvesAreBetter: "[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jg4sZZaf3Gg Celtic Carol]]" shows her as one of Santa's elves trapped in a workshop. She entertains herself through decorating the area and non-malevolent mischievousness.
* OverTheShoulderCarry: When she's romping around with Music/TylerWard in "[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ke-sS8dPKk Thrift Shop]]", he briefly carries her in this fashion.
* OwlBeDamned: A couple videos, e.g. the ''Zelda'' medly, use owl hoots to set the scene and make it seem scary.
* PimpedOutDress: In her "PhantomOfTheOpera" medley. {{Justified|Trope}} as she is emulating Christine Daae.
* PlayingWithFire: "Elements" features a lot of fire that she dances around, based in a frame quickly constructed from Home Depot materials.
* PointyEars: She wears these for her elf cosplays.
* PygmalionPlot: "Transcendence" resembles this in that the man at the computer projects whatever he wants onto Lindsey and she moulds to fit it, and when she breaks out of this he is angry.
* RackFocus: The ''Series/GameOfThrones'' [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_oNpmSAvpGQ cover]] done by Stirling and Peter Hollens used this when the latter finds a chess piece; it moves the focus from his face near the ground to the small brown chess knight.
* RobbingTheDead: In "Moon Trance", Lindsey is desperate, what with zombies coming at her, and scrabbles at a grave to get a violin from the ground, with which she defends herself.
* RoundhouseKick: Her dancing often involves a few of these, though they're done more as delicate pirouettes than vicious attacks. When a video includes her in several places, she sometimes cuts to each place while continuing the spin.
* RuleSixtyThree: She sometimes plays gender-flipped violinist versions of male characters, like Link in the ''[[Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda Zelda]]'' music video or Connor in the ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedIII'' video.
* SceneryPorn: Lots of videos are filmed in wild and beautiful locations (most of them reachable within a hour's drive from Provo, Utah), and the camera makes full use of this; it's part of the reason for the OrbitalShot mentioned above.
* SelfBackingVocalist: The "Dragonborn" cover involves over a hundred copies of Peter Hollens singing different pieces of the melody and harmony.
* SelfTitledAlbum: Her only album so far is ''Lindsey Stirling'', released in September 2012.
* ShatteringTheIllusion: "[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EiyPRqP5glY Transcendence]]" is themed around this trope through Lindsey discovering that the projected clothes, backgrounds, places, and so on are not real. When she realises she can step outside the image of a dress to reach for her violin, she is at first hesitant because of the shadows this casts on other projections, but then dances over the scenes like nobody's business, to the anger of the man creating the illusions.
* ShoutOut: "Song of the Caged Bird" is named after and inspired by Maya Angelou's poem "I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings".
* SingleStanzaSong: "Stars Align" is mostly instrumental, but has some vocals in the form of da-ing followed by "when the stars align". This is repeated a couple times without changes.
* SkipOfInnocence: Her dances often include skips and jumps as she plays her violin, grinning.
* SoundtrackDissonance: In the ''Lord of the Rings'' [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQiNVk_u0po medly]], the only costumes she wears are pretty and innocent dresses in a Hobbiton setting -- slightly out of place when the piece moves on to battle themes.
* TheStoic: Her "orchestra face" is a deadpan, focused expression that she used to use when playing the violin. It's clear that she's gotten rid of that habit, though!
* StuntDouble: She has a $40 violin used for scenes in rain, rolling in dirt, etc.; as a good violin costs thousands, this saves it from getting ruined.
* TooDumbToLive: Lindsey's bandmates in "Moon Dance" when they decide to take a shortcut through an ominous graveyard in the middle of the night.
* UnlimitedWardrobe: She has a different outfit for every video, not even counting dressups, and sometimes appears with a variety of costumes within just one.
* WantedPoster: The ''Assassin's Creed III'' [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MOg8Cz9yfWg theme arrangement]] includes her cosplay character (the assassin Connor, though she called herself [[RuleSixtyThree Connie]] instead) finding a poster for himself and ripping it off the tree.
* WordSaladTitle: "[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vxIOUJ7by6U Electric Daisy Violin]]". The title fits rather well, actually.
* YouWakeUpInARoom: The beginning of the "Song of the Caged Bird" video features this, with Lindsey getting up off the floor and unaware of any way out.
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