Musical saw

 

The saw is generally played seated with the handle squeezed between the legs, and the far end held with one hand. Some sawists play standing, either with the handle between the knees and the blade sticking out in front of them, or with the handle under the chin (like a violin). The saw is usually played with the serrated edge, or teeth facing the body, though some players face them away. Some saw players file down the teeth for added comfort. To sound a note, a sawist first bends the blade into an S-curve. The parts of the blade that are curved are damped from vibration, and do not sound. At the center of the S-curve a section of the blade remains relatively flat. This section, the "sweet spot", can vibrate across the width of the blade, producing a distinct pitch: the wider the section of blade, the lower the sound. Sound is usually created by drawing a bow across the back edge of the saw at the sweet spot, or sometimes by striking the sweet spot with a mallet. The sawist controls the pitch by adjusting the S-curve, making the sweet spot travel up the blade (toward a thinner width) for a higher pitch, or toward the handle for a lower pitch. Harmonics can be created by playing at varying distances on either side of the sweet spot. Sawists can add vibrato by shaking one of their legs or by wobbling the hand that holds the tip of the blade. Once a sound is produced, it will sustain for quite a while, and can be carried through several notes of a phrase.

Sawists often use standard wood-cutting saws, although special musical saws are also made. As compared with wood-cutting saws, the blades of musical saws are generally wider, for range, and longer, for finer control. They do not have set or sharpened teeth, and may have grain running parallel to the back edge of the saw, rather than parallel to the teeth. Some musical saws are made with thinner metal, to increase flexibility, while others are made thicker, for a richer tone, longer sustain, and stronger harmonics. A typical musical saw is 5" wide at the handle end and 1" wide at the tip. A saw will generally produce about 2 octaves regardless of length. A bass saw may be 6" at the handle and produce about 2½ octaves. Two-person saws, also called "misery whips", can also be played, though with less virtuosity, and they produce an octave or less of range.

Most sawists use cello or violin bows, using violin rosin, but some may use improvised home-made bows, such as a wooden dowel.

Musical saws have been produced for over a century, primarily in the United States, though there are some producers in other countries.

In the early 1900s, there were at least ten companies in the United States manufacturing musical saws.^{[citation needed]} These saws ranged from the familiar steel variety to gold-plated masterpieces worth hundreds of dollars. However, with the start of World War II the demand for metals made the manufacture of saws too expensive^[1] and many of these companies went out of business. In the year 2000 only three companies in the United States were making saws:

• Mussehl & Westphal
• Charlie Blacklock
• Wentworth. [1]

Outside the United States, there are 3 notable makers of musical saws:

• In Sweden, Sandvik, maker of the Stradivarius saw
• In France, Alexis, which produces a toothless saw, "La Lame Sonore", with a range of three and a half octaves (Patent: N° E31975)
• In the UK - Thomas Flinn & Co. Sheffield based Saw Manufacturers. 3 different sized Musical Saws, cheats, bows and rosin available.^{[citation needed]}

•The International Musical Saw Association (IMSA) produces an annual International Musical Saw Festival (including a "Saw-Off" competition every August in Santa Cruz and Felton, California (about 90 minutes drive south of San Francisco).

•An International Musical Saw Festival is held every summer in New York City, produced by Natalia Paruz. Natalia also produced a Musical Saw Festival in Israel.^[2]

•A Guinness World Record for the 'Largest Musical Saw Ensemble' was established July 18, 2009 at the annual NYC Musical Saw Festival. Organized by Natalia 'Saw Lady' Paruz, 53 musical saw players performed together.^[3]

•There are also annual Saw Festivals in Japan & China.

This is a list of people notable for playing the musical saw.

• Natalia Paruz, also known as the 'Saw Lady', plays the musical saw in movie soundtracks, in TV commercials, with orchestras internationally, and is the organizer of international saw festivals in New York City and Israel. Go to: www.SawLady.com
• Kev Hopper, formerly the bass guitarist in the 1980s band Stump, made an album entitled Saurus in 2003 featuring six original saw tunes.
• Charles Hindmarsh, also known as The Yorkshire Musical Saw Player, has played the musical saw throughout the UK.
• Janeen Rae Heller played the saw in four television guest appearances: The Tracey Ullman Show (1989),^[4] Quantum Leap (1990),^[4] and Home Improvement (1992^[4][5] and 1999). She has also performed on albums such as Michael Hedges' The Road to Return in 1994 and Rickie Lee Jones's Ghostyhead in 1997.
• Julian Koster of the band Neutral Milk Hotel played the singing saw, along with other instruments, in the band and currently plays the saw in his solo project, The Music Tapes. In 2008, he released The Singing Saw at Christmastime.
• Armand Quoidbach, is a Belgian saw player who has played the saw since 1997. In 1999 he played on the national Belgian TV (RTBF2) . In August 2000 he won the first prize at the contest for bands of the 25th "Plinn festival" in Bourbriac (Brittany) with the band "Le Bûcheron Mélomane et les Nains de la Forêt" (The Music-loving Lumberjack and the Dwarfs of the Forest). In 2002 he played on a CD "MUSIC DRAMA" of the band "My Little Cheap Dictaphone" La Médiatheque de Belgique. He performed with numerous musicians in Belgium and in France.

These are musicians who use musical saws but who are not primarily saw players, and bands that use the musical saw as one of their instruments.

• Neutral Milk Hotel uses a musical saw on many of their tracks on their last album In the Aeroplane Over the Sea, particularly in the title track "In the Aeroplane Over the Sea".
• Tom Waits uses the musical saw on many of his songs from the last 30 years.
• Sarah McLachlan uses a musical saw as a main instrument on the composition 'Last Dance', featured on her 1997 album Surfacing. She does not play the saw herself.
• The Eels occasionally use a musical saw in their live performances and recordings. In particular, on their Eels with Strings: Live at Town Hall live album, saws are heard during the musical interlude between "Flyswatter" and "Novocaine for the Soul".
• The Icelandic quartet Amiina plays a saw on stage.
• Indie-rock band The Black Heart Procession features the musical saw in many of their songs.
• Athens, Georgia band, Hope for Agoldensummer, uses the singing saw on recordings and in concert.
• Mercury Rev make extensive use of the saw on their albums Deserter's Songs and All Is Dream.
• Mexican songwriter Julieta Venegas used the musical saw in the song "Como Se" for her MTV Unplugged performance.
• The British band Keane featured the musical saw on their song "Love Is the End".
• The composer Krzysztof Penderecki wrote regularly for the musical saw, including several obbligato parts in his comic opera "Ubu Rex".
• Australian musical comediennes The Kransky Sisters use the musical saw prominently as one of the group's main instruments.^[6]
• That 1 Guy uses a musical saw, which he has dubbed "The Magic Saw", that is hooked up to effects boxes.
• Andy Heintz of English steampunk band The Men That Will Not Be Blamed For Nothing plays the musical saw on several songs live and on their album Now That's What I Call Steampunk! Volume
• Fishtank Ensemble's lead singer, Ursula Knudsen, commonly uses the Musical Saw in the band's songs.
• Julian Koster plays a musical saw for the They Might be Giants song James K Polk.

These are notable people who are not primarily sawists, or possibly not even primarily musicians, but who have publicly played the musical saw.

• Marlene Dietrich played the saw on the Berlin stage and later used it to entertain troops during World War II.^[1][7]
• Bob Pritikin, a San Francisco socialite, often performs classical music on the musical saw at parties at his house.^[8]
• Artist Laurel Hausler plays the musical saw, sometimes accompanying puppet shows.
• Filmmaker Terry Zwigoff and cartoonist Robert Armstrong play the musical saw, and other instruments, with R. Crumb & His Cheap Suit Serenaders.

• In the movie 'Another Earth' the main character (William Mapother) plays the saw for his girlfriend (musical saw player on soundtrack - Natalia Paruz).
• In Stephen King's The Dark Tower (series), the supernatural phenomenon known as "thinnies" make a high pitched warbling noise similar to that of a musical saw.
• The main character in the movie Delicatessen plays a musical saw in two parts of the movie.
• A musical saw is played in the audition scene in the movie Dummy (with actor Adrian Brody). Musical saw player - Natalia Paruz.
• A musical saw is used as the primary instrument for the music in the Dark Carnival section of the game Left 4 Dead 2.
• I Sell the Dead, directed by Glenn McQuaid has musical saw (played by Natalia Paruz on the soundtrack in a scene at the cemetery.
• A musical saw is used in the opening theme music of the 1975 film One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.^{[citation needed]}
• American Carny, directed by Nick Basile, has the musical saw (played by Natalia Paruz) on the soundtrack throughout the movie.
• Film composer Hans Zimmer used the musical saw in his score for Pirates of The Caribbean-At World's End.^[9]
• A musical saw, played by Julian Koster, is used in the theme song of the movie The Station Agent.
• El Carnaval Sodoma, directed by Arthuro Ripstein has a musical saw (played by Natalia Paruz) on the soundtrack.
• Akira Ifukube used musical saws often in his film scores.^{[citation needed]}
• In Chris Onstad's webcomic Achewood, the surrealist performer Cartilage Head plays a saw.
• Composer Scott Munson used the musical saw in a TV commercial for the Andy Milonakis MTV show.
• The Medic in Team Fortress 2 uses his bonesaw for this purpose as a taunt.
• Brenda Threadgrip plays a musical saw in Episode 3 of series 1 of the American TV comedy show "Three's A Crowd" on a crowded escalator oblivious to all the carnage she is causing while passengers rush past her up the stairs.The wounds received were genuine,passers-by just did not bother reading the warning signs at the entrance to the escalator.^{[citation needed]}

 

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Musical saw.

• The annual NYC Musical Saw Festival
• History of the musical saw, saws made for music, poetry mentioning musical saw, movies with musical saw, etc.
• French musical saw website and forum
• Brief History