The Musical Saw occupies a
niche these days as a novelty instrument. It is most often seen being played by street performers
who use its unique sound to entice passer-bys to become patrons. Rarely might you see one
on a stage or as part of a band. [ed. Noting exception to this point, both Vagabond Opera and Fishtank Ensemble played the Musical Saw at a recent
performance at McCabe’s Guitar Shop.] But
there was a time when it had captured the fascination of the public and was
immensely popular. So what is it, how does it
work and when was it so popular?
Music
by the
Carpenters?
Figure 1- Marlene Dietrich plays the Saw
Even though you can now
buy saws manufactured specifically to be musical, you can also use a regular
carpenter's saw purchased from your local hardware store. You might be happy with a
standard 26-inch 8-point (8 serrations to the inch) saw. The length is important
because it primarily determines the instrument’s range. A 26-inch saw will play in
the tenor range.
There are two methods of
eliciting music from the saw: you can strike it with a mallet (which was the
original way to play it) or you can use the modern way which is to excite it
with a cello bow. Whichever method is used,
bending the blade into an S-shape gives you control of the pitch. To do this the saw handle
is usually placed between the player's legs while seated and then the tip is
pulled upward with the fingers of the left hand while the thumb pushes downward
to produce the S-curve as so nicely demonstrated by Marlene Dietrich in Figure
1. Ms. Dietrich played the Saw
as part of her act while entertaining the troops during WWII. You
can hear a bit of that in Audio Clip 1
(www.umpcollection.de/saege1.ram).
Video Clip 1 - Bow Reposition & Knee Tremolo
(www.youtube.com/watch?v=QONLAuKdmqM)
I should have node that
The S-shape divides the
saw blade into three functional segments separated by nodes. Changing the shape of the
S by bending harder or softer at the thumb moves the nodes and changes the
length of the middle section which consequently changes the pitch. While the other two
sections can be played, the middle section contains the sweet spot that gives
the most pleasing sound. As the sweet spot moves, the
bow is usually repositioned to follow it and the varying blade width at the
point of contact also affects the pitch. A
vibrato effect can be produced by bouncing a leg slightly which alternately
raises and lowers the pitch.
Video Clip 1 demonstrates both the bow
reposition and the knee tremolo.
Figure 2- A Secondary Handle
Video Clip 2 - Use Of Secondary Handle
(www.youtube.com/watch?v=Njyq_N38_SE)
The biggest obstacle while
learning to play may be the tension on the thumb which tends to make the
practice sessions rather short. To avoid this problem people have attached secondary
handles to the tip end of the saw as shown in Figure 2 and near the beginning
of Video
Clip 2. This
eliminates the constant pressure on the thumb and provides more torque and, therefore,
better control.
Oops!
The first musical notes to
emanate from a saw were undoubtedly accidental. Dropping the saw or waving
it in the air might have produced the first note or a falling tool or perhaps a
carpenter’s nail striking the blade may have done it. While the use of metal saws
goes back at least 400 years there is evidence that it wasn’t until the 1700s
that saw music came into existence and on several continents at once.
But the saw needed a
better quality of steel before it could produce tones of a truly musical timbre.
Clarence Mussehl was the
one who finally came up with the type of steel needed to produce better
resonance and vibrato. He also enhanced the tone
and the range of the saw by using thinner steel and changing the width. In
1921, Mussehl & Westphal of Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin, became the first major U.S. marketer
of musical saws. During the 1920s and early
1930s they sold over 30,000 units a year.
Figure 3- The Flexatone
It was the vaudeville
performers of the early 20th century that really brought the instrument to the
fore. Credit
for this goes mostly to Leon Weaver who toured the vaudeville circuit with his
"Weaver Brothers n' Elviry" act. His sister-in-law, June
Weaver, made two important changes. Instead
of the standing posture where the saw-handle rested on the floor, she played
the saw while seated. The
seated position put the saw-handle between the legs thereby facilitating the
tremolo effect. She
is also cited as the first to use a bow instead of a mallet.
Mini-Me
Perhaps the saw is too big
and scary for you, then how about a Flexatone? The
Flexatone was introduced in the early 1920s and uses much the same principles
as the singing saw. The instrument consists of
a piece of sheet metal surrounded by a wire frame and handle (Figure 3). Attached
to the free end of the sheet metal are two pieces of spring steel. Attached
to the free end of each of those is a wooden knob. The
instrument is played by waving it up and down causing the knobs to act as
beaters upon the metal sheet.
The tremolo and the pitch
of the tone produced are controlled by using the thumb to bend the metal plate.
The first time I ever
heard (or even heard of) a Flexatone was many Christmas times ago. There
was a Salvation Army bell-ringer in front of a store. Instead of a bell, he was
using a Flexatone and was playing the eeriest sounding Christmas Carols. I sought out the sound,
found the player and he gave me my first introduction to this strange
instrument.
So until I “saw” you
again, please stay tuned.
Roger Goodman is a musician, mathematician,
punster, reader of esoteric books and sometime writer, none of which pays the
mortgage. For that, he is a computer network guy for a law firm. He has been
part of the Los Angeles old-time & contra-dance music community for over
thirty years. While not a dancer, he does play fiddle, guitar, harmonica,
mandolin, banjo & spoons. Roger has a penchant for trivia and obscura and
sometimes tries to explain how the clock works when asked only for the time. He
lives with his wife, Monika White, in Santa Monica.
