A musical saw, also called a singing saw, is the application of a hand saw as a musical instrument. The sound creates an ethereal tone, very similar to the theremin. The musical saw is classified as a friction idiophone with direct friction (131.22) under the Hornbostel-Sachs system of musical instrument classification.

How a saw is played

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.

What kinds of saws are played

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.

Producers of musical saws

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

United States

In the early 1900s, there were at least ten companies in the United States manufacturing musical saws. 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 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.

Outside the United States

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.

Events and world records

•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.

•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.

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

Saw players

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. A commercial website selling her works is found at 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), ''Quantum Leap'' (1990), and ''Home Improvement'' (1992 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.

Thomas Jefferson Scribner was a familiar figure on the streets of Santa Cruz, California during the 1970s playing the musical saw. He performed on a variety of recordings and appeared in folk music festivals in the USA and Canada during the 1970s. His work as labour organizer and member of the IWW is documented in the film "The Wobblies" 1979. Canadian composer/saw player Robert Minden pays tribute to him on his website . Musician/songwriter, Utah Phillips has recorded a song referencing Scribner, "The Saw Playing Musician" on the album Fellow Workers with Ani DiFranco. Artist Marghe McMahon was inspired in 1978 to create a bronze statue of Tom playing the musical saw which sits in downtown Santa Cruz.

Musicians and bands that use musical saws

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.

The Rumanian composer George Enescu uses the musical saw at the end of the second act of his opera "''Œdipe''" to express the death of the sfinx killed by Oedipus.

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.

Mike Waldeck Jr. plays musical saw in the chameleon rock band QIET.

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.

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.

The Canadian composer/musician, Robert Minden writes extensively for the musical saw. The JUNO 1990 nominated "The Boy Who Wanted To Talk To Whales" includes a musical saw composition.

The Chilean Musician, Pablo Flores, plays the Musical Saw on the Track "La Noche" on the album "5x5" from the songwritter Gepe.(Jacobino Discos - jac02)

Other notable people who have played musical saw

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. Bob Pritikin, a San Francisco socialite, often performs classical music on the musical saw at parties at his house.

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.

Musical saws in fiction

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''.

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''.

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.

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.

Sample

References

External links

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

Category:Friction idiophones Category:Bowed instruments Category:Continuous pitch instruments

bg:Музикален трион de:Singende Säge es:Sierra musical fa:اره موسیقی fr:Scie musicale ko:톱 연주 it:Sega musicale he:מסור מוזיקלי nl:Zingende zaag ja:ミュージックソー ro:Ferăstrău (instrument muzical) fi:Saha (soitin) sv:Musikalisk såg

Tan Dun (, ) (born August 15, 1957, Si Mao, Hunan) is a Chinese contemporary classical composer, most widely known for his scores for the movies ''Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon'' and ''Hero''.

Early life in China

Tan Dun was born in the village of Simaonae, Changsha in the Hunan province of China. As a child, he was fascinated by the role of the shaman in his village, who conducted rituals and ceremonies, often set to music made with organic objects such as rocks and water. However, as a child in the midst of China's cultural revolution, he found this kind of "backward thinking" frowned upon, and he was sent to work as a rice planter on a government commune.

That, however, had little effect on his affinity for music. He created his own musical group, utilizing peasants in the village playing whatever they could, sometimes just banging on pots and pans. It was from these peasants that he began to learn to play traditional Chinese string instruments. He went on to play the viola for the Beijing Opera Orchestra.

It was from there that his escape from the agricultural commune came in the form of a government-sponsored touring company of the Beijing opera. When a ferry full of performers capsized near the commune, killing several of them, Tan was employed by the troupe and left the commune.

From there he went to the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing, and studied with musicians such as Toru Takemitsu, who strongly influenced his musicianship and his sense of musical style.

Move to America

In the 1980s he moved to New York City as a doctoral student at Columbia University, studying composition with Chou Wen-Chung, who had studied with and assisted the composer Edgard Varèse. It was there that Tan discovered the music of experimental musicians such as Philip Glass, John Cage, Meredith Monk and Steve Reich. He gradually realized he could incorporate all these disparate influences - his upbringing in Hunan, his classical training at the conservatory and the contemporary experimental composers in New York - into his compositions.

Musical style and compositions

Tan Dun is widely recognized for using non-traditional and organic instruments in his compositions. His piece ''Water Passion After St. Matthew'' employs amplified bowls of water in lieu of traditional percussion, and his ''Paper Concerto'' (2003) relies solely on the manipulation of paper to create music. He is also recognized for adding multimedia aspects to his performances, such as orchestras that interact with video, or audience participation.

For the official ceremony for the transfer of the sovereignty of Hong Kong on July 1, 1997, he was commissioned to write ''Symphony 1997: Heaven Earth Mankind'', for cello soloist (who was Yo-Yo Ma during the first performances), the recently unearthed ancient bianzhong bells, children's choir and orchestra.

In 1998 he was awarded The Eugene McDermott Award in the Arts by the Council for the Arts at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

In 1999 he was selected by the Glenn Gould Foundation as the recipient of the 1996 City of Toronto - Glenn Gould International Protégé Prize in Music.

In 2000 Tan, along with Sofia Gubaidulina, Osvaldo Golijov, and Wolfgang Rihm, was commissioned by Helmuth Rilling and the Internationale Bachakademie Stuttgart to write a piece for the Passion 2000 project in commemoration of Johann Sebastian Bach. His contribution was the ''Water Passion After St. Matthew''. The piece was widely performed in Europe and was subsequently given its American premiere by the Oregon Bach Festival, also under Rilling's direction.

Tan's adaptation of the Chinese folk song Molihua (meaning Jasmine Flower), which he co-authored with Wang Hesheng, was played before, during and after each of the 302 medal ceremonies at the Beijing 2008 Olympics. Tan described the piece as, "a gift from the Chinese people to the world's athletes."

In late 2006 Tan Dun premiered “Zen Shaolin” an outdoor production near Shaolin Temple in Henan, China.

In 2008, he was commissioned by Google to compose "Internet Symphony No. 1 'Eroica'" to be performed collaboratively by the YouTube Symphony Orchestra. That same year, he was commissioned by New York Philharmonic for Lang Lang to compose his First Piano Concerto, subtitled "The Fire".

Operas

''Marco Polo'', with a libretto by Paul Griffiths was first shown at the Munich Biennale, on May 7, 1996, as well as winning the 1998 Grawemeyer Award for Music Composition. The opera was returned to De Nederlandse Opera in Amsterdam on November, 2008.

''Peony Pavilion'', based on a text by Tang Xianzu premiered at the Wiener Festwochen, in Vienna, on May 12, 1998.

''Tea: A Mirror of Soul'', with a libretto by Tan and Xu Ying, was commissioned by Suntory Hall in Tokyo, Japan and was given its world premiere performance there on October 22, 2002. The opera premiered in the United States on July 21, 2007 at the Santa Fe Opera in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

''The First Emperor'', received its world premiere performance on December 21, 2006 in New York City at the Metropolitan Opera, which had commissioned the work, with the composer conducting. The libretto, by Tan and Ha Jin, is based on the life of the first Emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang, who unified the country and built an early version of the Great Wall. The production is by film director Zhang Yimou. Plácido Domingo sang the title role, with Elizabeth Futral as the emperor's daughter and Paul Groves as the musician Gao Jianli. The opera was reprised at the Metropolitan Opera (again with Plácido Domingo in the title role), two years later, and has also been produced at the opera house of Karlsruhe, Germany.

Soundtracks

''Don't Cry, Nanking'' (1995)

''Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon'', or ''Wo hu cang long'' (2000)

''Hero'', or ''Ying xiong'' (2002)

''The Banquet'', or ''Ye yan'' (2006)

References

Kennedy, Michael (2006), ''The Oxford Dictionary of Music'', 985 pages, ISBN 0-19-861459-4

External links

{{external media | align = left | image1 = Photograph of Tan Dun | audio1 = Art of the States: Tan Dun ''Nine Songs'' (a ritual opera after Qu Yuan) (1989) | audio2 = Minnesota Public Radio — Tan Dun interview (RealAudio) | video1 = Video of discussion with Tan Dun on China's art Asia Society, New York, November 2, 2009 | video2 = Tan Dun talks about his first experience with western Classical music and the importance of Chinese identity }}

Category:Columbia University alumni Category:21st-century classical composers Category:20th-century classical composers Category:BAFTA winners (people) Category:Chinese composers Category:Film score composers Category:Best Original Music Score Academy Award winners Category:1957 births Category:Living people Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Grawemeyer Award winners Category:American musicians of Chinese descent Category:Members of Committee of 100

cs:Tan Dun de:Tan Dun es:Tan Dun fr:Tan Dun ko:탄둔 id:Tan Dun it:Tan Dun hu:Tan Tun nl:Tan Dun ja:譚盾 no:Tan Dun pl:Tan Dun ru:Тань Дунь fi:Tan Dun sv:Tan Dun uk:Тан Дун zh:谭盾