Musical saw

The musical saw is banal a Scie hand saw which, rubbed with a bow, produces a its which can be modulated by the tension and the curve of the saw.

Description

The musical saw is an musical instrument which was used with the departure by people making use of a vulgar saw hand saw and who noticed that typed or rubbed by printing a S curve to him it produced a mélodieux sound near to the human voice if one prolonged the sound thanks to a printed Vibration with the blade by a swinging of the leg or wrist. At once a practitioner with the heart a little more musical than the others used a small mallet of wood to make music in percussion, which gave the idea to another which passed by there and which knew the use that made the violonists of their bow take a branch and a piece of string or tail of its horse or that of its neighbor, and its bow created, it hawked everywhere this new form of use of the hand saw and the bow. Thus new generations of musicians to the sound heart were created.

History

It is towards 1870 that thanks to progress of the Métallurgie one could find what to manufacture true saws with acceptable sonorities to manufacture truths instruments. This evolution was done in parallel in the American continents and in Europe, but in a different way because of Industrialization more in advance in old Europe. Thus several industrial musicians deposited patents in their respective countries.

It was necessary to be able about the years 1900 to find for the first time of truths " blades sonores" little girls of their grandmothers the hand saws to which one cut the teeth and which one modified the forms and the handle or " crosse". Some added a handle or " lever of inflection" for more convenience and of virtuosity. Never the American musical saws did not lose their teeth. They are limited in sound Tessiture: from 1 ½ with 2 ½ octaves maximum whereas certain European musical saws can reach the 3 ½ octaves even more like a Flute. To reach this quality one of course needs a perfect quality of tempered steel, with the good thickness, good hardness, good dimensions, and cut in the good sense of the Laminage. With this play the French, the British, the Swedes and the Germans were the best.

Impact

This instrument created at the beginning of the 20th century had periods of euphoria to slow down during the two world wars where the best interpreters perished in the Anonymat. The Clown S and some virtuosos made it possible the instrument to live sparely until the beginning of the 21e century when the passion of curious and impassioned of musical saw seems to be done a little more present in the musical landscape.

Anecdotes

This instrument is now indexed in the Idiophones.
a player of musical saw is called a lamist.
Marlene Dietrich played of this instrument.

External bonds

Musical saw, with sound extract.
Musical saw, video
" Madam of Scie"
Devoted to the musical saw

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