A musical saw, also known as a singing saw, is a hand saw that is used as a musical instrument. It can produce smooth sliding notes, called glissando, and creates a delicate, otherworldly sound similar to that of a theremin. The musical saw is categorized as a plaque friction idiophone with direct friction (132.1) in the Hornbostel-Sachs system of musical instrument classification. It is also classified as a metal sheet played by friction (151) in the revised Hornbostel-Sachs system developed by the MIMO Consortium.

Playing

The saw is usually played while sitting, with the handle, called a tip-handle or cheat, held between the legs and the far end held in one hand. Some players stand while playing, holding the handle between their knees and letting the blade extend forward. The saw is often played with the toothed edge, or "teeth," facing the player, though some players turn the teeth away. Some players file down the teeth, but this does not change the sound. Many professional saw players use a cheat at the tip of the saw to make bending easier and to improve skill.

To play a note, the sawist bends the blade into an S-shape. The curved parts of the blade do not vibrate and do not produce sound. At the center of the S-shape, a flat section of the blade remains. This section, called the "sweet spot," can vibrate across the blade's width, creating a clear pitch. The wider the flat section, the lower the sound. Sound is made by drawing a bow across the back edge of the saw at the sweet spot or by striking the sweet spot with a mallet.

The sawist changes the pitch by adjusting the S-shape. Moving the sweet spot upward along the blade (toward a thinner section) creates a higher pitch, while moving it toward the handle creates a lower pitch. Harmonics can be made by playing slightly above or below the sweet spot. Vibrato is added by shaking one leg or by wobbling the hand that holds the tip of the blade. Once a sound is made, it lasts for a long time and can continue through several notes in a musical phrase.

Sometimes the musical saw is used in orchestral music, but orchestral percussionists are rarely also saw players. If a note outside the saw's range is needed, an electric guitar with a slide can be used instead.

Types

Musical saws are often similar to standard wood-cutting saws, but special musical saws are also made. Compared to wood-cutting saws, musical saw blades are usually wider for a greater range of notes and longer for better control. They do not have teeth that are shaped or sharpened, and the grain of the metal may run along the back edge of the saw instead of along the teeth. Some musical saws use thinner metal to make them more flexible, while others use thicker metal for a fuller sound, longer notes, and stronger musical tones.

A typical musical saw is 5 inches (13 cm) wide at the handle end and 1 inch (2.5 cm) wide at the tip. This type of saw can usually play about two octaves of notes, no matter how long it is. A bass saw may be over 6 inches (15 cm) wide at the handle and can play about two-and-a-half octaves. Some musical saws can play a range of 3 to 4 octaves, and newer designs can reach up to 5 octaves. Two-person saws, also called "misery whips," can be played but have a smaller range, usually about one octave.

Most musical saw players use bows from cellos or violins, along with violin rosin. Some players may use homemade bows, such as a wooden stick.

Producers

Musical saws have been made for more than 100 years, mostly in the United States, but also in Scandinavia, Germany, France (Lame sonore), and Asia.

In the early 1900s, at least ten companies in the United States made musical saws. These saws included common steel models and high-quality, gold-plated saws that cost hundreds of dollars. However, when World War II began, the need for metals made making saws too costly, and many companies closed. By the year 2000, only three U.S. companies—Mussehl & Westphal, Charlie Blacklock, and Wentworth—were still producing saws. In 2012, a company named Index Drums began making a saw with a built-in transducer in the handle, called the "JackSaw."

Outside the United States, musical saws are made by companies such as Bahco, which produces the limited edition Stradivarius; Alexis in France; Feldmann and Stövesandt in Germany; Music Blade in Greece; and Thomas Flinn & Company in the United Kingdom, based in Sheffield. Thomas Flinn & Company makes three different sizes of musical saws and also sells related accessories.

Events, championships and world records

The International Musical Saw Association (IMSA) holds an annual International Musical Saw Festival, including a "Saw-Off" competition, every August in Santa Cruz and Felton, California. An International Musical Saw Festival is also held every other summer in New York City, organized by Natalia Paruz. Paruz also organized a musical saw festival in Israel. Annual saw festivals are also held in Japan and China.

A Guinness World Record for the largest musical-saw ensemble was set on July 18, 2009, at the annual NYC Musical Saw Festival. Organized by Paruz, 53 musical saw players performed together.

In 2011, a World Championship took place in Jelenia Góra, Poland. The winners were: 1. Gladys Hulot (France), 2. Katharina Micada (Germany), 3. Tom Fink (Germany).

Caroline McCaskey became the first person to perform the American national anthem using a saw at a Major League Baseball game (Oakland Athletics’ Coliseum) on June 6, 2022.

Performers

People who are well-known for playing the musical saw:

• Natalia Paruz, also called the "Saw Lady," plays the musical saw in movie soundtracks, television commercials, and with orchestras around the world. She organizes musical saw festivals in New York City and Israel. She was a judge at a musical saw festival in France and played the saw in the off-Broadway show Sawbones. A 2011 crossword puzzle from The Washington Post included a question about her: "Down 5 – Instrument played by Natalia Paruz."
• Mara Carlyle, a singer and songwriter from London, often uses the musical saw in her music. Her albums include The Lovely and Floreat.
• David Coulter, a musician who plays many instruments, has performed the musical saw in films, on television, and in live shows worldwide. He has played with artists like Damon Albarn, Gorillaz, and Tom Waits. He has also worked on film scores and TV soundtracks, including Psychoville and Wallander.
• Janeen Rae Heller played the musical saw in four TV shows: The Tracey Ullman Show (1989), Quantum Leap (1990), and Home Improvement (1992 and 1999). She has also performed on albums by Michael Hedges and Rickie Lee Jones.
• Mio Higashino, from Osaka, won first place in the 42nd International Musical Saw Festival. She performs in Japan with a group called Mollen.
• Charles Hindmarsh, also known as The Yorkshire Musical Saw Player, plays the musical saw in the United Kingdom.
• Kev Hopper, who was a bass guitarist in the 1980s band Stump, released an EP in 2002 called Saurus, which includes six original songs played on the musical saw.
• Christine Johnston, who performs under the name Eve Kransky, plays the musical saw with other traditional and improvised instruments.
• Brigid Kaelin, an American musician, includes the musical saw in her performances and recordings. She has played with Elvis Costello and released two albums focused on the musical saw.
• Julian Koster, a member of the band Neutral Milk Hotel, plays the singing saw. He also performs with his solo project, The Music Tapes, and released an album called The Singing Saw at Christmastime in 2008.
• Katharina Micada plays the musical saw in cabaret shows and with orchestras like the Berlin Philharmonic and London Philharmonic. She can sing and play the saw at the same time.
• Jamie Muir, a member of the band King Crimson, briefly plays the musical saw on the song "Easy Money" from the album Larks' Tongues in Aspic.
• Bonnie Paine, a singer from Oklahoma and co-founder of the band Elephant Revival, plays the musical saw as part of the group.
• Angela Perley, a singer and guitarist from Ohio, plays the musical saw in her band, Angela Perley and the Howlin' Moons.
• Quinta (also known as Kath Mann), a London-based musician, has worked with artists like Bat for Lashes and Radiohead’s Philip Selway on musical saw projects.
• Thomas Jefferson Scribner, a musician from the 1970s, played the musical saw in Santa Cruz, California. He performed in folk festivals and was involved in labor organizing. His work is remembered in a film called The Wobblies.
• Adrian Stout, a member of the band The Tiger Lillies, plays the musical saw, theremin, jaw harp, and a Greek instrument called the bağlama.
• That 1 Guy, a musician who creates homemade instruments, uses the musical saw in his performances.
• Catherine Gerbrands has played the musical saw for groups like Mediæval Bæbes and Seven-Headed Raven.
• Jim Turner released an album called The Well-Tempered Saw in 1971.
• Victor Victoria (also known as Victoria Falconer) plays the musical saw in live shows with her cabaret groups.
• Liu Ya, a professional violinist from China, is famous for playing the "Bird Song" on the musical saw on Chinese television.

German actress and singer Marlene Dietrich, who lived in the United States for many years, is one of the most famous people to play the musical saw. She learned to play the instrument while filming a movie in Vienna in 1927. Her co-star, Igo Sym, taught her how to play. He gave her his musical saw as a farewell gift. The saw has the words: "Now Suidy is gone / the sun don’t shine… / Igo / Vienna 1927." She took the saw with her to Hollywood and played it at film sets and parties. She also played the saw during USO shows for American soldiers in 1944. Two rare recordings of her playing the saw exist.

The musical saw has appeared in movies and TV shows:
• In the 1940 animated film Pinocchio, Jiminy Cricket uses the musical saw during the song "Give a Little Whistle."
• The theme song of the movie One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is played on the musical saw.
• The 1991 film Delicatessen includes a duet between a cello and the musical saw.
• The 2002 film Dummy features an audition scene with a musical saw player (played by Natalia Paruz).
• In the Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets book, an orchestra of 30 musical saws appears at a party.
• In the 2011 movie Another Earth, a character plays the musical saw (Natalia Paruz is on the soundtrack).
• In the 2014 animated movie My Little Pony: Equestria Girls — Rainbow Rocks, a character named Derpy Hooves plays the musical saw in her band.
• In the 2014 movie The Boxtrolls, a character named Fish plays the musical saw with Eggs in their cave.
• In the movie Mr. Peabody & Sherman (2014), Mr. Peabody plays the musical saw.
• In the 8th episode of season 3

Composers and compositions

Beginning in the early 1920s, composers of both contemporary and popular music wrote music for the musical saw. One of the first was Franz Schreker, who included the musical saw in his opera Christophorus (1925–29), where it is used in the séance scene of the second act. Other early examples include Dmitri Shostakovich, who included the musical saw, for example, in the film music for The New Babylon (1929), in The Nose (1928), and in Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District (1934). Shostakovich and other composers of his time used the term "Flexaton" to mark the musical saw. "Flexaton" means "to flex a tone," in which the saw is flexed to change the pitch. There exists another instrument called Flexatone, so there has been confusion for a long time. Aram Khachaturian, who knew Shostakovich's music, included the musical saw in his Piano Concerto (1936) in the second movement. Another composer was the Swiss Arthur Honegger, who included the saw in his 1924 opera Antigone. The Romanian composer George Enescu used the musical saw at the end of the second act of his opera Œdipe (1931) to show in an extensive glissando—which begins with the mezzo-soprano and is continued by the saw—the death and ascension of the sphinx killed by Oedipus.

The Italian composer Giacinto Scelsi wrote a part for the saw in his quarter-tone piece Quattro pezzi per orchestra (1959). German composer Hans Werner Henze used the saw to characterize the main hero of his tragic opera Elegy for young lovers (1961).

Other composers included Krysztof Penderecki with Fluorescences (1961), De natura sonoris Nr. 2 (1971), and the opera Ubu Rex (1990); Bernd Alois Zimmermann with Stille und Umkehr (1970); George Crumb with Ancient voices of children (1970); and John Corigliano with The Mannheim Rocket (2001).

Composer Scott Munson wrote Clover Hill (2007) for saw and orchestra, Quintet for saw and strings (2009), The World Is Too Much with Us for soprano singer, saw, and strings (2009), Ars longa vitas [sic] brevis for saw and string quartet (2010), 'Bend' for saw and string quartet (2011), many pieces for jazz band and saw (2010–2013), Lullaby for the Forgotten for saw and piano (2015), and many movie and theater scores containing the saw.

Chaya Czernowin used the saw in her opera PNIMA…Ins Innere (2000) to represent the character of the grandfather, who is traumatized by the Holocaust.

There are also Leif Segerstam, Hans Zender (orchestration of "5 préludes" by Claude Debussy), and Oscar Strasnoy (opera Le bal).

Russian composer Lera Auerbach wrote for the saw in her ballet The Little Mermaid (2005), in her symphonic poem Dreams and Whispers of Poseidon (2005), in her oratorio Requiem Dresden – Ode to Peace (2012), in her Piano Concerto No. 1 (2015), in her comic oratorio The Infant Minstrel and His Peculiar Menagerie (2016), and in her violin concerto No. 4 NyX—Fractured Dreams (2017).

Canadian composer Robert Minden has written extensively for the musical saw. Michael A. Levine composed Divination By Mirrors for musical saw soloist and two string ensembles tuned a quarter tone apart, taking advantage of the saw's ability to play in both tunings.

Other composers for chamber music with musical saw are Jonathan Rutherford (An Intake of Breath), Dana Wilson (Whispers from Another Time), Heinrich Gattermeyer (Elegie für Singende Säge, Cembalo (oder Klavier)), Vito Zuraj (Musica di [sic] camera (2001)), and Britta-Maria Bernhard (Tranquillo).