Playing the saw

[pelone]

How do board members react when while attending a jam, the saw is played as an accompanying instrument? I attended a recent event--a wonderful woman played a cross-cut saw with skill. It added a nice quality to the over all ambiance of the jam. It seems that when used sparingly that the quality of the "Americana" and traditional music was delightful. I would speculate that the "bluegrass police" might not embrace this instrument with the same level of enthusiasm as the more liberal and less judgmental populace.

[Ed Goist]

I don't know about board members, but I know that boards become very uneasy and nervous when they see a saw!

Actually; one of my favorite local bands here is an 'Arcade Fire' inspired alternative rock band called Modern Life with many members, many of whom sometimes play strange instruments...On a few of their songs one of the members (who usually plays violin/fiddle) plays a saw, and it fits in very nicely with the vibe.

[roscoestring]

Doesn't matter what "instrument" you play as long as it adds something positive to the sound.

I was playing drums for a band (I was a standi in for the regular drummer) and on one particular song I could not find the right thing to tap. It was a cheap set of drums with very little in the way of cymbals, cow bells, blocks, etc. I eventually started tapping the post on the stand that held the cymbal. I got strange looks from the other band members. After the song was over a couple of the guys told me that was an excellent idea. And it did add positively to the sound.

So yes, I think it would be nice to "see a saw" in a band.=)

[John Flynn]

I was at an old-time jam at a bar once and a gal showed up with a musical saw. I have nothing against the instrument per se, but she was awful. It was obvious to me that the saw is one of those instruments that if you are awful on it, the result is really, really embarrassingly bad. It's far and away worse than being awful on most other instruments, because it's loud, it has a tone that is like nails on a chalkboard if you are off pitch, and it seems to command an infinite variety of wrong pitches. I could not help thinking if one were to put in the time to be good at the saw, one could have gotten really good on an instrument that would be a lot more versatile. I guess that's why hardly anyone plays it.

[jim_n_virginia]

Depends on what kind of jam it is. If it is an open jam and open to any genre' of music then it's cool. Have at it. I go occasionally to a long running jam in my area where anything goes and I have see everything from a tuba (the dude was good!) to a giant harp to uilleann pipes. We always have a good time with it.

But nothing gets under my skin more than someone who will come to a Bluegrass/Celtic/Old Time jam with a instrument not used to play in that kind of music. It just kind ruins it for everybody and busts up the jam.

I mean come on if you show up at a Irish jam with a saxophone (I swear it happened) or a Bluegrass jam with keyboards (it happened too) and a portable battery pack how can you not know you are a "jam buster" ???

I have heard a few people play the musical saw. I agree, it is not an instrument that you wanna hear if the person playing it is not good at it but then again what instrument is??? LOL! Not sure if it would be a good instrument to bring to a jam. Isn't a jam kind of like a group thing and not a personal performance?

Personally I think it would be pretty entertaining providing they were any good and maybe just on a few tunes but I am not sure I could listen to the sing songy tone of a musical saw through out EVERY tune or song for the whole evening. There is a good possibility that I might cut out of the jam early mumbling something like I gotta get up early the next day or something! LOL!

One thing I ALWAYS try and remember though is that we all go to jams because we just wanna have some fun. Doesn't matter if you play the saw or bang two sticks together we're just looking to have a good time.

[John Flynn]

"I mean come on if you show up at a Irish jam with a saxophone..."

Jim, the sax used to be a common instrument in céilí bands. It is still seen in Irish sessions from time to time. Here is a session in London, featuring Tom Cussen, who is a very well respected Irish tenor banjo player and luthier, playing along with a sax and an electric keyboard:

[Tim2723]

Sax in a céilí band? You bet! Heck, a couple of years ago we shared the bill with Black 47, one of the hottest names in contemporary Irish, and they had a trombone right out front!

Musical saw? Sure, why not? I think it would get old really fast, but used prudently...?

[John Soper]

I've got nothing against a musical saw, but I think I'd put a stand-up bass player between me and them, and might have to play a National or Commodium as protection. Know what I mean?

[Elliot Luber]

I was at an old-time jam at a bar once and a gal showed up with a musical saw. I have nothing against the instrument per se, but she was awful.

I guess a poor workman still blames his (or her) tools.

[Wolfboy]

I was playing drums for a band (I was a standi in for the regular drummer) and on one particular song I could not find the right thing to tap. It was a cheap set of drums with very little in the way of cymbals, cow bells, blocks, etc. I eventually started tapping the post on the stand that held the cymbal. I got strange looks from the other band members. After the song was over a couple of the guys told me that was an excellent idea. And it did add positively to the sound.

You can see Gordon Lighfoot's drummer Barry Keane doing exactly that on the song "Cold on the Shoulder" on Lightfoot's Live in Reno DVD.

[allenhopkins]

Musical saw has always been a novelty instrument, and therefore I guess how you react to one at your jam, depends on how you react to novelty. Saw really has to be played by someone with excellent sense of pitch, and pretty good technique; like the theremin and the slide whistle (yeah, and the fiddle, and to some extent the Dobro), it's capable of infinite variations of pitch, so if you don't end up right on the note, you can be a terminally irritating one-seventh-of-a-tone-or-so off.

I would think that the saw's probably not suited for playing melodies that use lots of fast pitch changes, so I wonder how it would work in a bluegrass context. All the saw players I've seen (three) tended to play a lot of legato pieces -- waltzes and slow airs -- and not try Daybreak In Dixie or some such. I remember Home On the Range and In the Garden as "saw standards."

And, of course, if you're not particularly good on the instrument you bring to a jam, be prepared for a certain level of skepticism or even rejection. There are exceptional musicians who bring "inappropriate" instruments to certain groups, and make them fit in by good taste, good technique, and ability to mesh with others. Wasn't too long ago that mandolin would have been considered "inappropriate" in most jazz and blues contexts, despite the examples of Appollon, Burns, Rachell, and others in the past. When (and if) Del McCoury brings his new musical saw player onstage at some festival, we may all have to adjust our parameters...

[pigpen]

Check out The Flatlanders - More a Legend Than a Band for a great use of the saw in country music. Though I must admit that I wouldn't have minded them letting the saw player (sawyer?) have one or two songs of rest, since by the end of this otherwise excellent album it gets a little old.

In other, more punning news, the musical saw opens up all sorts of horrible jokes. 1) I love its woody tone. It really cuts through. (badda bing) 2) That saw player's great! He's got the teeth to really bite into that song. (rimshot!) 3) What is that instrument? It has a saw-some sound! (I'll be here all night, ladies and gents!)

[Tim2723]

Ladies and gentlemen....PIGPEN!!! He's here all week. Try the veal!

[Tom Haywood]

Haven't played with a saw yet, but did have to play with a guy playing a washtub bass and making no effort to get the "notes" right. I was surprised how bad it made my mandolin sound.

[Chris Rogers]

Was jamming at a festival last week, and a sawist (sawyer ?) showed up, accounted for himself quite admirably and musically on Whiskey Before Breakfast, but it still killed the jam. Most everyone suddenly wandered away, took a break, got a drink, or whatever, until he mosied along, then started back up. I had mixed feelings about it. I was impressed anyone could coax eight notes out of that blade, but I wouldn't want to hear it all night.

[Tom Haywood]

I have played, too, at some bluegrass jams with a sax player. Talk about a real banjo (and Mandolin) killer!

[allenhopkins]

Ladies and gentlemen....PIGPEN!!! He's here all week. Try the veal!

Nah, he's just a hack...it's difficult coping with his humor...But I don't want to rip on him...I'd rather listen to the band...the mandolin player's got a nice scroll on his instrument, doncha think?...'nuff puns, time to break the chain...

[Ed Goist]

When a saw is used to play Irish dance music is it called a jigsaw?

[roscoestring]

Ha, I "seen" a guy on tv this morning playing a turkey baster. He was pretty good with it. He was a music teacher from Texas. Wore a tux and everything. Now I've sawt an instrument to play for a long time, but I don't think these are for me.

[Mandoviol]

Ha, I "seen" a guy on tv this morning playing a turkey baster. He was pretty good with it. He was a music teacher from Texas. Wore a tux and everything. Now I've sawt an instrument to play for a long time, but I don't think these are for me.

How the heck do you manage that?

Wait, I'm not sure I want to know now....

[roscoestring]

Ha, the hard part was wearing the tux.

He held the baster with the tip up and the bulb in his hand. He filled it with liquid (water maybe?) and then blew into the tip much like you would into a soda bottle to make it whistle. He would squeeze the bulb which forced the liquid up the tube, thus changing the pitch. He has several different sizes of basters.

[AlanN]

If a vuvuzela shows up at the jam anytime soon, I am G-O-N-E.

[farmerjones]

Sure, if you showed up with a swine-a-phone and could play it, you're quite welcome.
But even a pre-war Gibson F5 or banjar in the wrong hands can be bad.
It's all in the operator. A saw may have potential, though i've personally never seen or heard a good one. I always think, "Vibrato does not smooth over that bad intonation."

[pelone]

When the "sawyer" was playing, she did so in a very subtle and quiet manner and brought a lovely flourish to the slower tunes and waltzes. Also, on a jig (in G or D--jigs tend to be in G or D I suppose), she added a great deal.., As mentioned-the saw might get a bit old and overwhelming if played on every song. It's like kissing, a little can go a long way.

[JeffD]

Jesse James Dupree played lead chainsaw for Jackyl, on the tune Lumberjack. I'm just sayin'


I'll let you google it yourself. You decide if its a "musical saw".