We Had A New Picker At The Jam

[Taylor Martin Guild]

A new guy showed up at our weekly jam last Thursday evening with a surprise instrument in hand.
He played a Saw.
This guy has been playing the saw for many years and he was good!
As a kid, I used to make noise on a saw, using a hammer to play it.
Well this guy has perfected the instrument and plays it with a bow.

He has the saw in a vice and stand, so he can play it while standing.
He joined in on almost all of the songs and was very tasteful in his playing.
He even took a lead break on many of the songs.

He is from California and the president of an organization for saw playing.

Has anyone ever played with someone that plays a saw?

 

[cjd-player]

Has anyone ever played with someone that plays a saw?

No, but I sawed with someone who saw a play. :mrgreen:

 

[West R Lee]

Yes sir....at a couple of Books a Million jams.....man, that's one eeerriee sound :shock: .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J68ByZ-5jn0

West

 

[learnintoplay62]

I once played with a saw and got it in a jam. Had to use my hammer to get it out :wink:

 

[killdeer43]

I believe a musical saw was used for some of the background music in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest ...I believe it was at the very beginning and at the end of that great movie.

It can be a strange, mournful sound. 8)

Joe

 

[Nigel Wickwire]

I think all your up and coming saw players are switching over to the Theramin....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4kujH0ScAi0

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theramin


~nw

 

[killdeer43]

I think all your up and coming saw players have switched over to the Theramin....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4kujH0ScAi0

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theramin


~nw

Just try building a house with a Theramin! :lol:

Joe

 

[Brad Little]

The music store where I bought my F-212 in 1965 until at least the early 80s had a musical saw hanging on the wall. The owner told me that when he opened the store in 1948, one of his first customers wanted to order a musical saw (yes, they do, or at least did at one time, make special saws for music production). So he ordered two, the customer picked his up and the other one sat there with no takers, and no inquiries until he put it on the wall, by then it had become sort of a store mascot.
Brad

 

[yettoblaster]

Tom Scribner (a quite famous saw player who played his saw on Johnny Carson's Tonight Show a few times) was a local resident here in Santa Cruz. There's a statue of him downtown.

There was another famous Tom from here: Tom Noddy, who was "The Bubble Man." He also was on the Tonight Show. He could blow a square bubble (inside six other bubbles) and fill it with cigarette smoke so you could see it in there. His bubble machine used to make downtown look like the tide was coming in!

 

[Bing k]

The saw takes a very well developed ear to play well. Folks who master it can really hear the slightest variation in pitch.

 

[taabru45]

Thats cause they started out with a pitch fork................groooooan..... :wink: Steffan