Introduced to us by the legendary Dante Bucci, one of the original pioneers of the Hang / HandPan music scene, the Singing Saw, is a beautiful sounding instrument (in our opinion at least), of the idiophone class. More specifically defined as a “Friction Idiophone” - a group of instruments that produce sound by being rubbed either against each other or by means of a non-sounding object (usually a violin bow, in the case of the Singing Saw). Instruments of this type are not very common, possibly the best known examples are the Singing Saw (also known as a “Musical Saw”), and the Nail Violin.
Ethereal, and somewhat melancholic, perhaps strangely, the sound of the Singing Saw often reminds us of “La vie en rose” - by Edith Piaf - but perhaps that’s just us. And while saws produced specifically for musicians are offered for sale, many musical sawists often simply use standard wood cutting saws, to produce their music. And Dante, was a master of blending these two exquisite singing steel instruments perfectly.
So that while Dante Bucci, may have tragically passed away mid-2014 - he left behind him a legacy of awesomeness, that will, no doubt, continue to move both HandPan, and Musical Saw performers, to experiment, and push boundaries, for as long as the internet remains...
And, Charles Hindmarsh (AKA: "The Yorkshire Musical Saw Player")...
(!) Want to have a try yourself? Musical saws can be purchased over at Amazon: HERE
