Saw Notes
A Resource for Musical Saw Enthusiasts
History
As far as I know, Tom Sawyer didn’t play a saw, but “sawyer” is a term used by some to refer to people who play the saw. The term usually refers to people who work sawing wood, and according to the Oxford English Dictionary, before that, the term was sawer. […]
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Mussehl and Westphal is a popular musical saw company that has been around since the 1920’s. According to their website, Clarence Mussehl, after hearing the Weaver brothers perform in 1919, decided he wanted to develop a musical saw. Mussehl and Westphal advertised in many magazines in the 1920’s, and at the […]
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One of the earliest recordings of the musical saw is a Victor recording of Ford Hanford playing “My Old Kentucky Home,” recorded May 2, 1921. This recording includes the musical saw with an orchestra. Mr. Hanford plays first with a hammer and then switches to a violin bow. Listen and […]
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Popular Science included an article about Ford Hanford and his saw in their May 1921 issue: How Music Is Produced From A Saw “Go to the tool box and get your saw. Perhaps it is a musical one! And there is no sound sweeter than that which can be drawn […]
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