A Resource for Musical Saw Enthusiasts
Musicians & Makers
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“Minor Waltz” and the Asylum Street Spankers
The Asylum Street Spankers were a great band from Austin who played a lot of Tin Pan Alley types of songs. They have disbanded, but you can still buy their recordings and see their videos on YouTube. They have a great old-timey sound. The band was founded by Christina Mars and Guy Forsyth. In this…
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Golden Snake Dance In Spring
I don’t know much about this group, but their performance is amazing. This is one of the best musical saw videos I have seen. The Golden Snake Dance is often part of the Chinese New Year celebrations. The Chinese New Year is still a month away, but that gives you an entire month to enjoy…
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Autumn Leaves and a Pediatrician
One of the things I’ve enjoyed about having a blog is learning about all the unexpected places the saw shows up. There are many amateur saw players around the world, in a variety of other professions. I’ve learned about saw playing photographers, actors, ministers, and construction workers. These musicians play the saw for fun and…
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Meeting In The Air
Here’s a wonderful song by saw player John King. Mr. King was a missionary who had a full life, sharing his faith around the world. He was an excellent saw player and participated in the New York City Saw Festival in 2009. There are quite a few videos of him playing the saw, but I…
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Life On Mars
For your listening pleasure, here’s another video of hYrtis playing the lame sonore. She is an exceptional theremin player and you can see many of her theremin videos on Youtube. She is also one of our favorite saw players at Saw Notes, and here in this video, you can see her play “Life On Mars”…
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Our Saw-Playing Friend, Morgan Cowin
Bay Area saw player, Morgan Cowin, has passed away this summer. Morgan was an excellent saw player, photographer, teacher, and friend. He was well-known in the Bay Area folk music community and often gave workshops at folk music festivals. He was the president of the International Musical Saw Association for many years, and won first…
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Just A Closer Walk
The musical saw is a great instrument for hymns. The saw has always been a popular instrument in churches because they are inexpensive and can be carried from place to place. Many an itinerant preacher traveled with a saw. Church music is part of the history of the musical saw. Here is a nice rendition…
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Tim Martin: Saw Player Extraordinaire
Tim Martin is one of the best saw players in the US and the world. He lives in Ormond Beach, Florida. Ten years ago he saw a friend playing the saw with a screwdriver and the rest is history. He taught himself to play by watching YouTube videos, and last year, he was one of…
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Jackie Jones: San Francisco’s Saw Player
Last month, San Francisco lost Jackie Jones, saw player and long-time resident of the city. She was 93 years old. She played at the Alemany Farmer’s Market for many years. Jackie was a talented woman who played many instruments besides the saw, including the accordion and the guitar. She lived in Florida and New Orleans…
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Frosty and the Saw
Last year we featured an interview with Julian Koster of Neutral Milk Hotel in a Christmas blog post. Well this year, we are featuring Mr. Koster playing “Frosty the Snowman” from his album entitled The Singing Saw At Christmastime. The album is a marvelous collection of twelve classic Christmas songs including “O Holy Night,” “Oh…
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Satie and the Saw
Erik Satie’s Gymnopedies were published in the late 1880s. I’ve always loved Satie’s compositions, and I’ve always wondered what a “gymnopedie” was. Supposedly, the term refers to young men in ancient Sparta who participated in a celebration of athletics and martial arts. These compositions don’t remind me of anything that rigorous, but they do have…
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Crickets and Saws
David Coulter is a musician and composer who lives in the Bay Area. He plays many different instruments, including the didgerido and the saw. He’s a marvelously talented composer and director. In this video you can hear him play a piece he wrote on the theme of sustainability, and he plays saw along with the…