Many have speculated about the origins of the musical saw. The Hyde Park Herald, August 27, 1926 included this article explaining how it all happened:

“First ‘Musical Saw'”

“The idea of extracting music from such an unlikely medium as an ordinary steel saw is said to have originated more than thirty years ago in Argentina. A drunken violinist in a lumber camp is credited with the discovery. In recent years the “musical saw” has become a popular fancy of jazz orchestras in both America and Europe.”