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Austrian and American Cowbells Manual for Composers
Flex-a-tone: when a good musical saw player was not found...
Radio broadcast of Two and A Half Variations on "In Dulci Jubilo" by P.D.Q. Bach
Musical Saw Manual for Composers
The musical saw can be considered a string instrument because it is played with a bow; however, since beginner sawists play the saw with a mallet, that placed the saw in the percussion section. In either case, it is classified as an idiophone under the Hornbostel-Sachs system of musical instrument classification. An idiophone is any musical instrument which creates sound primarily by way of the instrument itself vibrating, without the use of strings or membranes. The musical saw belongs to the sudivision of friction idiophones - idiophones which are rubbed to produce the sound (similar to the glass-armonica).
General~ Range~ Dynamics~ Effects
The First note the saw plays in a piece must be given by another
instrument or the sawyer won't know where to start to play (since playing the saw is done
entirely by ear - there are no markings on the saw such as keys, frets, strings, etc.). As an
example you could see in George Crumb's Ancient Voices of Children (2nd movement) that the first note
of the saw is taken from the piano.
If the saw stops playing for more than 1 bar it should either get its new 1st note from some
other instrument or be allowed to hold its last note through its new phrase (again, check out
Ancient Voices of Children: the saw holds its last note and its new phrase starts with
that same note).
The musical saw has an inherent quality of portamento (carrying on the tone from note to note without gaps, hence
very legato and momentarily sounding the pitches in between any two indicated by the notation). However, it is not a
necessity for the instrument.
Portamento is marked in sheet music for the saw by a wavy line from one note to the other.
An example of a piece that uses this quality of the saw is 'Plainte' (1949) for lame musicale and piano by Henri Sauguet.
Could go as low as C# above middle C but it is not a really clean sound.
Starting a phrase that low is very difficult and unreliable. The lowest 1/2 an octave is much
better sliding into. The saw sounds its most lyrical, angelic best from G above middle C to G
two octaves above. The saw can get up to E flat above that with bowing and can slide up to G an
octave above that! Again, the extreme octave doesn't sound as clear. It is difficult to play up
there. It is much better to slide into a note in the higher ranges rather than to start a phrase
there.
Summary: C#4-G7
As a general rule, the saw does a natural diminuendo when sliding from note
to note (known as the "liturgical" quality of the saw, kind of similar to Gregorian chants where
each phrase withers away). To avoid this quality one must bow each note which means you hear the
scraping sound of the bow in addition to the notes.
The saw is the loudest in the mid range (G4-G6). In this range there is control over whether the
notes are loud or soft. There are only 2 dynamics: loud or soft...(or gradually withering away).
Both the high and low extremes of the range are not controllable - they are much softer in
volume.
Big slides both up and down, "siren" type "wowa" and a storm-wind effect.
Using a mallet: the mallet must be soft. The softer the mallet the more of the note one could
hear rather than the banging itself. A hard (plastic or wood) mallet leaves marks on the saw and
that's not good... The mallet is only good between C#4-C#6.
With maestro Dino Anagnost after one of their performances with the Little Orchestra Society
'The WinchesterWidow' for Soprano and Chamber Ensemble, composed by Bruce Trinkley, words by Jason Charnesky
Premiered at the Cornelia Street Cafe, NYC, July 27th, 2006
In the photo: Professor Bruce Trinkley (piano), Mary Kay MacGarvey (soprano), Mat Fieldes (bass) and Natalia Paruz
(musical saw)
With composer Mark N. Grant after the world premier of his dramatic cantata 'The Rose of Tralee', with the Amor Artis Orchestra & Chorus, condected by Johannes Somary, March 30th, 2007.
The piece is for 32 piece orchestra, choir, jews harp and musical saw.
With Maestro Jun Nakabayashi and the Riverside Orchestra, December 2007
The pitched Austrian cowbells I play are a chromatic set of 3 octaves starting
C below middle C. The American cowbells I play are 2 chromatic octaves, from F to F.
I lay them on a long table and play them by shaking them.
Harmony is possible by shaking 2 notes at once. As an end of a piece effect I can shake as many
as 4 bells at once if those are the smaller bells. The larger the bell the louder they are, so
the upper octave is very soft and the lower one is very loud.
The American cowbells sound somewhat darker in tone quality.
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