What the Press Said about Natalia's Musical Saw & Bells

Clad in a T-shirt, black high-top sneakers and cargo shorts she appears nothing like one would expect a musical virtuoso whose talents have earned them rave reviews from a host of national media: "Natalia is a wonderful artist, absolutely!" Lynn Brown, Good Day New York, "There was also a musical saw number, soothingly performed by Natalia Paruz," The New York Times.

Though only in her late twenties Paruz's ability for expertly extricating ethereal sounds from the most corporeal of items, the musical saw, has earned her not only television, radio and film spots, but also increasing performances with various philharmonics.

However, though the majority of her focus is on the saw she is also skilled at a cavalcade of other admittedly "weird" instruments, and our meeting begins with a performance by her on the cow bells.

Leading me into the basement she perches behind a green velvet covered table upon which rest 36 different pitched Austrian cow bells. Organized in varying heights, some are nearly a foot high. Pressing the play button on a nearby tape recorder she swings her long ponytail out of the way then waits for her accompaniment, the sounds of her mother playing ragtime piano.

Meanwhile, I've been told to sit against the opposite wall, a good twenty feet from the bells. As Paruz puts ear plugs in her ears she explains, "You can't control the volume." Indeed.

As the tune begins she reaches over and lofts one of the bells over her head and rings it, than in the same movement replaces it and quickly grabs another. (Learning new pieces on the cow bells can be extremely difficult due to the intricate choreography required.)

As the tune picks up speed, the cheerful semi-cacophony resonates throughout my entire body, ringing not only in my ears but also my nerves, muscles, and individual cells--leaving me somehow giddily happy. Despite Paruz's speed, she moves with a dancer's confident strength, her form as precise and joyful as her expression; as each bell reaches its overhead zenith, her ponytail swings complimentarily and a huge grin breaks out on her face.

While orchestra bells, which are hung and rung with a mallet, have an angelic sound, cow bells have a "happier ring." But performers donֲ¹t use cow bells as widely due to another quirk. "It's a vaudeville kind of thing, there's a degree of risk, they tend to fall over," Paruz explained .

The tradition of cow bells dates back to Roman times, when farmers attached bells to their cows not only to keep away predators, but also to identify cows in the dark due to the individual pitch of each bells' ring. However, there were also other unexpected developments.