The Singing Saw

A handsaw bent into an S and played with a violin bow

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Its vibrations, we thought, were akin to t’sounds of a saw when Mitka t’Little Finger plays it singinn t’aria of a sleepinn cuckoo.

An ordinary handsaw, held between the knees, bent into an S with one hand and bowed along the smooth edge with the other; bending it further raises the pitch.

How it is held

A woman in a sequinned dress bending a musical saw into a curve with one hand while drawing a violin bow across its smooth edge with the other
A woman in a sequinned dress bending a musical saw into a curve with one hand while drawing a violin bow across its smooth edge with the other

CC BY-SA 3.0 · Sägenprofi · Wikimedia Commons · licence

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And what it sounds like

Natalia Paruz playing the Ave Maria attributed to Caccini, on her own channel.