HANDMADED INSTRUMENTS
Lame Sonore

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La Lama Sonora

L'ANDIALS (associazione francese degli interpreti ed amici della Lama Sonora) produce una vera copia della L.S. inventata da Jacques Keller (brevetto n°E31975 del 14 febbraio 1930). Questo strumento (lungo 80 cm) è costruito in acciaio svedese e a differenza delle altre seghe musicale non possiede i denti. Viene fornito con custodia.

The Musical Saw

The saw is a musical instrument. Perhaps the most ubiquitous musical instrument in the world aside from the human voice. It is more likely that a household possesses a handsaw than a piano, violin, or trumpet. Some people would have you believe that the saw is merely the tool of carpenters and woodcutters. But those ill-informed who espouse such a secondary usage should be relegated to the ranks of extremists, alarmists, and proselytes. For the saw's true beauty is not derived from its capacity to crosscut lumber or to rip through timber, but rather from its ability to cut across the boundaries and limitations of preconceptions.

Saws, like people, come in all shapes and sizes; and at least as far as saws are concerned, size does matter. The ordinary handsaw found in most hardware stores and households has a bladelength of 26 inches. Longer saws, including some specially-made "musical saws", may be 28, 30, or even 36 inches in length. The additional length tends to lower the tone of the saw, in effect creating a tenor, baritone, or bass saw, while increasing the pitch range (tessatura.) Saws shorter than 26 inches tend to have a higher pitch and a shorter pitch range.

What is its history?
No one knows with any certainty who first had the novel idea of producing a musical note with a saw. Perhaps the most comprehensive history was penned by Jim Leonard in his book Scratch My Back--A Pictorial History of the Musical Saw and How to Play It (Kaleidoscope Press 1989). In his research Mr. Leonard encountered claims that it began with 19th-century roots in the Ozark Mountains of the U.S.; others stated the Appalachians; and still others suggested Scandinavian or South American woodcutters, African slaves, and so on. I doubt that credit (or blame) should fall on the shoulders of any one of these places. It's most probable that the idea's origin was multicentric --originating in multiple regions of the globe simultaneously-- which makes sense considering the fact that saws had been available in most parts of the world. In addition, it's likely that the first note to be heard was accidental, as a worker tossed or dropped a saw, or another tool happened to strike it. Even a saw waved rapidly and playfully back and forth in the air like a sword can produce an audible note, which a budding saw-musician might have noticed and set out to tame.

But regardless of the origin, there can be no doubt that it's popularity soared in the early 20th century thanks to a trio of musicians from the Ozarks, the Weaver Brothers and Elviry, who used the saw in their popular vaudeville act, touring the U.S. and Europe. By chance their act was seen by Clarence Mussehl, and in 1921 Mussehl & Westphal,the world's first professional musical saw company, was established. According to Jim Leonard's book, sales of 30,000 musical saws per year were common in the 1920's and 1930's at the peak of the saw's popularity. Then came the Depression, and sales plummeted to virtually none. Then shortage of steel during World War II finally forced the company to close its doors, but fortunately it reopened in the mid-1950's and continues selling musical saws today. In addition, other companies manufacture musical saws, such as Charlie Blacklock in California, Sandvik in Sweden, Parkstone in England, Feldmann in Germany, as well as the toothless blade, la lame sonore, in France