Double Bass Do You Saw?

[Bruce Calin]

This is a question bassists were asked in the old days about whether they played with a bow. The question came home to me recently because I've been doing some cleanup around my place involving hand sawing(I own three chain saws of various sizes and they all scare me so I seldom use them). In Warren Benfield's bass instruction book he compares bowing to sawing and I have found that is an excellent comparison: using weight without pressure, keeping contact with the surface where the contact is taking place, not rocking but keeping a straight line, using appropriate speed, etc. I'm having fun trying to use the techniques of the one activity while doing the other and seeing how similar they are. It makes especially the sawing more tolerable. I don't know what heading this thread should be under so here it is.

 

[Wasnex]

Yes. I sometimes refer to practicing arco as "sawing the log."

 

[DrayMiles]

And I call it "The stick of pain." It doesn't forgive and always tells the truth..

 

[Bruce Calin]

And I call it "The stick of pain." It doesn't forgive and always tells the truth..

One of the interesting things about this whole project has been that I can saw(with the actual saw) for quite a long time with very little fatigue. I'm trying to put the same amount of effort or lack of effort into bowing. I know there are other issues but just concentrating on the actual amount of efficient energy expended for output is illuminating. It's a good reminder of the value of good technique.

 

[AGCurry]

For as long as I've known her, my wife has referred to the process of playing any viol as "sawing away," and I've adopted the expression. It reminds me that we are, in the best case, just craftsmen.

 

[Don Hergert]

The beauty of a handsaw is that it can be used pretty "expertly" by just about anyone with just a little practice. That's why there are so many of them and why there have been so many of them in one form or another for a long time.

While I can see some conceptual parallels, the idea of me "expertly" bowing my double bass is simply oxymoronic. I'm sure many of us here feel that way. There is just so much more to learn.

Arco, even at the level that I do it, is fun, challenging and even rewarding sometimes. But I never expect to be able to bow as well as I can saw.

 

[Sam Reese]

Do you prefer German saws or French saws better?

 

[Inky13]

Do you prefer German saws or French saws better?

The French saws quit halfway through the job.

 

[DrayMiles]

I call it the stick of pain because it makes you face reality.
Sometimes the truth hurts…

 

[Jason Sypher]

Hilarious! I never once thought of the bow as a saw! My concept is that the bow is breath. If I sawed a log like I bow the bass I would never get through a single board and my saw would be constantly getting stuck at the end….

 

[Wasnex]

Hilarious! I never once thought of the bow as a saw! My concept is that the bow is breath. If I sawed a log like I bow the bass I would never get through a single board and my saw would be constantly getting stuck at the end….

My use of "sawing the log" was my attempt at humor. Some people probably thought I meant I was going to take a nap, rather than practice bass.

As a professional, I played arco mostly in concert bands. So thinking of the bow as breath was the right idea.

 

[Jason Sypher]

My use of "sawing the log" was my attempt at humor. Some people probably thought I meant I was going to take a nap, rather than practice bass.

As a professional, I played arco mostly in concert bands. So thinking of the bow as breath was the right idea.

I got you. It is funny! But some musicians actually approach arco as if they’re sawing a log and the sound they draw supports their claim!

 

[David Potts]

I saw the truths above many years ago, 1963 to be precise. My saw is getting a little blunt now so I am working on a rotating ribbon of hair driven by motor and with switches for each sort of bow stroke. Add this to the lap top reading the music and plugged into my arms to dictate movements and I reckon I could play until I am 100 !!

 

[Bruce Calin]

I saw the truths above many years ago, 1963 to be precise. My saw is getting a little blunt now so I am working on a rotating ribbon of hair driven by motor and with switches for each sort of bow stroke. Add this to the lap top reading the music and plugged into my arms to dictate movements and I reckon I could play until I am 100 !!

Hi, David,
Let me know when you have it worked out. I'll be a customer.