Date
02/02/2026

Born in Loulé, António Bento began playing the cello at the end of secondary school, followed by three years at the Conservatory of Faro. After completing his studies at the School of Applied Arts (ESART), where he obtained his bachelor’s and master’s degrees, the cellist moved to Porto to play in orchestras, returning once a week to the Polytechnic Institute of Castelo Branco (IPCB), now as an assistant professor.

Needing to fill his free time, the then freelance musician, who from then on abandoned the more formal environments of the musical profession, made his debut on the streets of Porto, a space ‘that shows how the world works and how people behave’. Taking advantage of the public’s curiosity, the busker learned to make music with almost anything, starting with the sound exploration of fruit and vegetables. ‘I watched what my colleagues were doing and how to improve my performance to be more captivating. At a certain point, it was also people’s dogs’ noses, bicycles and baby wheelchairs.’

Attentive to other objects and experimentalists, António Bento discovered a variant of the famous sound blade on YouTube, ‘with a shape that allows it to vibrate better.’ In 2022, he commissioned a French craftsman to make the instrument that would accompany him on the street for almost a year. As there is no school, ‘each person will find their own way of holding the handle, bending the blade and playing with the bow,’ he explains. From the right position to the technique, ‘I had a month to adapt.’ The main difficulty is taming the thick plate. ‘With the help of the arm and legs, we have to find the curvature so that it can sound.’

The first sound sheets, already without the classic saw teeth and with a modified handle, appeared at the beginning of the 20th century and have captivated virtuosos such as Emmanuel Brun, enchanted Marlene Dietrich, starred in the film Delicatessen and been an integral part of the soundtrack of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.

Having mastered the tuning of the idiophone, whose sound is similar to that of the theremin, ‘it’s magical to play an instrument so different from the cello, and rewarding to be able to show the audience something they’ve never seen before,’ confesses the former street artist. With the handle clamped between the knees so that the blade remains vertical and maintains tension, the saw is arched lengthwise. The tone is produced by adjusting the tension and curvature of the saw, rubbed on the edge with a bow or a stick.

As for the repertoire adapted for the serrote, which already has its place on stage solo or accompanied by orchestras, and according to António Bento’s practice, street audiences are more attracted to well-known themes, improvisations and banter with passers-by. Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley and Edith Piaf stand out among their preferences, along with soundtracks from the 1960s and 1970s such as Moon River, a song by Henry Mancini and Johnny Mercer performed by Audrey Hepburn in the film Breakfast at Tiffany’s.

On a recent visit to ESART, the 32-year-old gave a demonstration to the cello class, allowing some of the students to experience the delicate balance that allows sounds to be extracted from the custom-made instrument, which can also be played with the fingers. ‘Although I am no longer involved in music, I feel very attached to the school for what it gave me, and to Professor Miguel Rocha, who accompanied me like a father,’ explains António Bento, who presented the IPCB with his street companion, offering his colleagues ‘the experience of playing a similar instrument, but one that allows them to develop other skills’.

In one corner of the sheet, next to the handle, is the signature of Alexis Péna, the internationally renowned luthier specialising in musical saws and sound blades (additional information in French and English). The violin-shaped model, with two f-holes in the handle reminiscent of the openings in the top of a cello, stands out for the trapezoidal shape of the neck, its size, which allows it to be played in up to four octaves, and the inflection lever, the removable and ergonomic handle that allows for precision in the notes, facilitating the execution of vibratos and tremolos. The electroacoustic musical saw developed by the French enthusiast, with clients such as Cirque du Soleil, also includes a piezoelectric microphone and a connector that allows connection to an amplifier. ‘Although all saws are capable of producing music, this one does so in a much superior way,’ says António Bento. The musicality of these will always depend on the quality of the steel, as well as the thickness, hardness, dimensions and direction of the laminate.

Another work, offered by the builder, accompanies the donation of the blade, whose length is always adjusted to the height of the performer: La Lame Sonore: Étude Méthodique. Jacques Keller, creator of the ‘lame sonore’ and a special handle, wrote the only known manual on the instrument. In addition to technical explanations and original pieces by Kœchlin, Canteloube, Honegger, Duboscq, Sauguet and Clément Jacob, the book includes recreations of religious and popular songs and melodies, as well as marches, operas and classical pieces by composers from the 17th to the 20th centuries (Corelli, Handel, Duparc, Rameau, Satie, Schumann, Wagner, Saint-Aulaire, Fauré, Borchard).