String instrument rosin than players of lower-pitched instruments, who tend to favor darker, softer rosin. The ravanahatha is one of the oldest string instruments. Ancestors of the modern bowed string instruments are the rebab of the Islamic Empires, the Persian kamanche and the Byzantine lira. Other bowed instruments are the rebec, hardingfele, nyckelharpa, kokyū, erhu, igil, sarangi and K'ni. The hurdy-gurdy is bowed by a wheel. Rarely, the guitar has been played with a bow (rather than plucked) for unique effects. The third common method of sound production in stringed instruments is to strike the string. The piano and hammered dulcimer use
Vielle à roue et à manche The instrument has also been mislabeled "strohfiddel" in modern times, since the caption at the bottom of Plate XXII uses this term (literally "straw fiddle"), but that term actually refers to the xylophone pictured next to the dulcigurdy. Praetorius does not appear to give a specific name for the instrument, instead lumping it in with the keyed hurdy-gurdy next to it as "Bauern-Lyren" or "peasant lyres." Vielle à roue et à manche The vielle à roue et à manche (called dulcigurdy by some luthiers) is a modern term for an early music instrument, of unknown original name, of the hurdy-gurdy