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
Bowed clavier Bowed clavier The bowed clavier (', ' or " in German) is a keyboard instrument strung with gut strings, the tone of which is produced by a steadily revolving, well rosined cylinder powered by a foot pedal, a mechanism similar to that found in the hurdy-gurdy. The " was illustrated and described by Michael Praetorius in his treatise on musical instruments "Syntagma Musicum" II, in the section "De Organograhia", published 1614-20 in Germany. It was re-invented by Joh. Hohlfeld of Berlin in 1751. This instrument and another one of his inventions, a device that recorded keyboard improvisations in real time,