String instrument strings, or play them by rolling the bell of a brass instrument such as a trombone on the array of strings. However, these are relatively rarely used special techniques. Other keyed string instruments, small enough for a strolling musician to play, include the plucked autoharp, the bowed nyckelharpa, and the hurdy-gurdy, which is played by cranking a rosined wheel. Steel-stringed instruments (such as the guitar, bass, violin, etc.) can be played using a magnetic field. An E-Bow is a small hand-held battery-powered device that magnetically excites the strings of an electric string instrument to provide a sustained, singing tone reminiscent
Hurdy-gurdy Manuel, acted by Spencer Tracy. The instrument came into a new public consciousness when Donovan released his hit pop song, "Hurdy Gurdy Man", in 1968. Although the song didn't use a hurdy-gurdy, the repeated reference to the instrument in the song's lyrics sparked curiosity and interest among young people, eventually resulting in an annual hurdy-gurdy music festival in the Olympic Peninsula area of the state of Washington each September. Today, the tradition has resurfaced. Revivals have been underway for many years as well in Austria, Belgium and The Netherlands, Czech Republic, Germany, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Spain and Sweden. As