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
Hurdy-gurdy rolls, and more recently by electronic modules. The French call the barrel organ the "Orgue de Barbarie" ("Barbary organ"), while the Germans and Dutch say "Drehorgel" and "draaiorgel" ("turned organ"), instead of "Drehleier" ("turning lyre"). In Czech, the barrel organ is called "Flašinet". A person who plays the hurdy-gurdy is called a hurdy-gurdyist, or (particularly for players of French instruments) viellist. In France, a player is called un sonneur de vielle (literally: ""a sounder of vielle""), un vielleux or un vielleur. Because of the prominence of the French tradition, many instrument and performance terms used in English are commonly taken