music Music is the arrangement of sound to create some combination of Musical form, form, harmony, melody, rhythm, or otherwise Musical expression, expressive content. Music is generally agreed to be a cultural universal that is present in all hum ...

, a bowhammer is a device used when playing a

cymbalum :See also Carillon and Bell chime'' The cymbalum (plural ''cymbala'') was the name of two historical instruments, medieval European bells hung and struck with a hammer and Greek ''kymbalon'' cymbals. The two instruments may possibly be related, bas ...

to strike, pull across or pick the strings in order to make them vibrate and emit sound. It was devised to replace the mallets that were traditionally used to play the cymbalum. Unlike mallets, which almost exclusively are used for striking, the bowhammer allows for greater versatility, "expanding the sonic and expressive scope of an ancient instrument." It consists of a ring, which holds the bowhammer on the finger, a shaped handle attached to the ring, and a 3 inch section of violin bow at the end. Bowhammers are typically worn in groups of eight, one on each finger except the thumb. The tension on the bow allows the player to stroke the string or strike it. Additionally the string can be plucked it with the end of the bowhammer. The bowhammer is a recent musical invention created by the musician Michael Masley, who is the premiere user of this tool. The sound generated is significantly different from that generated by the traditional hammering of the cymbalom, that the artist considers the bowhammer cymbalom a specific instrument. The bowhammer may be usable on other string instruments, such as the

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

hammered dulcimer The hammered dulcimer (also called the hammer dulcimer) is a percussion-string instrument which consists of String (music), strings typically stretched over a trapezoidal resonant sound board (music), sound board. The hammered dulcimer is set bef ...

, but no other uses have surfaced to date.

References

Musical instrument parts and accessories {{Zither-instrument-stub