500 years ago, Leonardo da Vinci sketched out the design for a piano-like instrument but instead of plucking (harpsichord) or striking (piano) the strings, they are pressed into contact with rotating wheels covered in rosin and horsehair creating a bowed string sound. Polish musician and instrument builder Sławomir Zubrzycki spent three years and 5,000 hours building one. It sounds gorgeous:
Sławomir has a Youtube channel with this instrument and others. ClassicFM did a nice write-up on this instrument last September.
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