In music, a bowhammer is a device used when playing a cymbalum 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.
[1] 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.
The bowhammer is a recent musical invention created by the musician Michael Masley, who is the premiere user of this tool.
The bowhammer may be usable on other string instruments, such as the guitar or hammered dulcimer, but no other uses have surfaced to date.