Electrophone

A chordophone is any musical instrument which produces sound primarily by way of a vibrating string or strings stretched between two points. It is one of the four main divisions of instruments in the original Hornbostel-Sachs scheme of musical instrument classification. What most westerners would call string instruments are classified as chordophones, violins, guitars, lyres, harps, for example. However, the word also embraces instruments that many westerners would hesitate to call string instruments, such as the musical bow and the piano (which, although sometimes called a string instrument, is also called a ...

Read more here: » Chordophone: Encyclopedia - Chordophone

An aerophone is any musical instrument which produces sound primarily by causing a body of air to vibrate, without the use of strings or membranes, and without the vibration of the instrument itself adding considerably to the sound. It is one of the four main classes (class 4) of instruments in the original Hornbostel-Sachs scheme of musical instrument classification. Hornbostel-Sachs divides aerophones by the fact whether vibrating a ...

Read more here: » Aerophone: Encyclopedia - Aerophone

Formally, Hornbostel-Sachs is based on the Dewey Decimal classification. It has four top level classifications, with several levels below those, adding up to over 300 basic categories in all. The top two levels of the scheme, with explanations, are shown below: 1. Idiophones - sound is primarily produced by the actual body of the instrument vibrating, rather than a string, membrane, or column of air. In essence, this group includes all percussion instruments apart from drums, as well as some other instruments. 11 ...

See also:

Hornbostel-Sachs, Hornbostel-Sachs - The skeleton of the system, Hornbostel-Sachs - The system applied in practice, Hornbostel-Sachs - Suffixes and composite instruments, Hornbostel-Sachs - External link

Read more here: » Hornbostel-Sachs: Encyclopedia II - Hornbostel-Sachs - The skeleton of the system

After the number described above, a number of suffixes may be appended. An 8 indicates that the instrument has a keyboard attached, while a 9 indicates the instrument is mechanically driven. In addition to these, there are a number of suffixes unique to each of the top-level groups indicating details not considered crucial to the fundamental nature of the instrument. In the membranophone class, for instance, suffixes can indicate whether the skin of a drum is glued, nailed or tied to its body; in the chordophone class, suffixes can indicate whether ...

See also:

Hornbostel-Sachs, Hornbostel-Sachs - The skeleton of the system, Hornbostel-Sachs - The system applied in practice, Hornbostel-Sachs - Suffixes and composite instruments, Hornbostel-Sachs - External link

Read more here: » Hornbostel-Sachs: Encyclopedia II - Hornbostel-Sachs - Suffixes and composite instruments

Beyond these top two groups are several further levels of classification, so that the xylophone, for example, is in the group labelled 111.212 (periods are usually added after every third digit to make long numbers easier to read). A long classification number does not necessarily indicate the instrument is a complicated one. The bugle for instance, has the classification number 423.121.22, even though it is generally regarded as a relatively simple instrument (it is basically a bent conical tube which you blow down like a trumpet, but it do ...

See also:

Hornbostel-Sachs, Hornbostel-Sachs - The skeleton of the system, Hornbostel-Sachs - The system applied in practice, Hornbostel-Sachs - Suffixes and composite instruments, Hornbostel-Sachs - External link

Read more here: » Hornbostel-Sachs: Encyclopedia II - Hornbostel-Sachs - The system applied in practice