General term for musical instruments that produce their sound by setting up vibrations in a stretched membrane. Membranophones form one of the original four classes of instruments (along with idiophones, chordophones and aerophones) in the hierarchical classification devised by E.M. von Hornbostel and C. Sachs and published by them in Zeitschrift fόr Ethnologie in 1914 (Eng. trans. in GSJ, xiv, 1961, pp.329, repr. in Ethnomusicology: an Introduction, ed. H. Myers, London, 1992, pp.44461). Their system, which draws on that devised by Victor Mahillon for the Royal Conservatory in Brussels and is widely used today, divides instruments into groups which employ air, strings, membranes or sonorous materials to produce sounds. Various scholars, including Galpin (Textbook of European Instruments, London, 1937) and Sachs (History of Musical Instruments, New York, 1940), have suggested adding electrophones to the system although it has not yet been formally extended.
Membranophones are subdivided into those which are struck, those which are sounded by friction and those which resonate in sympathy with some other sound (singing membranes). A fourth category, plucked drums, was included by Hornbostel and Sachs but subsequent research (L. Picken and others in Musica asiatica, iii, 1981) has suggested that these should be reclassified as variable tension chordophones. Each category is further subdivided according to the more detailed characteristics of an instrument. A numeric code, similar to the class marks of the Dewey decimal library classification system, indicates the structure and physical function of the instrument. The Hornbostel-Sachs classification (from the GSJ translation, with minor alterations) follows as an appendix to this article.
For further information on the classification of instruments in general see Instruments, classification of.
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2 Membranophones: the sound is excited by tightly stretched membranes |
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21 Struck drums: the membranes are struck |
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211 Drums struck directly: the player himself executes the movement of striking: this includes striking by any intermediate devices, such as beaters, keyboards etc.: drums that are shaken are excluded |
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211.1 Kettledrums (timpani): the body is bowl- or dish-shaped |
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211.11 (Separate) kettledrums (European timpani) |
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211.12 Sets of kettledrums (West Asian permanently joined pairs or kettledrums) |
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211.2 Tubular drums: the body is tubular |
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211.21 Cylindrical drums: the diameter is the same at the middle and the ends; whether or not the ends taper or have projecting discs is immaterial |
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211.211 Single-skin cylindrical drums: the drum has only one usable membrane. In some African drums a second skin forms part of the lacing device and is not used for beating, and hence does not count as a membrane in the present sense |
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211.211.1 Open cylindrical drums: the end opposite from the membrane is open found in Malacca [now West Malaysia] |
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211.211.2 Closed cylindrical drums: the end opposite from the membrane is closed found in the West Indies |
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211.212 Double-skin cylindrical drums: the drum has two usable membranes |
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211.212.1 (Individual) cylindrical drums: found in Europe (side drum) |
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211.212.2 Sets of cylindrical drums |
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211.22* Barrel-shaped drums: the diameter is larger at the middle than at the ends; the body is curvilinear found in Asia, Africa and ancient Mexico |
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211.23 Double-conical drums: the diameter is larger at the middle than at the ends; the body is rectilinear with angular profile found in India (mrdangam) |
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211.24* Hourglass-shaped drums: the diameter is smaller at the middle than at the ends found in Asia, Melanesia and East Africa |
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211.25* Conical drums: the diameters at the ends differ considerably (minor departures from conicity, inevitably met, are disregarded here) found in India |
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211.26* Goblet-shaped drums: the body consists of a main section which is either cup-shaped or cylindrical, and a slender stem; borderline cases of this basic design, like those occurring notably in Indonesia, do not affect the identification, so long as a cylindrical form is not in fact reached (darabukka) |
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211.3 Frame drums: the depth of the body does not exceed the radius of the membrane; NB the European side drum, even in its most shallow form, is a development from the long cylindrical drum and hence is not included among frame drums |
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211.31 Frame drums (without handle) |
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211.311 Single-skin frame drums (tambourine) |
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211.312 Double-skin frame drums: found in North Africa |
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211.32 Frame drum with handle: a stick is attached to the frame in line with its diameter |
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211.321 Single-skin frame drums with handle (Inuit) |
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211.322 Double-skin frame drums with handle: found in Tibet |
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212 Rattle drums (subdivisions as for drums struck directly, 211): the drum is shaken; percussion is by impact of pendent or enclosed pellets, or similar objects found in India and Tibet |
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22 Plucked drums: a string is knotted below the centre of the membrane; when the string is plucked, its vibrations are transmitted to the membrane found in India (gopīy antra, ānandalaharī) [see Variable tension chordophone] |
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23 Friction drums: the membrane is made to vibrate by friction |
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231 Friction drums with stick: a stick in contact with the membrane is either itself rubbed, or is employed to rub the membrane |
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231.1 With inserted stick: the stick passes through a hole in the membrane |
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231.11 Friction drums with fixed stick: the stick cannot be moved; the stick alone is subjected to friction by rubbing found in Africa |
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231.12 Friction drums with semi-fixed stick: the stick is movable to a sufficient extent to rub the membrane when it is itself rubbed by the hand found in Africa |
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231.13 Friction drums with free stick: the stick can be moved freely; it is not itself rubbed, but is employed to rub the membrane found in Venezuela |
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231.2 With tied stick: the stick is tied to the membrane in an upright position found in Europe |
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232 Friction drum with cord: a cord, attached to the membrane is rubbed |
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232.1 Stationary friction drum with cord: the drum is held stationary found in Europe and Africa |
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232.11 Single-skin stationary drums with friction cord |
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232.12 Double-skin stationary drums with friction cord |
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232.2 Friction drum with whirling stick: the drum is whirled on a cord which rubs on a [resined] notch in the holding stick (Waldteufel [cardboard buzzer]) found in Europe, India and East Africa |
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233 Hand friction drums: the membrane is rubbed by the hand |
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24 Singing membranes (kazoos): the membrane is made to vibrate by speaking or singing into it; the membrane does not yield a note of its own but merely modifies the voice found in Europe and West Africa |
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241 Free kazoos: the membrane is incited directly, without the wind first passing through a chamber (comb-and-paper) |
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242 Tube or vessel-kazoos: the membrane is placed inside a tube or box found in Africa (while also East Asian flutes with a lateral hole sealed by a membrane exhibit an adulteration with the principle of the tube kazoo) |
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Suffixes for use with any division of this class: |
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6 with membrane glued to drum |
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7 with membrane nailed to drum |
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8 with membrane laced to drum |
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81 Cord- (ribbon-) bracing: the cords are stretched from membrane to membrane or arranged in the form of a net, without employing any of the devices described below |
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811 without special devices for stretching: found everywhere |
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812 with tension ligature: cross ribbons or cords are tied round the middle of the lacing to increase its tension found in Sri Lanka |
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813 with tension loops: the cords are laced in a zig-zag; every pair of strings is caught together with a small ring or loop found in India |
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814 with wedge bracing: wedges are inserted between the wall of the drum and the cords of the lacing; by adjusting the position of the wedges it is possible to control the tension found in India, Indonesia and Africa |
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82 Cord-and-hide bracing: the cords are laced at the lower end to a non-sonorous piece of hide found in Africa |
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83 Cord-and-board bracing: the cords are laced to an auxiliary board at the lower end found in Sumatra |
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84 Cord-and-flange bracing: the cords are laced at the lower end to a flange carved from the solid found in Africa |
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85 Cord-and-belt bracing: the cords are laced at the lower end to a belt of different material found in India |
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86 Cord-and-peg bracing: the cords are laced at the lower end to pegs stuck into the wall of the drum found in Africa |
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NB 82 to 86 are subdivided as 81 above |
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9 with membrane lapped on: a ring is slipped over the edge of the membrane |
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91 with membrane lapped on by ring of cord: found in Africa |
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92 with membrane lapped on by a hoop |
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921 without mechanism (European drum) |
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922 with mechanism |
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9221 without pedal (machine timpani) |
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9222 with pedals (pedal timpani) |
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*To be subdivided like 211.21 |
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Appendix reprinted from Hornbostel and Sachs, 1914 (by permission of Limbach Verlag, Berlin); Eng. trans., 1961/R |
HOWARD MAYER BROWN/FRANCES PALMER