General term for musical instruments that produce their sound by setting up vibrations in the substance of the instrument itself. Idiophones form one of the original four classes of instruments (along with membranophones, chordophones and aerophones) in the hierarchical classification devised by E.M. von Hornbostel and C. Sachs and published by them in Zeitschrift für Ethnologie in 1914 (Eng. trans. in GSJ, xiv, 1961, pp.3–29, repr. in Ethnomusicology: an Introduction, ed. H. Myers, London, 1992, pp.444–61). 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 Muscial Instruments, New York, 1940), have suggested adding electrophones to the system although it has not yet been formally extended.
Idiophones are subdivided into those which are struck, scraped, plucked, made to sound by friction or blown. The sound may be produced by the direct or the indirect action of the player. 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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1 Idiophones: the substance of the instrument itself, owing to its solidity and elasticity, yields the sounds, without requiring stretched membranes or strings |
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11 Struck idiophones: the instrument is made to vibrate by being struck upon |
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111 Idiophones struck directly: the player himself executes the movement of striking; whether by mechanical intermediate devices, beaters, keyboards, or by pulling ropes, etc., is immaterial; it is definitive that the player can apply clearly defined individual strokes and that the instrument itself is equipped for this kind of percussion |
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111.1 Concussion idiophones or clappers: two or more complementary sonorous pans are struck against each other |
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111.11 Concussion sticks or stick clappers – found in Annam, India and the Marshall Islands |
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111.12 Concussion plaques or plaque clappers – found in China and India |
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111.13 Concussion troughs or trough clappers – found in Myanmar |
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111.14 Concussion vessels or vessel clappers: even a slight hollow in the surface of a board counts as a vessel |
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111.141 Castanets: vessel clappers, either natural, or artificially hollowed out |
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111.142 Cymbals: vessel clappers with everted rim |
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111.2 Percussion idiophones: the instrument is struck either with a non-sonorous object (hand stick, striker) or against a non-sonorous object (human body, the ground) |
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111.21 Percussion sticks |
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111.211 (Individual) percussion sticks – found in Japan, Annam and the Balkans; (also the triangle) |
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111.212 Sets of percussion sticks: several percussion sticks of different pitch are combined to form a single instrument (all xylophones, as long as their sounding components are not in two different planes) |
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111.22 Percussion plaques |
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111.221 (Individual) percussion plaques – found in the oriental Christian Church |
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111.222 Sets of percussion plaques (lithophone [China], and most metallophones) |
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111.23 Percussion tubes |
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111.231 (Individual) percussion tubes (slit-drum, tubular bell) |
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111.232 Sets of percussion tubes (tubaphone, tubular xylophone) |
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111.24 Percussion vessels |
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111.241 Gongs: the vibration is strongest near the venex |
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111.241.1 (Individual) gongs – found in South and East Asia (including the so-called metal drums, or rather kettle-gongs) |
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111.241.2 Sets of gongs (gong-chimes) – found in South-east Asia |
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111.242 Bells: the vibration is weakest near the venex |
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111.242.1 (Individual) bells |
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111.242.11 Resting bells: the cup is placed on the palm of the hand or on a cushion; its mouth faces upwards – found in China, South-east Asia and Japan |
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111.242.12 Suspended bells: the bell is suspended from the apex |
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111.242.121 Suspended bells struck from the outside: no striker is attached inside the bell, there being a separate beater |
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111.242.122 Clapper bells: a striker (clapper) is attached inside the bell |
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111.242.2 Sets of bells [chimes] (subdivided as 111.242.1) |
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112 Indirectly struck idiophones: the player himself does not go through the movement of striking; percussion results indirectly through some other movement by the player. The intention of the instrument is to yield clusters of sounds or noises, and not to let individual strokes be perceived |
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112.1 Shaken idiophones or rattles: the player executes a shaking motion |
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112.11 Suspension rattles: perforated idiophones are mounted together, and shaken to strike against each other |
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112.111 Strung rattles: rattling objects are strung in rows on a cord (necklaces with rows of shells) |
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112.112 Stick rattles: rattling objects are strung on a bar (or ring) (sistrum with rings) |
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112.12 Frame rattles: rattling objects are attached to a carrier against which they strike |
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112.121 Pendant rattles: rattling objects are hung from a frame (dancing shield with rattling rings) |
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112.122 Sliding rattles: non-sonorous objects slide to and fro in the slots of the sonorous object so that the latter is made to vibrate; or sonorous objects slide to and fro in the slots of a non-sonorous object, to be set in vibration by the impacts (angklung, sistrum with rods [recent]) |
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112.13 Vessel rattles: rattling objects enclosed in a vessel strike against each other or against the walls of the vessel, or usually against both. NB West African and Latin-American gourd rattles with handle, in which the rending objects, instead of being enclosed, are knotted into a net slipped over the outer surface, count as a variety of vessel rattle (fruit shells with seeds, ‘pellet bells’ enclosing one or two loose percussion pellets) |
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112.2 Scraped idiophones: the player causes a scraping movement directly or indirectly: a non-sonorous object moves along the notched surface of a sonorous object, to be alternately lifted off the teeth and flicked against them, or an elastic sonorous object moves along the surface of a notched non-sonorous object to cause a series of impacts. This group must not be confused with that of friction idiophones |
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112.21 Scraped sticks: a notched stick is scraped with a little stick, shell, piece of bone etc. |
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112.211 Scraped sacks without resonator – found in South America, India (pouched musical bow) and Congo |
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112.212 Scraped sticks with resonator – found in East Asia (ǒ) |
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112.22 Scraped tubes – found in south India |
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112.23 Scraped vessels: the corrugated surface of a vessel is scraped – found in South America and the Congo region |
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112.24 Scraped wheels or cog rattles: a cog wheel, whose axle serves as the handle, and a tongue fixed in a frame which is free to turn on the handle, when whirled, the tongue strikes the teeth of the wheel one after another – found in Europe and India |
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112.3 Split idiophones: instruments in the shape of two springy arms connected at one end and touching at the other: the arms are forced open by a little stick, to jingle or vibrate on recoil – found in China, Malacca [now West Malaysia], Iran and the Balkans |
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12 Plucked idiophones: lamellae, i.e. elastic plaques, fixed at one end, are flexed and then released to return to their position of rest |
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121 In the form of a frame: the lamella vibrates within a frame or hoop |
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121.1 Clack idiophones (cricri): the lamella is carved in the surface of a fruit shell, which serves as a resonator – found in Melanesia |
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121.2 Guimbardes (jew’s harps): the lamella is mounted in a rod or plaque-shaped frame and depends on the player’s mouth cavity for resonance |
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121.21 Idioglot guimbardes: the lamella is carved in the frame itself, its base remaining joined to the frame – found in India, Indonesia and Melanesia |
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121.22 Heteroglot guimbardes: a lamella is attached to a frame |
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121.221 (Single) heteroglot guimbardes – found in Europe, India and China |
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121.222 Sets of heteroglot guimbardes: several heteroglot guimbardes of different pitches are combined to form a single instrument – found in Aura |
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122 In board or comb-form: the lamellae are tied to a board or cut out from a board like the teeth of a comb |
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122.1 With laced-on lamellae |
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122.11 Without resonator (all lamellaphones on a plain board) |
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122.12 With resonator (all lamellaphones with a box or bowl below the board) |
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122.2 With cut-out lamellae (musical boxes): pins on a cylinder pluck the lamellae – found in Europe |
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13 Friction idiophones: the instrument is made to vibrate by friction |
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131 Friction sticks |
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131.1 (Individual) friction sticks (unknown) |
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131.2 Sets of friction sticks |
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131.21 With direct friction: the sticks themselves are rubbed (nail violin, nail piano, Stockspiele) |
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131.22 With indirect friction: the sticks are connected with others which are rubbed and, by transmitting their longitudinal vibration, stimulate transverse vibration in the former (Chladni’s euphon) |
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132 Friction plaques |
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132.1 (Individual) friction plaques (unknown) |
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132.2 Sets of friction plaques [livika] – found in New Ireland |
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133 Friction vessels |
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133.1 (Individual) friction vessels – found in Brazil (tortoise shell) |
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133.2 Sets of friction vessels (verillon [glass harmonica]) |
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14 Blown idiophones: the instrument is made to vibrate by being blown upon |
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141 Blown sticks |
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141.1 (Individual) blown sticks (unknown): possible example of the Mbuti of the Ituri Forest, Zaire, in the Turnbull Collection |
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141.2 Sets of blown sticks (Äolsklavier) |
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142 Blown plaques |
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142.1 (Individual) blown plaques (unknown) |
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142.2 Sets of blown plaques (piano chanteur) |
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Suffixes for use with any division of this class: |
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8 with keyboard |
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9 mechanically driven |
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Appendix reprinted from Hornbostel and Sachs, 1914 (by permission of Limbag Verlag, Berlin); Eng. trans., 1961/R |
HOWARD MAYER BROWN/FRANCES PALMER