Items · Classification (Sachs-Von Hornbostel revised by MIMO) · Grinnell College Musical Instrument Collection

Classification (Sachs-Von Hornbostel revised by MIMO)

A numerical-order listing of the instrument classification numbers and their definitions found on this site follows. Its content adheres, for the most part, to the classificatory system published in 2011 by the Musical Instrument Museums Online (MIMO) organization titled "Revision of the Hornbostel-Sachs Classification of Musical Instruments by the MIMO Consortium" (the original classification system by Erich M. von Hornbostel and Curt Sachs was first published in the "Zeitschrift für Ethnologie" (nos. 4 & 5) in 1914 under the title: "Systematik der Musikinstrumente. Ein Versuch"). We list only the numbers that have been used on this site; therefore, the list that follows is not a reproduction of the entire MIMO system. Each number below serves as a link that, when clicked, produces a sort of all of the instruments in this collection to which it applies. The definitions provided here are NOT always verbatim transcriptions of those found in the MIMO system; in many instances we have found it necessary to edit the original definitions to make them consistent with the vocabulary of terms utilized on this site. More information on musical instrument classification systems, along with the application of one such system to a subset of instruments found on this site, can be found in the WESTERN INSTRUMENTS section.

112.122
idiophone--sliding rattle: 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
112.13
idiophone--vessel rattles: rattling objects enclosed in a vessel strike against each other or against the walls of the vessel, or usually against both
112.212
idiophone--scraped stick with resonator
112.24
idiophone--scraped wheel or cog rattle: 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
121.21
idiophone--lamellaphone (or plucked idiophone; lamellae, i.e. elastic plaques, fixed at one end, are flexed and then released to return to their position of rest) in the form of a frame: idioglot guimbarde (trump, also known as jew's harps) that depends on the player's mouth cavity for resonance; the lamella is carved in the frame itself, its base remaining joined to the frame
121.221
idiophone--lamellaphone (or plucked idiophone; lamellae, i.e. elastic plaques, fixed at one end, are flexed and then released to return to their position of rest) in the form of a frame: single heteroglot guimbarde (trump, also known as jew's harp) that depends on the player's mouth cavity for resonance; a lamella is attached to a frame
122.11
idiophone--lamellaphone (or plucked idiophone; lamellae, i.e. elastic plaques, fixed at one end, are flexed and then released to return to their position of rest) in board- or comb-form; the lamellae are attached to a board or cut out from a board like the teeth of a comb; without integral resonator
122.12
idiophone--lamellaphone (or plucked idiophone; lamellae, i.e. elastic plaques, fixed at one end, are flexed and then released to return to their position of rest) in board- or comb-form: the lamellae are attached to a board or cut out from a board like the teeth of a comb; with integral resonator
131.1
idiophone--individual friction sticks: the instrument is made to vibrate by friction
211.11
membranophone--separate vessel drum, the single playing head encloses a body in the form of a vessel that is curvilinear or rectilinear in profile
211.211.1
membranophone--individual single-skin cylindrical drum
211.211.2
membranophone--set of single-skin cylindrical drums with single membranes and open ends
211.212.11
membranophone--individual double-skin cylindrical drum, one skin used for playing
211.212.12
membranophone--individual double-skin cylindrical drum, both skins used for playing
211.212.21
membranophone--set of double-skin cylindrical drums with single playing heads
211.221.1
membranophone--individual single-skin barrel drum
211.222.11
membranophone--individual double-skin barrel drum, one skin used for playing
211.222.12
membranophone--individual double-skin barrel drum, both skins used for playing
211.232.12
membranophone--individual double-skin double conical drum, both heads played
211.241.1
membranophone--individual single-skin hourglass-shaped drum
211.242.11
membranophone--individual double-skin hourglass shaped drum, one skin used for playing
211.242.12
membranophone--individual double-skin hourglass shaped drum, both heads played
211.251.1
membranophone--individual single-skin conical drum
211.251.2
membranophone--set of single-skin conical drums