Hornbostel-Sachs in music meaning

The Meaning of Hornbostel-Sachs in Music

The Hornbostel-Sachs system is a method of classifying musical instruments based on how they produce sound. It was devised by Erich Moritz von Hornbostel and Curt Sachs and was first published in 1914. This system is widely used by ethnomusicologists and organologists to categorize and study musical instruments.

Classification System

The Hornbostel-Sachs system divides musical instruments into five main categories:

1. **Idiophones**: These instruments produce sound through the vibration of the instrument itself. Examples include xylophones, bells, and rattles.2. **Membranophones**: Sound is produced by the vibration of a tightly stretched membrane. Drums are a common example of membranophones.3. **Chordophones**: These instruments produce sound by vibrating strings. Examples include guitars, violins, and pianos.4. **Aerophones**: Sound is produced by vibrating columns of air. This category includes instruments such as flutes, trumpets, and saxophones.5. **Electrophones**: Instruments in this category generate sound through electrical means. Examples include synthesizers, electric guitars, and electronic keyboards. While not officially part of the Hornbostel-Sachs system, electrophones are often considered a fifth main category.

It's worth noting that there are also instruments that do not fit neatly into these five categories and are classified separately or as "unclassified".

Significance and Updates

The Hornbostel-Sachs system is significant because it provides a standardized framework for classifying musical instruments. It allows researchers and musicians to compare and study instruments across different cultures and time periods. The system has been updated over the years, with the most recent update occurring in 2011 as part of the work of the Musical Instrument Museums Online (MIMO) Project.

Overall, the Hornbostel-Sachs system is an essential tool in the field of ethnomusicology and organology, enabling the classification and study of musical instruments based on their sound-producing mechanisms.

This is a system used to classify all musical instruments. This system was created by Erich Moritz von Hornbostel and Curt Sachs. The Hornbostel-Sachs system is based on how an instrument vibrates to produce sound. Even though the system has been criticized and revised over the years, it is the most widely accepted system of musical instrument classification used by organologists and ethnomusicologists.

The system was first published in 1914 with a revised English translation in 1961. Other classification systems date back to the 4th century B.C. The Chinese classified instruments by the material that they were constructed from (stone, wood, silk, etc.). The idea was originally conceived by the Hindus in the 1st century B.C. They created four main groups, vibrating strings, vibrating air columns, percussion instruments made of wood or metal and percussion instruments made with skin heads. Later, the Greeks used a similar system to classify their musical instruments. Organologists such as Martin Agricola then refined the system even further by dividing stringed instruments into the pluckedand bowed categories. In the late 19th century, Victor Mahillon, curator of the Brussels Conservatory musical instrument collection, adopted and refined this system. Although his system was limited to the serious instruments of Western music, he used the four groups of strings, winds, drums and other percussion. By expanding on Mahillon's system, Hornbostel-Sachs made it possible to classify any instrument from any culture.

The original Hornbostel-Sachs system classified instruments into four main categories. The fifth category is a later revision to include the latest technologies in music performance. Within each category are many subgroups with a formal structure based on the Dewey Decimal classification system. The basic categories of the system are listed below, and a more complete version of the system is found in the appendix. (Musical Instrument Classifications).

1 - Idiophones:

Instruments which produce sound by vibrating themselves.

2 - Membranophones:

Instruments which produce sound by a vibrating membrane.

3 - Chordophones:

Instruments which produce sound by vibrating strings.

4 - Aerophones:

Instruments which produce sound by vibrating columns of air.

5 - Electrophones:

Instruments which produce sound electronically.