MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS: Hornbostel Sachs Classification Report, Analysis

This report provides an overview of the Hornbostel-Sachs classification system for musical instruments. It categorizes instruments into idiophones, membranophones, and chordophones, discussing their history, musical context, and cultural significance. The report explores specific instruments like the xylophone, drums, piano, and harp, detailing their origins, usage, and the gender roles associated with their performance. It references academic sources to provide a comprehensive understanding of each instrument's place within different musical cultures. The report aims to help musicians decide which instrument to be used for which musical concert.

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Musical instruments: hornbostel sach classification
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MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS: HORNBOSTEL SACH CLASSIFICATION 1
Executive Summary
The following report is about the classification of musical instruments under Hornbostel-
Sachs category. The category has five different classification they are idiophones,
membranophones, chordophones, aerophores and electrophones. The different types of
instruments under these classifications are discussed. The history, their usage of each instruments
is clearly specified giving readers the idea about each instrument.

MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS: HORNBOSTEL SACH CLASSIFICATION 2
Contents
Executive Summary.....................................................................................................................................1
Contents......................................................................................................................................................2
Introduction.................................................................................................................................................3
Hornbostel -Sachs classification of musical instruments.............................................................................3
Idiophones...............................................................................................................................................3
Membranophone....................................................................................................................................5
Chordophone...........................................................................................................................................5
Conclusion...................................................................................................................................................7
Bibliography................................................................................................................................................8

MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS: HORNBOSTEL SACH CLASSIFICATION 3
Introduction
Music is a way to soothe the wary soul, it is a gateway of tranquility, with the goal of
producing a beautiful rhythm, these musical instruments were evolved, the musical instruments
are classified into various groups. One such musical instrument system classification is of
Hornbostel – Sachs which was designed by Erich Moritz von Hornbostel and Curt Sachs. The
musical instrument system was classified into idiophones, membranophones, chordophones,
aerophores and electrophones (sachs, 2006). The following report will be discussing the various
musical instruments coming under Hornbostel- Sachs classification.
Hornbostel -Sachs classification of musical instruments
Idiophones
Idiophones include all types of percussion instruments, the music produced from the
instruments are from the actual vibrations of the surface one such instrument is xylophone
Xylophone
The musical instrument name originated from the Greek word xylon and phone where
xylon means wood and phone stands for sound. it stands for sound coming from wood. The
musical instrument was known to came into existence in south-eastern Asia around 9th century. It
consisted of the wooden bars which are laid out on surface and are played using sticks. In Africa,
xylophone is referred to as balafon. The wooden musical instrument was usually used by Jazz
musicians. The instrument was traditionally played by males in Ghana but later on it was
frequently played by males and females in pairs (Historyof drums, 2019).

MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS: HORNBOSTEL SACH CLASSIFICATION 4
Xylophones are constructed using various materials. Rosewood, Padauk or fiberglass are the
materials which are used in designing modern xylophones.
(history of xylophone, n.d.)
Rattle
It is a percussion instrument as the sound is produced from the surface. The word rattle
itself means a clatter sound. The sound is produced on shaking the surface. The origin of rattles
dates back to Ancient Egypt when they were used at funeral ceremonies as a symbol to celebrate
the beginning of afterlife of the deceased.
They were considered as sacred instruments. The musical context in which rattles are
widely used are in jazz. The rattles were traditionally played by men and women both (clayton,
herbert, & middleton, 2019).

MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS: HORNBOSTEL SACH CLASSIFICATION 5
(klimczak, 2019)
Membranophone
Membranophone are those musical instruments which produce music by striking it on its
membrane. They are drums, kazoos, shaken membranophones.
Drums
Drums come under the classification of membranophones. They are round shaped and
creates sound by striking at its surface from stick. It is considered a percussion instrument. The
surface of the drum which is a stretched membrane when hit by an object produces sound with
vibration. (clayton, herbert, & middleton, 2019).
In 6000bc, during Mesopotamian excavations, drums were unearthed, the wall markings
at caves in Peru suggested that these musical instruments were extensively used in societal life.
These wooden constructed drums were used by American Indians for their rituals and
ceremonies. they were traditionally played by males going through its masculine make-up. The
drums are usually played in bands.

MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS: HORNBOSTEL SACH CLASSIFICATION 6
(Historyof drums, 2019)
Chordophone
Chordophones are those musical instruments in which music is produced by way of
vibration of strings. Types of chordophones are zither, harps, piano , musical bow.
Piano
Paino comes under the classification of chordophone, the musical instrument was
developed in Padua, Italy in 1709 by eminent harpsichord maker Bartolomeo di Francesco
Cristofori, the instrument with black and white keys is played for classical, traditional, modern
and jazz music (sachs, 2006). Its shape and elegance of the instruments gave it a name of Queen
of all music, paino was traditionally played by females and it was considered the symbol of
female sexuality.
There are many types of pianos such as electric, upright, grand and specialized piano. The
musical instrument is made up of around 12000 indiviual parts. These parts are keyboards,
hammers, dampers, bridge, soundboard and string (clayton, herbert, & middleton, 2019).

MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS: HORNBOSTEL SACH CLASSIFICATION 7
(painokeyboard, 2019)
Harp
The musical instruments which produce sound by plucking strings from fingers. The
instrument came into existance in 3500bc in Sumer. There were various harps which were
extravacated from burial pits and royal tombs in Ur.
They were shaped like Hunter’s bow. They are usually played in Jazz or blues music.the
harps were traditionally played by males who were scholars (sachs, 2006).

MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS: HORNBOSTEL SACH CLASSIFICATION 8
(history of harp, 2018)
Conclusion
In the Hornbostel – Sachs, there were five classification of musical instruments which
include idiophones, membranophones, chordophones, aerophores and electrophones. The
classification of musical instruments is really helpful in deciding which instrument to be used for
which musical concert. Drums and rattles can be played in household functions while
instruments like zither, xylophone are usually played in musical concerts. These classifications
make the life of musicians easier to decide the musical instruments to be used for which
occasion.

MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS: HORNBOSTEL SACH CLASSIFICATION 9
Bibliography
clayton, m., herbert, t., & middleton, r. (2019, July 1). The Cultural Study of Music. Retrieved July 12,
2019, from taylorfrancis:
https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/e/9780203149454/chapters/10.4324/9780203149454-26
history of harp. (2018). Harp. Retrieved from harp: https://www.harp.com/history-of-the-harp/
history of xylophone. (n.d.). xylophone. Retrieved from xylophone history :
https://www.vsl.co.at/en/Xylophone/History/
Historyof drums. (2019). Drums. Retrieved from historyofdrums: http://www.historyofdrums.net/drum-
facts/facts-about-drums/
klimczak, n. (2019). Rattle. Retrieved from ancientorigins: https://www.ancient-origins.net/news-
history-archaeology/echoes-ancient-children-4200-year-old-rattle-discovered-turkey-006557
painokeyboard. (2019). History of Paino. Retrieved from painokeyboard: https://www.piano-keyboard-
guide.com/history-of-the-piano.html
penz4.tripod. (n.d.). History of drums. Retrieved 2019, from penz4.tripod:
http://penz4.tripod.com/historyofdrums.html
sachs, c. (2006). The history of musical instruments. New York: Dover.