Membranophone
class of musical instruments which produce sound primarily by way of a vibrating stretched membrane
A membranophone is any musical instrument which produces sound primarily by way of a vibrating stretched membrane. It is one of the four main divisions of instruments in the original Hornbostel-Sachs scheme of musical instrument classification.
According to Sachs,
The sound is produced by a membrane ["skin" or "head"] stretched over an opening. Most, but not all, membranophones are generally called drums. They are classified according to material, if it's single or double headed, shape, skin(s), skin fastening, playing positions, and manner of playing.
Hornbostel–Sachs
The Hornbostel–Sachs scheme of musical instrument classification divides membranophones in a numeric taxonomy based on how the sound is produced:
21: by hitting the drumskin with a hand or object (most common form, including the timpani and snare drum)
22: by pulling a knotted string attached to the drumskin (common in Indian drums, and can be considered an example of a chordophone as well)
23: by rubbing the drumskin with a hand or object (common in Irish traditional music, an example is the bodhran)
24: by modifying sounds through a vibrating membrane (unusual form, including the kazoo)
Length and breadth
Membranophones can also be divided into small divisions based on length and breadth of sound production:
Tubular drums include a wide range of drum shapes all conforming to a "tube" shape, or generally, having a depth greater than the radius of the membrane. The Hornbostel-Sachs Classification defines 8 subcategories of tubular drums: Cylindrical, Barrel-Shaped, Double-Conical, Hourglass-Shaped, Conical, Goblet-Shaped, Cylindro-Conical, and Vase-Shaped drums.
Mirlitons, Kazoos and Swazzles vibrate in sympathy with sounds travelling across a membrane. These are the only membranophones that are not truly drums.
SIL International maintains a classification system based largely on shape:
Cylindrical drums are straight-sided, and generally two-headed.
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This entry incorporates text from “Membranophone” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.