Plucked idiophones
Encyclopedia
Plucked idiophones is one of the categories of musical instruments found in the Hornbostel-Sachs
system of musical instrument classification that is usually referred to as (lamellophones). These idiophones are equipped with one or more tongues or lammelae that produce sound by being plucked by the performer. The most commonly known examples of these type of instruments are the jaw harp, the Mechanical music box and the African mbira
or thumb piano
.
There are two main categories of plucked idiophones, those that are in the form of a frane (121) and those that are in the form of a comb (122)
121.1 Clack idiophones or Cricri - The lamella is carved in the surface of a fruit shell, which serves as resonator.
121.2 Guimbardes and jaw harps - The lamella is mounted in a rod- or plaque-shaped frame and depends on the player's mouth cavity for resonance.
121.21 Idioglot guimbardes - The lamella is of one substance with the frame of the instrument.
121.22 Heteroglot guimbardes - The lamella is attached to the frame.
121.221 Individual heteroglot guimbardes.
121.222 Sets of heteroglot guimbardes.
122.1 With laced on lamellae.
122.11 Without resonator.
122.12 With resonator.
122.2 With cut-out lamellae
Hornbostel-Sachs
Hornbostel–Sachs is a system of musical instrument classification devised by Erich Moritz von Hornbostel and Curt Sachs, and first published in the Zeitschrift für Ethnologie in 1914. An English translation was published in the Galpin Society Journal in 1961...
system of musical instrument classification that is usually referred to as (lamellophones). These idiophones are equipped with one or more tongues or lammelae that produce sound by being plucked by the performer. The most commonly known examples of these type of instruments are the jaw harp, the Mechanical music box and the African mbira
Mbira
In African music, the mbira is a musical instrument that consists of a wooden board to which staggered metal keys have been attached. It is often fitted into a resonator...
or thumb piano
Thumb piano
The thumb piano is an African musical instrument, a type of plucked idiophone common throughout Sub-Saharan Africa.-Description:Each note of a kalimba, mbira, etc. is a separate idiophone, and in orchestral terms, the instrument as a whole belongs in the bar percussion family...
.
There are two main categories of plucked idiophones, those that are in the form of a frane (121) and those that are in the form of a comb (122)
In the form of a frame (121)
The lamellae vibrate within a frame or hoop121.1 Clack idiophones or Cricri - The lamella is carved in the surface of a fruit shell, which serves as resonator.
121.2 Guimbardes and jaw harps - The lamella is mounted in a rod- or plaque-shaped frame and depends on the player's mouth cavity for resonance.
- Jaw harp
- KouxianKouxianKouxian is the Chinese generic term for the jaw harp, and as such is used to refer to all such instruments originating in China...
- MorsingMorsingA morsing is a wind percussion instrument, mainly used in the Carnatic music of South India and Sindh . It can be categorized under lamellophones, which is in the category of plucked idiophones...
121.21 Idioglot guimbardes - The lamella is of one substance with the frame of the instrument.
121.22 Heteroglot guimbardes - The lamella is attached to the frame.
121.221 Individual heteroglot guimbardes.
121.222 Sets of heteroglot guimbardes.
In the form of a comb (122)
The lamellae are tied to a board or cut out from a board like the teeth of a comb.122.1 With laced on lamellae.
- Array mbiraArray mbiraThe Array mbira is a hand-crafted modern musical instrument with a unique harp or bell-like sound. It is made in the United States by its inventor Bill Wesley and manufactured by Wesley with Patrick Hadley in San Diego, California, United States. It is a radical redesign of the African mbira and is...
- AgidigboAgidigboThe agidigbo is a large traditional plucked lamellophone used by the Yoruba people of Nigeria. Its appearance is piano-like; a rope is worn round the neck of the player who then supports or braces the instrument, whose body is a rectangular wooden box, by his chest or thoracic region...
- Space HarpSpace HarpThe Space Harp, also known as a Frankiphone, is an electrified lamellophone invented by Phil Cohran as part of a musicological experiment exploring his African roots. He named it after his mother, Frankie...
- Electric thumb pianoSpace HarpThe Space Harp, also known as a Frankiphone, is an electrified lamellophone invented by Phil Cohran as part of a musicological experiment exploring his African roots. He named it after his mother, Frankie...
- Kalimba
- KisanjiKisanjiKisanji is the name given to the lamellaphone of the Ngala in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is also known as sanza and is played by holding the instrument in both hands and plucking the keys with the thumbs. The pitch of each metal key is determined by the width of the key...
- Likembe
- MarímbulaMarímbulaA marímbula is a folk musical instrument of the Caribbean Islands . The marímbula is usually classified as part of the lamellophone family of musical instruments. With its roots in African instruments, marimbula originated in the province of Oriente, Cuba in the 19th century...
- MbiraMbiraIn African music, the mbira is a musical instrument that consists of a wooden board to which staggered metal keys have been attached. It is often fitted into a resonator...
- SanzaMbiraIn African music, the mbira is a musical instrument that consists of a wooden board to which staggered metal keys have been attached. It is often fitted into a resonator...
- FrankophoneSpace HarpThe Space Harp, also known as a Frankiphone, is an electrified lamellophone invented by Phil Cohran as part of a musicological experiment exploring his African roots. He named it after his mother, Frankie...
- Thumb pianoThumb pianoThe thumb piano is an African musical instrument, a type of plucked idiophone common throughout Sub-Saharan Africa.-Description:Each note of a kalimba, mbira, etc. is a separate idiophone, and in orchestral terms, the instrument as a whole belongs in the bar percussion family...
- Tom (instrument)Tom (instrument)The tom is a plucked lamellophone used in the traditional music of the Nuer and Anuak ethnic groups of western Ethiopia.The instrument was also used in some pieces performed by Orchestra Ethiopia in the 1960s....
- Sansa
- IkembeIkembeIkembe, Chisanji, Kisanji and Eleke all refer to a type of lamellaphone common amongst the Bahutu of Rwanda, Burundi and the Congo.In Swahili the word imba means song. Kuimba means to sing, as in the phrase . Mama means mother...
- MalimbeMalimbeThe malimbe is a type of xylophone from the Congo which is described as having both male and female counterparts; the former has 15 wooden bars, the latter has nine. "Malimbe" also refers to a lamellaphone or mbira type instrument amongst the Nyamwezi of Tanzania.See Mbira and...
- Eleke
- KisanjiKisanjiKisanji is the name given to the lamellaphone of the Ngala in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is also known as sanza and is played by holding the instrument in both hands and plucking the keys with the thumbs. The pitch of each metal key is determined by the width of the key...
- OopoochawaOopoochawaOopoochawa or Opochawa, also known as quisanche is a type of mbira or lamellaphone from South America.-References:...
- Kaffir piano
- Kasayi
- MarímbulaMarímbulaA marímbula is a folk musical instrument of the Caribbean Islands . The marímbula is usually classified as part of the lamellophone family of musical instruments. With its roots in African instruments, marimbula originated in the province of Oriente, Cuba in the 19th century...
- Caribbean thumb piano - Zimbabwean Marimba
122.11 Without resonator.
122.12 With resonator.
122.2 With cut-out lamellae
- CombCombA comb is a toothed device used in hair care for straightening and cleaning hair or other fibres. Combs are among the oldest tools found by archaeologists...
- Mechanical music box