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Membranophone

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,

21: by hitting the drumskin with a hand or object (most common form, including the and snare drum)

timpani

22: by pulling a knotted string attached to the drumskin (common in Indian drums, and can be considered an example of a as well)

chordophone

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 ) [2]

kazoo

The Hornbostel-Sachs scheme of musical instrument classification divides membranophones in a numeric taxonomy based on how the sound is produced:

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.

[4]

Kazoos and Swazzles vibrate in sympathy with sounds travelling across a membrane. These are the only membranophones that are not truly drums.

Mirlitons

Membranophones can also be divided into small divisions based on length and breadth of sound production:[3]


SIL International maintains a classification system based largely on shape:[5]

Ghan: Percussion without membranes, such as chimes, bells and gongs

Avanaddh: Percussion with membranes, such as drums with skin heads

The traditional classification of Indian instruments include two categories of percussion.[6]

Semispherical drum

Vibrations of a circular membrane

Bongo drum