Aerophone

An aerophone is a musical instrument that produces sound primarily by vibrating air. In organology, it is one of the principal instrument families and encompasses any device in which the vibration of the air—caused by the performer’s breath, a vibrating reed, or the edge of a mouthpiece—creates audible tones. The instrument itself may act as a resonator for the air column, or the air may vibrate freely without a fixed resonator.

Aerophones are commonly divided into free aerophones, which produce sound without the instrument itself forming a fixed resonator (examples include bullroarers and sirens), and non-free aerophones, where the instrument's body sustains the vibrating air. Non-free aerophones are typically grouped into woodwinds (edge-blown instruments like flutes; reed instruments such as clarinets and oboes; and other woodwind configurations) and brass instruments (lip-vibrated brass such as trumpets, trombones, and horns).

Examples across cultures include the flute, clarinet, oboe, bassoon, and saxophone in the modern family; trumpet, trombone, horn, and tuba in brass; as well as didgeridoo, panpipes, bagpipes, and shofar in non-Western traditions.

In musicology, aerophones form the largest category of instruments. In classification schemes such as Hornbostel–Sachs, aerophones are assigned to category 4.