HornbostelSachs

Hornbostel–Sachs, commonly written as Hornbostel–Sachs, is a widely used system for classifying musical instruments by the way their sounds are produced. It was developed by Austrian ethnomusicologist Erich Moritz von Hornbostel and German musicologist Curt Sachs and first published in 1914 as Systematik der Musikinstrumente. The system rapidly became a standard reference in ethnomusicology and organology, and it is still widely used in museums, libraries, and scholarly work.

Top-level categories are idiophones, membranophones, chordophones, aerophones, and electrophones. Idiophones produce sound primarily by the body's own vibration (for example, bells, xylophones, and rattles). Membranophones produce sound via a vibrating membrane (such as drums). Chordophones produce sound from vibrating strings (like violins, guitars, and harps). Aerophones produce sound from vibrating air (such as flutes and trumpets). Electrophones produce sound primarily by electronic means, including synthesizers and other electronic instruments; some instruments, like electronic effects or digitally produced sounds, are classified here when the sound is produced electronically rather than by vibrating a physical body.

Since its inception, the system has undergone revisions, with a widely cited update published in 1961 that refined categories and expanded the scheme. It remains a practical framework for comparing instruments across cultures, and is popular in education and museum labeling. Critics note that the system emphasizes sound production over timbre, technique, and cultural context, and that some instruments blend several production methods, making strict classification difficult.