Idiophones

Idiophones are musical instruments in which the sound is produced primarily by the vibration of the instrument itself, rather than by strings, membranes, or vibrating air. The name comes from Greek idios, meaning “own,” and phone, meaning “sound.”

Classification is generally based on how the vibration is excited. Struck idiophones produce sound when the body is struck by a mallet, another object, or by collision with itself. Plucked idiophones generate tone by plucking the instrument’s own material, such as tines or slats. Friction or rubbing idiophones create sound by bending, rubbing, or otherwise exciting the material, as in the musical saw. Shaken idiophones produce sound when the instrument is moved rapidly, causing its components to tremble or collide, as with maracas or cabasas. Many instruments may function in more than one way depending on how they are played.

Examples span a wide range. Struck idiophones include xylophones, marimbas, glockenspiels, metallophones, bells, cymbals, gongs, wooden blocks, claves, and castanets. Plucked idiophones include mbira (kalimba) and other lamellophones. Friction idiophones include the musical saw. Shaken examples include maracas and cabasas. The steel drum is also typically regarded as an idiophone, as its sound arises from the vibrating metal surface.

Idiophones are a fundamental category in organology and are used in many world music traditions, from formal concert ensembles to folk and popular contexts, producing a broad spectrum of timbres from bright attacks to sustained resonances.