aerophones

Aerophones are musical instruments in which sound is produced primarily by vibrating air. The vibration can be generated by blowing across an edge, by a vibrating reed, or by the player's lips against a mouthpiece. The instrument’s body then acts as a resonator, shaping the tone and setting the pitches of notes.

Common subcategories include edge-blown instruments such as flutes and recorders, where air strikes an edge to initiate vibration; reed instruments like the clarinet and saxophone (single reed) and oboe and bassoon (double reeds), where a reed or pair of reeds vibrates to excite the air column; and lip-reed instruments such as trumpets, trombones, and tubas, where the player's vibrating lips generate the initial sound that resonates in the instrument.

There is also a category known as free aerophones in which the vibrating air is not confined within a tube, such as the bullroarer. Across cultures, aerophones range from simple whistles to large brass ensembles. Construction materials vary widely, including wood, bamboo, metal, and ceramic, and design choices influence timbre, range, and projection.

In musicology, aerophones are distinguished from other instrument families by their primary source of sound—the vibrating air column. They are one of the five main categories in the traditional Hornbostel–Sachs system, alongside chordophones, idiophones, membranophones, and electrophones.