IDIOPHONES – from Wikipedia
An idiophone is any musical instrument which creates sound primarily by way of the instrument
vibrating itself, without the use of strings or membranes. It is one of the
four main divisions in the original Hornbostel-Sachs
scheme of musical instrument
classification. Idiophones are probably the oldest type of musical
instrument (not counting the human voice).
In the early classification of Victor-Charles Mahillon, this group of instruments was called autophones.
Most percussion
instruments which are not drums are idiophones. Hornbostel-Sachs
divides idiophones into four main sub-categories. The first division is the struck idiophones (sometimes called concussion
idiophones). This includes most of the non-drum percussion instruments familiar
in the west. They include all idiophones which are made to vibrate by being
hit, either directly with a stick or hand (like the wood block, singing bowl, triangle
or marimba), or indirectly,
by way of a scraping or shaking motion (like maracas or flexatone).
Various types of bells
fall into both categories.
The other three sub-divisions are rarer. They are plucked
idiophones, such as the jew's harp, amplified cactus, music box or mbira
(thumb piano); blown
idiophones, of which there are a very small number of examples, the Aeolsklavier
being one; and friction
idiophones, such as the singing bowl,
glass harmonica, glass harp, turntable, verrophone,
daxophone,
styrophone,
musical saw, or nail violin (a number of
pieces of metal or wood rubbed with a bow).
A number of idiophones that are
normally struck, such as vibraphone
bars and cymbals, can also be
bowed.
Mallet-struck tuned percussion
A number of instruments fall into a
sub-class within this group, and relate directly to the classification, tuned percussion. They are
struck with mallets
or with sticks.
They include:
celesta,
a keyboard-operated idiophone