Aerophone

Aerophone

An aerophone is any musical instrument which produces sound primarily by causing a body of air to vibrate, without the use of strings or membranes, and without the vibration of the instrument itself adding considerably to the sound. It is one of the five main classes (class 4) of instruments in the original Hornbostel-Sachs scheme of musical instrument classification.

Hornbostel-Sachs divides aerophones by whether vibrating air is contained in the instrument itself or not.

The first class (41) includes instruments where the vibrating air is "not" contained by the instrument itself, such as the bullroarer. Such instruments are called "free aerophones". This class includes free reed instruments, such as the harmonica, but also many instruments unlikely to be called wind instruments at all by most people, such as sirens and whips.

The second class (42) includes instruments where the vibrating air "is" contained by the instrument. This class includes almost all the instruments generally called wind instruments in the west, such as the flute, sheng, the oboe and the trombone.

Additionally, very loud sounds can be made by explosions directed into, or being detonated inside of resonant cavities. Instruments such as the calliope (and steam whistle), as well as the pyrophone might thus be considered as class 42 instruments, despite the fact that the "wind" or "air" may be steam or an air-fuel mixture.


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  • aérophone — ● aérophone nom masculin Tout instrument de musique produisant des sons grâce à la vibration de l air ambiant (rhombe) ou contenu dans un tube (flûte, clarinette, saxophone, etc.). ⇒AÉROPHONE, adj. et subst. masc. I. ORNITH., adj. Qui a une voix… …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • Aerophone — A [ e]r*o*phone , n. [A[ e]ro + Gr. ? voice.] (a) A form of combined speaking and ear trumpet. (b) An instrument, proposed by Edison, for greatly intensifying speech. It consists of a phonograph diaphragm so arranged that its action opens and… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Aérophone — Instrument à vent Un instrument à vent (ou aérophone) est un instrument de musique dont le son est produit grâce aux vibrations créées par une colonne d air provenant du souffle d un instrumentiste, (flûte, trompette… ), d une soufflerie… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • aerophone — /air euh fohn /, n. any musical wind instrument. [1875 80; AERO + PHONE] * * * ▪ musical instrument       any of a class of musical instruments in which a vibrating mass of air produces the initial sound. The basic types include woodwind, brass,… …   Universalium

  • Aerophone — A|erophone   [zu griechisch phōneĩn »einen Ton hervorbringen«], Singular A|erophon, das, s, nach der Systematik der Musikinstrumente die Gruppe der Instrumente, bei denen die Luft das schwingende Medium ist. Ist die Luftsäule nicht (durch das… …   Universal-Lexikon

  • aerophone — noun Any musical instrument which produces sound primarily by causing a body of air to vibrate, without the use of strings or membranes, and without the vibration of the instrument itself adding considerably to the sound …   Wiktionary

  • aerophone — n. any of a class of musical instruments in which a vibrating mass of air produces the initial sound …   English contemporary dictionary

  • aerophone — noun Music a wind instrument …   English new terms dictionary

  • aerophone — aero·phone …   English syllables

  • aerophone — /ˈɛərəfoʊn/ (say airruhfohn) noun a musical instrument which produces sound by means of a vibrating column of air, as the pipe organ or the flute, oboe, etc. Compare chordophone, electrophone, idiophone, membranophone. {aero (def. 1) + phone} …  

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