Hornbostel-Sachs

Hornbostel-Sachs (or Sachs-Hornbostel) is a system of musical instrument classification devised by Erich Moritz von Hornbostel and Curt Sachs, and first published in the Zeitschrift für Musik in 1914. A revised English translation was published in the Galpin Society Journal in 1961. It is the most widely used system for classifying musical instruments by ethnomusicologists and organologists (people who study musical instruments).

Related Topics:
Musical instrument classification - Erich Moritz von Hornbostel - Curt Sachs - Musical instruments - Ethnomusicologists - Organologists

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The system is based on one devised in the late 19th century by Victor Mahillon, the curator of Brussels Conservatory's musical instrument collection. Mahillon's sytem was one of the first to classify according to what vibrated in the instrument to produce its sound, but was limited, for the most part, to western instruments used in classical music. The Sachs-Hornbostel system is an expansion on Mahillon's in that it is possible to classify any instrument from any culture with it.

Related Topics:
19th century - Victor Mahillon - Brussels - Sound - Classical music

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