Editing Idiophone

{{Short description|Class of musical instruments}}
{{distinguish|text=[[Ideophone]], sound symbolism in language}}
[[File:Bell Plates (from LA Percussion Rentals).jpg|thumb|Set of [[bell plates]], range C2–E4, a ''struck idiophone'' (played with mallets) or ''friction idiophone'' (bowed)]]
[[File:Latin jazz clave percussion sticks.jpg|150px|thumb|[[Claves]] (foreground), a struck idiophone]]

An '''idiophone''' is any [[musical instrument]] that creates sound primarily by the vibration of the instrument itself, without the use of air flow (as with [[aerophone]]s), [[strings (music)|strings]] ([[chordophone]]s), [[acoustic membrane|membranes]] ([[membranophone]]s) or electricity ([[electrophone]]s). It is the first of the four main divisions in the original [[Hornbostel–Sachs]] system of [[musical instrument classification]] (see [[List of idiophones by Hornbostel–Sachs number]]). The early classification of [[Victor-Charles Mahillon]] called this group of instruments ''autophones''. The most common are [[struck idiophone]]s, or concussion idiophones, which are made to vibrate by being struck, either directly with a stick or hand (like the [[Woodblock (instrument)|wood block]], [[singing bowl]], [[steel tongue drum]], [[handpan]], [[triangle (musical instrument)|triangle]] or [[marimba]]) or indirectly, with scraping or shaking motions (like [[maraca]]s or [[flexatone]]). Various types of [[bell (instrument)|bells]] fall into both categories. A common plucked idiophone is the [[Jaw harp|Jew's harp]].

According to [[Curt Sachs|Sachs]],<ref>Sachs, Curt (1940). ''The History of Musical Instruments'', p.455. W. W. Nortan & Company, Inc. {{ISBN|0-393-02068-1}}</ref> idiophones
{{blockquote|are instruments made of naturally sonorous materials not needing any additional tension as do strings and drumskins. In this class it is the player's action that has shaped the instruments, because they have originated from extensions of striking or clapping hands or stamping feet. Accordingly, the basic question is how they are set into vibration.}}

==Etymology==
The word is from Ancient Greek, a combination of ''idio-'' ("own, personal" or "distinct")<ref>{{cite web |title=idio- |url=https://www.etymonline.com/search?q=idio- |website=Etymology Online |access-date=9 January 2019}}</ref> and ''-phone'' ("voice, sound").<ref>{{cite web |title=-phone |url=https://www.etymonline.com/word/-phone |website=Etymology Online |access-date=9 January 2019}}</ref>

==Categories==
Most [[percussion instrument]]s that are not [[drum]]s are idiophones. Hornbostel–Sachs divides idiophones into four main sub-categories. The first division is the [[struck idiophone]]s (also known sometimes as concussion idiophones). This includes most of the non-drum percussion instruments familiar in the West. They include all idiophones made to vibrate by being struck, either directly with a stick or hand (like the [[Woodblock (instrument)|wood block]], [[singing bowl]], [[steel tongue drum]], [[triangle (musical instrument)|triangle]] or [[marimba]]) or indirectly, by way of a scraping or shaking motion (like [[maraca]]s or [[flexatone]]). Various types of [[bell (instrument)|bells]] fall into both categories.

The other three subdivisions are rarer. They are plucked idiophones, such as the [[Jew's harp]], [[amplified cactus]], [[kouxian]], [[dan moi]], [[music box]] and [[mbira]] ([[lamellophone]] or thumb piano); [[blown idiophone]]s, of which there are a very small number of examples, the [[Aeolsklavier]] being one; and [[friction idiophone]]s, such as the [[singing bowl]], [[glass harmonica]], [[glass harp]], [[Phonograph|turntable]], [[verrophone]], [[daxophone]], [[styrophone]], [[musical saw]], and [[nail violin]] (a number of pieces of metal or wood rubbed with a bow).<ref>Don Michael Rendel, ed., ''The New Harvard Dictionary of Music'', 1986.</ref>

Other classifications use six main sub-categories.

* [[Struck idiophone|Concussion idiophones]] are instruments that produce sound by being struck against one another.
* [[Percussion]] idiophones produce sound by being struck with a non-vibrating foreign object. Examples of non-vibrating objects are [[Percussion mallet|mallets]], [[hammer]]s, and [[Drum stick|sticks]]. 
* [[Rattle (percussion instrument)|Rattle]] idiophones are shaken. 
* [[Güiro|Scraper]] idiophones are instruments that are scraped with a stick or other foreign objects to give off a sound. 
* [[Pizzicato|Plucked]] idiophones produce sound by plucking a flexible tongue from within the instrument itself. 
* [[Friction idiophone]]s are rubbed to increase vibration and sound intensity.<ref>[http://www.sweetwater.com/expert-center/glossary/t--Idiophone "Idiophones", ''The Most Comprehensive Music Technology Glossary'']. {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091217085514/http://www.sweetwater.com/expert-center/glossary/t--Idiophone |date=2009-12-17 }}</ref>

For example, a pop toob is a brand name for a [[noisemaker]] or [[musical instrument]] consisting of tubes that are extendable, bendable, and connectable, with the noise being created concussively by the bending and unbending, or popping, of the tube's corrugation,<ref>United States. Patent and Trademark Office (1995). ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=b8Ucs7OUmDQC&q=%22pop+toob%22 Official Gazette of the United States Patent and Trademark Office: Trademarks, Volume 1176, Issue 1]'', p.288. U.S. Department of Commerce, Patent and Trademark Office. [https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=wu.89058416801;view=1up;seq=338] and [https://archive.org/details/officialgazette1176aunit].</ref> whereas a [[whirly tube]] uses corrugated tubing and the difference in speed and thus air pressure to create an aerophone when spun in a circle.

==Design==
Most idiophones are made of [[glass]], [[metal]], [[ceramic]]s, and [[wood]]. They are considered part of the [[percussion section]] in an [[orchestra]].

A number of idiophones that are normally struck, such as [[vibraphone]] bars and [[cymbal]]s, can also be [[Bow (music)|bowed]].

==See also==
* [[Pitched percussion instrument]]
* [[Lithophone]]
*[[Metallophone]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{wiktionary|idiophone}}
{{commons category|Idiophones}}
* https://web.archive.org/web/20130115040826/http://www.music.vt.edu/musicdictionary/texti/Idiophone.html

{{Elemental organology}}
{{Hornbostel-Sachs}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Idiophones| ]]