membranophone

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membranophone. Term for mus. instr. which produce sound from tightly stretched membranes, either struck (as in drums) or ‘singing’ (as the kazoo). One of four classifications of instr. devised by C. Sachs and E. M. von Hornbostel and pubd. in Zeitschrift für Ethnologie, 1914. Other categories are aerophones, chordophones, and idiophones, to which electrophones were later added.