idiophone

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idiophone. Term for mus. instr. which produce sound from their own substance, e.g. castanets, cymbals, bells, etc. Can be struck, plucked, blown, or vibrated by friction. One of 4 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 membranophones, with electrophones added later.