Hornbostel–Sachs

Hornbostel–Sachs taxonomy

Musical instruments classified by how they produce sound — from the five abstract families down through ever more particular subclasses.

1Idiophones6 subcategories 2Membranophones4 subcategories 3Chordophones3 subcategories 4Aerophones3 subcategories 5Electrophones6 subcategories

51Electro-acoustic instruments and devices5 subcategories 52Electromechanical instruments and devices5 subcategories 53Analogue electronic instruments, modules and components3 subcategories 54Digital instruments, modules and components7 subcategories 55Hybrid analogue/digital configurations 56Software

531Analogue synthesizers and other electronic instruments2 subcategories 532Voltage control sources2 subcategories 533Other analogue modules or configurations3 subcategories

533.1Analogue modules2 subcategories 533.2Analogue configurations 533.3Analogue modules communicating between devices

533.11Analogue audio signal generators 533.12Analogue signal modifiers or processors