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

541Digital synthesizers4 subcategories 542Digital control sources and interfaces 543Digital signal mixing, modifying, and processing devices 544Digital samplers and sampling synthesizers 545Digital record/playback devices 546Other digital modules, components or configurations 547Digital modules communicating between devices

541.1Digital synthesizers using frequency modulation2 subcategories 541.2Digital synthesizers using additive synthesis2 subcategories 541.3Digital synthesizers using phase distortion2 subcategories 541.4Digital synthesizers using physical modelling2 subcategories