An encyclopedia of musical instruments
Excite / Resonate
Every instrument is two things wired together: something that pushes (a finger, a bow, a breath, a pair of lips, a mallet) and something that rings. Often a third thing, a body, hands the sound to the air.
Patch them on the rack, play, and watch the sand on the plate run off everything that moves and gather on the lines that stay still.
- Play
- touch plates, the A–K keys, the sand, or the Play pad
- Patch
- turn the exciter, press a resonator and a body; drag knobs up and down
Strings Winds Drums Bars, bells & plates Circuits Oddities
Exciter
what pushes
Out
Resonator
what rings
In
Out
Body
what moves the air
In
Out
Sand plate
where the still lines are
Note –– HzFigure –
In
Patch
Violin
A string that is dragged, slips and is dragged again, hundreds of times a second, and a hollow box of spruce and maple that turns a whisper into a sound that fills a hall.
Sixteen instruments
Sorted by what rings, after Hornbostel and Sachs (1914).