Listen to the music box
Tip: press play to see the sound's live frequency spectrum in blue over the waveform.
How the music box makes its sound
In the Hornbostel–Sachs system, which classifies instruments by how they produce sound, the music box belongs to the shaken and scraped idiophones: the body is shaken, scraped or split – rattles, maracas and guiros.
More broadly it is one of the idiophones, where the solid body of the instrument itself vibrates, without strings or a stretched membrane.
Its timbre – the colour that lets you tell it apart from other instruments playing the same note – comes from the mix of overtones its body and resonator emphasise.
From Wikipedia
A music box (American English) or musical box (British English) is an automatic musical instrument in a box that produces musical notes by using a set of pins placed on a revolving cylinder or disc to pluck the tuned teeth (or lamellae) of a steel comb. The popular device best known today as a "music box" developed from musical snuff boxes of the 18th century and were originally called carillons à musique (French for "chimes of music"). Some of the more complex boxes also contain a tiny drum and/or bells in addition to the metal comb.
Other shaken and scraped idiophones
Tambourine
Shaken and scraped idiophones
Maraca
Shaken and scraped idiophones
Sistrum
Shaken and scraped idiophones
Angklung
Shaken and scraped idiophones
Jingle bell
Shaken and scraped idiophones
Ratchet
Shaken and scraped idiophones
Güiro
Shaken and scraped idiophones
Cabasa
Shaken and scraped idiophones
Questions people ask
Real questions from the Stack Exchange community – follow a link to read the discussion.
- What does an active DI box offer that a passive doesn't? · Sound Design SE
- Do I need a DI box to record guitars with a USB Interface for re-amping? · Sound Design SE
- Thinking outside the "box" · Sound Design SE
- Do I need a DI BOX when sending signal from my sound card to a mix console? · Sound Design SE
- Line-level detection using an ADC from a passive summing box · Electronics SE
Frequently asked questions
What does a music box sound like?
Listen to 3 recordings on this page. As one of the shaken and scraped idiophones, its sound comes from the way the body is shaken, scraped or split.
What type of instrument is the music box?
It is classified as shaken and scraped idiophones (Hornbostel–Sachs 112.1).
Sources & credits
- Music Box Theme (ISRC USUAN1100417) by Kevin MacLeod – CC BY 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
- Simpe music box rythm by Sakhal1f – CC0 1.0 · Wikimedia Commons
- Industrial Music Box (ISRC USUAN1100812) by Kevin MacLeod – CC BY 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
- Wikidata Q1365218 – CC0
- Wikipedia: Music box – CC BY-SA 4.0
- Image by Rama – CC BY-SA 2.0