How the Plants used as musical instruments makes its sound
In the Hornbostel–Sachs system, which classifies instruments by how they produce sound, the Plants used as musical instruments belongs to the plucked idiophones (lamellophones): flexible tongues or lamellae are plucked – the mbira, kalimba, music box and jaw harp.
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
Live plants have been used as musical instruments, especially in electronic music.
Live plants can be used as electronic musical instrument by running a weak electric current through them and by amplifying the way the current is changed when the plants are touched, or by applying contact microphones and amplifying the projection and tone of the sounds produced when handling them.
Other plucked idiophones
Jew's harp
Plucked idiophones (lamellophones)
Mbira
Plucked idiophones (lamellophones)
Lamellophone
Plucked idiophones (lamellophones)
Đàn môi
Plucked idiophones (lamellophones)
Kouxian
Plucked idiophones (lamellophones)
Ōtsuzumi
Plucked idiophones (lamellophones)
Kalimba
Plucked idiophones (lamellophones)
Agidigbo
Plucked idiophones (lamellophones)
Frequently asked questions
What does the Plants used as musical instruments sound like?
As one of the plucked idiophones, its sound comes from the way flexible tongues or lamellae are plucked.
What type of instrument is the Plants used as musical instruments?
It is classified as plucked idiophones (lamellophones) (Hornbostel–Sachs 12).
Sources & credits
- Wikidata Q4748495 – CC0
- Wikipedia: Plants used as musical instruments – CC BY-SA 4.0
- Image by Christer Johansson – CC BY-SA 2.5