instruments, musical. Objects or devices for producing mus. sound by mechanical energy or electrical impulses. They can be classified as: (1) Str. (plucked or bowed). (2) Wind (played by blowing direct into the mouthpiece or through a reed). (3) Perc. (of determinate or indeterminate pitch). (4) Elec. Note that the pf., though it has str., is percussive in its mechanism, so is not easily classified. For the classifications of instr. by C. Sachs and E. M. von Hornbostel pubd. in 1914, see aerophones, chordophones, idiophones, and membranophones, with electrophones as additional category. For the Sachs-Hornbostel introduction to their classifications, see New Grove, Vol. 9, pp. 241-5.