Credits
Every photograph on this site was made by someone else and shared under a licence that lets us use it. Here they all are, with the author, the licence, and a link back to the original.
The figures (the strings, drumheads and air columns) are not photographs and are not stock. They are drawn from each instrument’s own acoustic data, and they are ours.
Photography (47)
Accordion
A converter free-bass piano-accordion and a Russian bayan, Necz0r · CC BY-SA 3.0
Cropped and resized; converted to WebP.
Acoustic Guitar
Middle-aged man playing an accoustic guitar at home, Shixart1985 · CC BY 2.0
Cropped and resized; converted to WebP.
Bagpipes
HighlandersPiperMajor, Chris 73 at en.wikipedia · Public domain
Cropped and resized; converted to WebP.
Charango
Bolivian charango 001, Photo taken by Villanueva · Public domain
Cropped and resized; converted to WebP.
Clarinet
Leitner+Kraus 410 320, Leitner & Kraus GmbH, Neustadt/Aisch, Editor/Bearbeiter User:Gisbert K · CC BY-SA 4.0
Cropped and resized; converted to WebP.
Classical Guitar
Classical Guitar two views2, User:Martin Möller · CC BY-SA 2.0
Cropped and resized; converted to WebP.
Drum Kit
Drum kit parts, Syed Wamiq Ahmed Hashmi re-draw SVG FOX 52 re-draw with AI Sendtel + · CC BY-SA 3.0
Cropped and resized; converted to WebP.
Electric Guitar
Balaguer Guitars USA Espada Dock Photo, Jakeusurungus · CC BY-SA 4.0
Cropped and resized; converted to WebP.
Euphonium
BC Euphonium ed1, Besson / Buffet Crampon · CC BY-SA 4.0
Cropped and resized; converted to WebP.
French Horn
Yamaha Horn YHR-667V, Yamaha Corporation · CC BY-SA 4.0
Cropped and resized; converted to WebP.
Harmonica
16-hole chrom 10-hole diatonic, George Leung · CC BY-SA 3.0
Cropped and resized; converted to WebP.
Harp
2024 Maastricht, Centre Céramique, muziekschool (02), Kleon3 · CC BY-SA 4.0
Cropped and resized; converted to WebP.
Harpsichord
ClavecinRuckers&Taskin, Gérard Janot · CC BY-SA 3.0
Cropped and resized; converted to WebP.
Keyboard
YamahaKeyboard-2, YamahaKeyboard.jpg : Moribunt derivative work: Atlantictire ( talk ) · CC BY-SA 3.0
Cropped and resized; converted to WebP.
Kora
Kora DSC 0355, KannanShanmugamstudio,Main Road,Kollam · CC BY-SA 3.0
Cropped and resized; converted to WebP.
Koto
Japanese Koto, Original uploader and author was Smgregory at en.wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0
Cropped and resized; converted to WebP.
Oboe
Oboe Patricola Artista PT1, Fratelli Patricola, Editor/Bearbeiter User:Gisbert K · CC BY-SA 4.0
Cropped and resized; converted to WebP.
Organ
Neunkirchen am Brand Kirche Orgel-20210411-RM-155230, Ermell · CC BY-SA 4.0
Cropped and resized; converted to WebP.
Saxophone
Eight saxophone sizes smaller, Jonathanischoice · CC BY 4.0
Cropped and resized; converted to WebP.
Timpani
2015 NAMM Show - DSC00543 (16184928927), Pete Brown from Gambrills, MD, USA · CC BY 2.0
Cropped and resized; converted to WebP.
Trombone
Yamaha Tenor trombone YSL-891Z (re-crop), Yamaha Corporation · CC BY-SA 4.0
Cropped and resized; converted to WebP.
Trumpet
Yamaha Trumpet YTR-8335LA crop, Yamaha Corporation · CC BY-SA 4.0
Cropped and resized; converted to WebP.
Tuba
Yamaha Bass tuba YFB-822, Yamaha Corporation · CC BY-SA 4.0
Cropped and resized; converted to WebP.
Ukulele
Kumalae ukulele of c. 1910, St Cecilia's Hall: all things musical instruments · CC BY 3.0
Cropped and resized; converted to WebP.
Voice
Ah cricket 20122 (7364759010), Owen Lucas from Bath, UK · Public domain
Cropped and resized; converted to WebP.
Typefaces
Set in Instrument Serif and Instrument Sans, self-hosted so no request ever leaves for a font service.
- Instrument Serif, Rodrigo Fuenzalida, Jordan Egstad · SIL Open Font License 1.1 · Source
- Instrument Sans, Rodrigo Fuenzalida, Jordan Egstad · SIL Open Font License 1.1 · Source
Sound
“Hear it” plays a short phrase from real recorded samples, the General MIDI soundfont below, chosen to sit where each instrument actually plays. Where the soundfont has no such instrument, the nearest voice stands in:
FluidR3 General MIDI soundfont, Frank Wen · CC BY 3.0Rendered per note to MP3 by gleitz/midi-js-soundfonts; only the notes each phrase needs are shipped.
Played by their nearest General MIDI voice: Balalaika, Bouzouki, Cajón, Charango, Djembe, Drum Kit, Erhu, Euphonium, Guzheng, Kora, Mandolin, Oud, Tabla, Ukulele.
The numbers
Harmonic spectra, mode ratios and envelope shapes are stylised from the published acoustics literature: faithful in shape and ordering rather than measured to the decibel. The learner-facing figures are teaching estimates at the practice load stated on each page.