The revision of the Hornbostel-Sachs classification in 2011 by the MIMO Consortium

As part of the MIMO Project (2009-2011), the MIMO consortium of museums revised the ‘Systematik der Musikinstrumente’, the classification of musical instruments by Erich Moritz von Hornbostel and Curt Sachs published in 1914. The revision of the Hornbostel-Sachs classification of musical instruments by the MIMO consortium [2011] is published as one of the ‘Resources’ of the CIMCIM website. This article discusses the principles followed and practicalities observed in the revisions made in 2009-2011. While the MIMO consortium which made the revisions consisted primarily of museum curators, Hornbostel and Sachs envisaged that their ‘systematic arrangement for musical instruments’ would serve scholars working in a number of different fields. The CIMCIM working group in classification, set up in 2011, deals with matters relating to the revised classification of Hornbostel and Sachs by MIMO, including further revisions which may be required.