The World Atlas of Musical Instruments

AtlasThis meticulously illustrated encyclopedia provides history and descriptions of instruments and instrument families from around the world. It surveys a wide variety of musical instruments from cultures across all inhabited continents, including wind, percussion, and string instruments. The authors have organized it by region of instrument origin, then by instrument class and subclass. Region headings provide commentary on music and culture, and instrument entries provide the name, a description, and a hand-drawn illustration. A six-page introduction to organology preceeds the main encyclopedia, giving readers a chance to understand the system of instrument classification that the authors use throughout the volume.

Abraham Myler, research assistant