Lamellophone

Linguaphone comes from the Latin root lingua meaning "tongue", (i.e., a long thin plate that is fixed only at one end).

According to Sachs,[3] The most usual [of plucked idiophones] is a flexible lamella or tongue attached to a frame, plucked by a finger and resonated by a small box.A large number of lamellophones originate in Africa, where they are known under different names including mbira, kisanji, likembe, kalimba, kongoma, and sanza.

However, similar instruments have been found elsewhere; for example, the indigenous peoples of Siberia play wooden and metallic lamellophones with a single tongue.

Lucinda Ellison produces a wide range of her Embiras, which are solid body electric mbiras with piezo pickups — a design first conceived in 1981 and finalised in 1996.

The idea of a struck reed tongue had been pioneered by the Alexandre brothers in their "Orgues expressifs" (harmoniums) in the 19th century, where they were called percussion stops.

The Space Harp, or Frankiphone (designed, built and played by Phil Cohran), is a famous instance of an electric lamellophone.

Neptune's Jason Sanford makes electric thumb pianos from scrap in a similar tradition and Yuri Landman has made 12-TET bass kalimbas and metal tongue drums.

In 1932, Andre Schaeffner developed a new classification scheme that was "exhaustive, potentially covering all real and conceivable instruments" [Kartomi, p. 176].

[7] 121.2 Guimbardes and jaw harps - The lamella is mounted in a rod- or plaque-shaped frame and depends on the player's mouth cavity for resonance.