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acknowledgment

(Encyclopedia)acknowledgment, in law, formal declaration or admission by a person who executed an instrument (e.g., a will or a deed) that the instrument is his. The acknowledgment is made before a court, a notary ...

balalaika

(Encyclopedia)balalaika băləlīˈkə [key], Russian stringed musical instrument, with a triangular body and a long fretted neck fretted instrument. Usually there are three strings, which are generally plucked wit...

castanets

(Encyclopedia)castanets kăsˌtənĕtsˈ [key], percussion instruments known to the ancient Egyptians and Greeks, possibly of Middle Eastern origin, now used primarily in Spanish dance music or imitations of it. Th...

Laënnec, René Théophile Hyacinthe

(Encyclopedia)Laënnec, René Théophile Hyacinthe rənāˈ tāôfēlˈ yäsaNtˈ läānĕkˈ [key], 1781–1826, French physician. While connected with the Necker Hospital in Paris he invented the stethoscope, whi...

Bartók, Béla

(Encyclopedia)Bartók, Béla bāˈlə bärˈtŏk, Hung. bāˈlô bôrˈtōk [key], 1881–1945, Hungarian composer and collector of folk music. He studied (1899–1903) and later taught piano at the Royal Academy, ...

trumpet

(Encyclopedia)trumpet, brass wind musical instrument of part cylindrical, part conical bore, in the shape of a flattened loop and having three piston valves to regulate the pitch. Its origin is ancient; records of ...

harmonica

(Encyclopedia)harmonica. 1 The simplest of the musical instruments employing free reeds, known also as the mouth organ or French harp. It was probably invented in 1829 by Friedrich Buschmann of Berlin, who called h...

ILAS

(Encyclopedia)ILAS, instrument low-approach system: see instrument-landing system. ...

drill, tool

(Encyclopedia)drill, tool used to create a hole, usually in some hard substance, by its rotary or hammering action. Many different tools make up the drill family. The awl is a pointed instrument used for piercing s...

hurdy-gurdy

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Hurdy-gurdy hurdy-gurdy, musical instrument with three strings that are caused to vibrate by a wooden wheel turned by a crank. Stopping is accomplished by keys that usually affect only the str...