Museum
The Centre encompasses the following instrument groups, documented from antiquity to the modern era:
- Keyboard instruments
- Music electronic
- String instruments
- Wind instruments
- Free-reed instruments (bellows-driven)
Instrumentgruppene er presentert ved orginale instrumenter og kopier, fra råmateriale til det ferdige instrumentet. Den historiske utvikling er rettet mot de mest kjente musikkinstrumentmakerene.
Vi har ca 380 museale gjenstander, der 95 % av samlingen er musikkinstrumenter. Vi har en Østfold/Norsk/Nordisk utstilling. En samling av folke- og klassiske instrumenter. Alle de forskjellige gruppene har separate visningsrom. Vår samling er ikke en ”død” samling, men er en del av et levende museum, hvor instrumentene blir spilt på, og hvor besøkende kan oppleve en enhet og en bedre forståelse av harmonien mellom mennesket, musikkinstumenter og musikken. Senteret har bibliotek og andre typer rom til dokumentasjon av museale gjenstander.
The museum collection is currently packed and in storage, pending the establishment of new premises.
The scientific classification of musical instruments
There is no single self-evident way of classifying musical instruments. The system most widely used today, which we have also adopted in our work, is based on scientific principles and is known as the Hornbostel–Sachs system (the H–S system), sometimes referred to in reverse order.
Their system is primarily based on the materials and methods of sound production, such as strings, membranes, or mouthpieces, with further subcategories defined by playing techniques such as plucking, striking, or rubbing. In the Hornbostel–Sachs system, there were originally four main categories: idiophones (self-sounding instruments), membranophones, chordophones (stringed instruments), and aerophones, with a fifth category, electrophones, added later. Examples of idiophones include the cymbal and the triangle, among others.
The system is primarily based on the materials and mechanisms of sound production—such as strings, membranes, or air columns—with further subdivisions defined by playing techniques including plucking, striking, or rubbing. In the Hornbostel–Sachs system, four principal categories were originally identified: idiophones (self-sounding instruments), membranophones, chordophones (stringed instruments), and aerophones, with a fifth category, electrophones, added later. Idiophones include instruments such as the cymbal and the triangle, among others.
Furthermore, the observant reader will note that we include images of a musical instrument constructed according to the drawings in Syntagma Musicum, including instruments for which no original examples survive today. The Musical Instrument Museum at the University of Leipzig is organised according to the above-mentioned scientific classification of musical instruments. This means that folk instruments are exhibited alongside so-called ‘classical’ instruments. The museum does not maintain a separate permanent exhibition devoted exclusively to folk instruments; rather, folk instruments are accorded the same scholarly and curatorial status as classical instruments.
New Digital Museum and Acoustics Institute Launched
The museum has recently become part of the International Vocational College for Musical Instrument Makers in Fredrikstad. It has been established as a dedicated subdivision in which the museum collections are formally curated and safeguarded.
The Music Instrument Academy (MIA) is pleased to present a new digital museum and an associated acoustics department for musical instruments, jointly dedicated to presenting the history, construction, materials, and sound of musical instruments from antiquity to the present day. The platform is based on internationally recognised scientific principles for the classification, documentation, and analysis of musical instruments.
The digital museum is structured according to the Hornbostel–Sachs system, the scientific standard employed by leading institutions such as the Musical Instrument Museum at the University of Leipzig. This means that folk instruments and classical instruments are presented within the same scholarly framework and are accorded equal cultural-historical and scientific value.
The collection includes original instruments, historically informed reconstructions, and documentation of materials, construction techniques, and acoustic principles. Several instruments have been built by students and instructors at the Music Instrument Academy, based on historical sources such as Michael Praetorius’ Syntagma Musicum (1618), including instrument types that no longer survive in original form.
The Acoustics Department documents how materials, construction, and form influence sound and resonance in musical instruments. It integrates traditional craftsmanship with modern methods of sound analysis, measurement, and documentation. The department serves as a bridge between the workshop, research, and dissemination.
The museum also holds unique material, including reconstructed Bronze Age lurs cast as part of an EU-funded project led by master horn maker Stefan Vogt, as well as instruments from the biblical period developed through international research collaboration with, among others, the ICTM Study Group on Music Archaeology and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Together, the museum and the acoustics institute constitute a living academic and learning environment in which instruments are not only preserved, but also built, studied, and played. The platform serves as an important resource for students, instrument makers, musicians, researchers, and the general public.
We invite all visitors to explore the new digital museum and acoustics centre and to discover the interconnections between craftsmanship, sound, history, and culture.
No original examples of the Basselini survive. The instrument, known as the Discant Basselini, is documented in a drawing by Michael Praetorius from 1618 in Syntagma Musicum.
No. 3, the Discant Basselini, shown on the far left in the illustration.
The instrument was constructed at the Music Instrument Academy Ltd. (Musikk Instrument Akademiet AS).
Datert før 1800 f. kr.til ca 600 f.kr. Et av de eldste musikkinstrumenter vi kjenner til i Nord Europa. Vi har i et EU-prosjekt ledet av hornmaker Stefan Vogt, støpt bronsjelurer som er alene i sitt slag. Han er fast lærer ved musikkinstrumentmaker skolen (MIA) i Sarpsborg.
På Borge gård fins det tohelleristininger av lurblåsere. Etter det vi kjenner til, er det de enestehelleristingene i sitt slag i Norge. Vi har videre jobbet ut fra helleristningen, støpt en statuett, som vi gitt til ulike personer som har gjort en spesiell innsats i musikkbransjen. MIA prisen – er gitt ut 3 ganger i Norge.
Vi har samarbeid med ”Study Group on Music Archeology Group” I.C.T.M., som vi er medlem av. Vi har gjennomført flere seminarer i Norge i regi av TVD i forhold til musikkinstrumenter i fra bibelen, under ledelse av Prof. Brown fra Jerusalem, samt Ellen Hickman, Tyskland. Vi har også gjennomført studieturer til Israel og midtøsten, ved Betlehem som utgangspunkt, hvor vi har vært nede i graver og sett på malerier, skulpturer for å gjenskape instrumenter fra bibelen, fra den gamle pakt. Det jødiske universitetet i Jerusalem har også bidratt stort her.
Michael Praetorius wrote and illustrated Syntagma Musicum around 1618. He was among the few who were able to articulate their craft in a systematic and scholarly written form. Through its detailed drawings and descriptions, Syntagma Musicum forms a foundational basis for TVD’s collection, museum practice, research activities, instrument making, and the restoration of musical instruments.
Bach
Part of our documentation of Bach’s historical legacy.
Copies built by students at the Music Instrument Academy (Musikk Instrument Akademiet).