Organology (from
Greek: -
organon, "instrument" and λόγος -
logos, "study") is the science of
musical instruments and their classification. It embraces study of instruments' history, instruments used in different cultures, technical aspects of how instruments produce sound, and
musical instrument classification. There is a degree of overlap between organology,
ethnomusicology (being subsets of
musicology) and the branch of the
acoustics devoted to musical instruments.