ngoni
A West African stringed instrument, shaped like a guitar.

nickelodeon
Alternative letter-case form of Nickelodeon.

nickelodeons
plural of nickelodeon

noter
One who takes notice.
An annotator.
A small rod, usually made of wood, pressed against the melody course of a lap dulcimer to change the pitches.

noters
plural of noter

ntamani
A talking drum from West Africa

nusach
The style of a prayer service.
The melody used for the service, depending on when it is being conducted.

nusachim
plural of nusach

nusachs
plural of nusach

nuschaot
plural of nusach

nyckelharpa
A string instrument (chordophone) with a long body and a boat-shaped soundbox, with keys attached to tangents that act like frets when the keys are depressed, and most commonly featuring chromatic and sympathetic strings in modern instruments, originating in the traditional music of Sweden.

nyckelharpas
plural of nyckelharpa

nyckelharpor
plural of nyckelharpa

obbligati
plural of obbligato

obbligato
An obbligato section; a prominent countermelody, often written to be played or sung above the principal theme (in a higher pitch range).

obbligatos
plural of obbligato

obligati
plural of obligato

obligato
Alternative spelling of obbligato.

obligatos
plural of obligato

oboe
A soprano and melody wind instrument in the modern orchestra and wind ensemble. It is a smaller instrument and generally made of grenadilla wood. It is a member of the double reed family.

oboes
plural of oboe

ocarina
A woodwind musical instrument that is closed at both sides to produce an enclosed space, and punctured with finger holes.

ocarinas
plural of ocarina

ochorina
Alternative spelling of ocarina.

ochorinas
plural of ochorina

octachord
A musical instrument with eight strings.
A musical system of eight tones.

octachords
plural of octachord

octavina
A stringed musical instrument resembling the guitar.

octavinas
plural of octavina

octochord
Alternative form of octachord.

octochords
plural of octochord

octophone
A modern stringed instrument intended to be able to play the tone combinations of the tenor guitar, tenor banjo, ukulele, taro-patch fiddle, tiple, mandolin, mandola and mandocello.

octophones
plural of octophone

oculocentre
A reference point in the centre of each eye

oligoaniline
Any of a class of compounds containing short strings of aniline residues fused into polycyclic structures

oligoanilines
plural of oligoaniline

ondiola
An electronic musical instrument, an Italian version of the clavioline.

ondiolas
plural of ondiola

ophecleide
Alternative spelling of ophicleide.

ophecleides
plural of ophecleide

ophicleide
A keyed brass baritone bugle, now replaced by the tuba in orchestral music

ophicleides
plural of ophicleide

orch
Abbreviation of orchestra.

orchester
An orchestra.

orchesters
plural of orchester

orchestrae
plural of orchestra

orchestral
Relating to an orchestra or to music played by an orchestra.

orchestralist
A musician who performs as part of an orchestra.

orchestralists
plural of orchestralist

orchestrals
plural of orchestral

orchestrant
A musician who plays an instrument in an orchestra.

orchestrants
plural of orchestrant

orchestras
plural of orchestra

orchestrater
Alternative form of orchestrator.

orchestraters
plural of orchestrater

orchestration
The arrangement of music for performance by an orchestra.
A composition that has been orchestrated.
The control of diverse elements.
The automated arrangement, coordination, and management of computer systems, middleware, and services.

orchestrations
plural of orchestration

orchestrator
One who orchestrates.
A system that performs orchestration (automated configuration, deployment, etc.).

orchestrators
plural of orchestrator

orchestre
Obsolete form of orchestra.

orchestrelle
A player organ designed to mimic the sound of an orchestra, manufactured and used from the late 19th century to early 20th century.

orchestrelles
plural of orchestrelle

orchestres
plural of orchestre

orchestrion
A mechanical multiple musical instrument designed to sound like an orchestra or band.

orchestrions
plural of orchestrion

orgal
Obsolete form of argol.

organ
The larger part of an organism, composed of tissues that perform similar functions.
A body of an organization dedicated to the performing of certain functions.
A device, apparatus.
A musical instrument that has multiple pipes which play when a key is pressed (the pipe organ), or an electronic instrument designed to replicate such.
An official magazine, newsletter, or similar publication of an organization.
Ellipsis of organ pipe cactus.
A government organization; agency; authority.
The penis.
An Asian form of mitrailleuse.

organbuilding
The construction of organs (musical instruments).

organistrum
Any early form of hurdy-gurdy.

organistrums
plural of organistrum

organologies
plural of organology

organology
The study of the organs of plants and animals.
The study of musical instruments in relation to history, culture, and construction.

organs
plural of organ

orguinette
Alternative form of organette (“mechanical musical instrument”).

orguinettes
plural of orguinette

orlo
A Spanish wind instrument, possibly a crumhorn.

orlos
plural of orlo

ornament
An element of decoration; that which embellishes or adorns.
An element of decoration; that which embellishes or adorns.
A musical flourish that is unnecessary to the overall melodic or harmonic line, but serves to decorate that line.
The articles used in church services.
A characteristic that has a decorative function (typically in order to attract a mate)

ornaments
plural of ornament

orpharion
A musical instrument of the Renaissance, part of the cittern family, whose metal strings are tuned like a lute's and plucked with the fingers.

orpharions
plural of orpharion

orpheoreon
Alternative form of orpharion.

orpheoreons
plural of orpheoreon

orpherion
Alternative form of orpharion.

orpherions
plural of orpherion

ostinati
Plural of ostinato.

ostinato
A piece of melody, a chord progression, or a bass figure that is repeated over and over as a musical accompaniment.

ostinatos
plural of ostinato

ottavini
plural of ottavino

ottavino
A miniature virginal, pitched one octave higher than the larger version.

oud
A short-necked and fretless plucked stringed instrument of the lute family, of Arab and Turkish origin.
Agarwood, in particular the noble rot of Aquilaria trees used to make perfumes.

oudh
Alternative form of oud

oudhs
plural of oudh

ouds
plural of oud

outkitchen
An outbuilding used as a kitchen.

outkitchens
plural of outkitchen

outparts
plural of outpart

overagent
A coordinating agent that supervises, manages, or orchestrates the actions of multiple subordinate agents within a complex system.

overbend
To bend over.
To bend to excess; to bend farther than the desired or intended amount.
To increase the tension on a string at the fret, causing the note to sharpen.
To overblow or overdraw in order to create a note that is sharper; to move the point in the mouth where airflow is narrowest forward.

overbends
third-person singular simple present indicative of overbend

overtone
A tone whose frequency is an integer multiple of another; a member of the harmonic series.
An implicit message (in a film, book, verbal discussion, or similar) perceived as overwhelming the explicit message.
An implicit message (in a film, book, verbal discussion, or similar) perceived subtly alongside, but not overwhelming, the explicit message.

overtones
plural of overtone

palaeomeander
A meander that existed in ancient times

palaeomeanders
plural of palaeomeander

pandoura
Alternative form of pandura.

pandouras
plural of pandoura

pandura
An Ancient Greek stringed instrument, a kind of lute with three strings that were stopped with a fingerboard to alter the tone, and with either a mandolin- or banjo-like shape.

panduras
plural of pandura

panduri
A Georgian stringed instrument.