Making Music Experiments

After completing the Making Music project, test yourself by trying these experiments.

1 Replace the number 440 in the tone command with 523.
Upload and run the program again.
What do you hear? Experiment with other numbers.
2 Modify the program to make it play two notes, one after the other.
3 Modify the program to make it play three notes, one after the other with the first note faster than the last two notes.
4 This next program will play several notes of a song.






The frequencies for the four notes (NOTE_G3, NOTE_A3, NOTE_B3, and NOTE_C4) are assigned to variable names using the int command. For example, the frequency 196 is assigned to the variable name NOTE_G3. Later in the code, we can use the name instead of the number, which is easier to remember.

A variable name must start with a letter and cannot have any spaces.

Upload and run the program. You should hear a song. 
int NOTE_G3 = 196;
int NOTE_A3 = 220;
int NOTE_B3 = 247;
int NOTE_C4 = 262;

void setup() {
  pinMode(8, OUTPUT);
  tone(8, NOTE_C4);
  delay(250);
  tone(8, NOTE_G3);
  delay(125);
  noTone(8);
  delay(75);
  tone(8, NOTE_G3);
  delay(125);
  tone(8, NOTE_A3);
  delay(250);
  tone(8, NOTE_G3);
  delay(250);
  noTone(8);
  delay(250);
  tone(8, NOTE_B3);
  delay(250);
  tone(8, NOTE_C4);
  delay(400);
  noTone(8);
}

void loop() {
}
5 Create a function call StarWars() with the code shown on the right to play the first 16 notes of the Star Wars Theme song.

The notes are: NOTE_C4, NOTE_G4, NOTE_F4, NOTE_E4, NOTE_D4, NOTE_C5, NOTE_G4, NOTE_F4, NOTE_E4, NOTE_D4, NOTE_C5, NOTE_G4, NOTE_F4, NOTE_E4, NOTE_F4 and NOTE_D4 with the given frequencies and durations.


Call the StarWars() function whenever you want to execute the code in the function like this

void setup() {
  StarWars();
} 
int NOTE_C4 = 262;
int NOTE_D4 = 294;
int NOTE_E4 = 330;
int NOTE_F4 = 349;
int NOTE_G4 = 392;
int NOTE_A4 = 440;
int NOTE_B4 = 494;
int NOTE_C5 = 523;

// This is the StarWars function containing the code to
// play the first 16 notes of the Star Wars Theme song
void StarWars() {
  tone(8, NOTE_C4);
  delay(1000);
  tone(8, NOTE_G4);
  delay(1000);
  tone(8, NOTE_F4);
  delay(167);
  tone(8, NOTE_E4);
  delay(167);
  tone(8, NOTE_D4);
  delay(167);
  tone(8, NOTE_C5);
  delay(1000);
  tone(8, NOTE_G4);
  delay(500);

  tone(8, NOTE_F4);
  delay(167);
  tone(8, NOTE_E4);
  delay(167);
  tone(8, NOTE_D4);
  delay(167);
  tone(8, NOTE_C5);
  delay(1000);
  tone(8, NOTE_G4);
  delay(500);
  
  tone(8, NOTE_F4);
  delay(167);
  tone(8, NOTE_E4);
  delay(167);
  tone(8, NOTE_F4);
  delay(167);
  tone(8, NOTE_D4);
  delay(2000);
  noTone(8);
}

void setup() {
  pinMode(8, OUTPUT);
  StarWars(); // this will execute the StarWars() function
}

void loop() {
}

 
6 Make a police siren with sound and flashing red light.

Connect a buzzer to pin 8. 
int red_led = 13;
int buzzer = 8;

void setup() {
  pinMode(red_led, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(buzzer, OUTPUT);
}

void loop() {
  digitalWrite(red_led, HIGH);
  // increment the siren frequency from 650 going up to 900
  for (int frequency=650; frequency<=900; frequency++) {
    tone(buzzer, frequency);
    delay(10);
  }
  digitalWrite(red_led, LOW);
  // decrement the siren frequency from 900 going down to 650
  for (int frequency=900; frequency>=650; frequency--) {
    tone(buzzer, frequency);
    delay(10);
  }
}

 
7 If you want to experiment more, this next program makes it easier to write your own music.

Select File from the menu
  • then select Examples
  • then select Digital
  • then select toneMelody
Upload and run the program. 
#include "pitches.h"

// notes in the melody:
int melody[] = {
  NOTE_C4, NOTE_G3, NOTE_G3, NOTE_A3, NOTE_G3, 0, NOTE_B3, NOTE_C4
};

// note durations: 4 = quarter note, 8 = eighth note, etc.:
int noteDurations[] = {
  4, 8, 8, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4
};

void setup() {
  // Change the number 8 to match the number of notes in your melody
  for (int thisNote = 0; thisNote < 8; thisNote++) {

    // to calculate the note duration, take one second
    // divided by the note type.
    //e.g. quarter note = 1000 / 4, eighth note = 1000/8, etc.
    int noteDuration = 1000 / noteDurations[thisNote];
    tone(8, melody[thisNote], noteDuration);

    // to distinguish the notes, set a minimum time between them.
    // the note's duration + 30% seems to work well:
    int pauseBetweenNotes = noteDuration * 1.30;
    delay(pauseBetweenNotes);
    // stop the tone playing:
    noTone(8);
  }
}

void loop() {
}

 
8 Create your own piece of music using the toneMelody program from Experiment 7 above.

Three things you need to change in the program:

  i. The music notes for your song in the line int melody[ ] = { ...

  ii. The durations for each note in the line int noteDurations[ ] = { ...

  iii. The number of notes in your song in the line for (int thisNote = 0; thisNote < 8; thisNote++) {
 
9 (Optional Advance)
In order to make the sound louder, you'll need to use a transistor to amplify the sound. Use an NPN transistor 3904 or 2N2222. You can also use a speaker instead of the buzzer to make it sound better. 		NPN transistor






Connect the transistor and speaker as follows:

tone6 transistor circuit 		tone7 transistor
NOTE: Use of the tone command will interfere with the analogWrite command on pins 3 and 11. This means that you cannot use the analogWrite command on pins 3 and 11, and use the tone command at the same time.

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