Simple Electronic Noisemaker

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Another project I have worked on is a simple electronic noisemaker. I used three momentary switches I took out of a microwave oven along with a speaker from an old television and connected them using my Arduino and a breadboard. I programmed the Arduino myself, so that when it detected that a switch had been pressed, it would act as a signal generator in different frequencies. I chose three octaves of the note “A” as my frequencies so that it would always be "in tune."  Although this particular device is little more than a novelty at the moment, I have considered developing it into a more sophisticated musical instrument. 

I was inspired to do this project by seeing homemade synthesizers and other electronic instruments at a Maker Faire held in Des Moines, Iowa. The project taught me a lot about electronics. In particular, interacting with the switches led me to learn about normally-open versus normally-closed switches. Also I became acquainted with switch debouncing, especially in momentary switches when I did this project. This project was the first in which I applied computer programming to circuitry. I used some tutorial information from the Arduino website to help me program the controller. This device could even be considered a rudimentary exercise in embedded systems. All in all, it was encouraging to me to bring an idea into the real world and make something from start to finish. 

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