Make some noise

Step 1: Make it

What is it?

Attach headphones to your micro:bit and make music!

How it works

• To make sounds with micro:bit, attach headphones or a speaker. Clip the tip of the headphone plug to pin 0 on micro:bit. Clip the longer part of the headphone plug to the GND pin on micro:bit.
• Use this program to make your micro:bit play one of its built-in tunes when you press button A.
• The gold pins on the bottom of the micro:bit are used for inputs and outputs. Here we use pin 0 as an output. The micro:bit sends pulses of electrical signals from pin 0 when it plays the tune. The headphones must also be connected to the GND pin on the micro:bit to complete the electrical circuit.

What you need

• micro:bit (or MakeCode simulator)
• MakeCode or Python editor
• battery pack (optional)
• a pair of headphones, buzzer or amplified loudspeaker
• two crocodile clip leads

Step 2: Code it

1from microbit import *
2import music
3
4while True:
5    if button_a.was_pressed():
6        music.play(music.NYAN)
7

Step 3: Improve it

• Try different tunes like ODE, BLUES or BIRTHDAY. You can find a list of tunes you can use in Python here.
• Make the tune repeat more than once using a loop.
• What happens if you connect pin 0 to the middle part of the headphone plug instead of the tip?