Take me to the Steps

Looking to make some noise with your very own custom musical instrument? I knew you were! This project is all about super-simpleness: all you need are a speaker, and an Arduino to start making some music. R.I.F.F. Stands for “Randomly Influenced Finger Flute”, and this Arduino “instrument” is probably the simplest instrument you can still technically play and maybe even make some fun tunes with!

This project was originally created for Sylvia’s Super-Awesome Maker Show, and will be one of three projects featured in her book “Sylvia’s Super-Awesome Project Book: Super-Simple Arduino”.

If you haven’t used an Arduino before, you’ll need to do a bit of set up before trying this project. Learn how to get started with Arduino here.

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Project Steps

Plug in your speaker

Speakers have two wires, and for the most part it doesn’t really matter which one goes where, so just plug one wire from the speaker into pin 10, and the other into the pin marked GND (for Ground).

Plug in the Arduino to USB and upload the code

Plug in your Arduino via USB to your computer, then head over to http://sylviashow.com/riff, and click the “Get the Code!” link, and copy that straight into your Arduino IDE, then press the “Upload” button at the top left.

Play your R.I.F.F.!

You did it! If you haven’t already, watch the video to learn how to play, and exactly how it works.

By touching the analog pins and either 5v or ground, you make the tone played either higher or lower. With a little practice, you can totally make some real music. (And annoy your friends!)