Circuits That Make Sound
Learn to design, build, and modify your own electronic sound makers and synthesizer circuits. From raw square-wave bleeps to distortion pedals and voltage-controlled filters, discover how basic electronic components sculpt audio.
Like Duolingo, but for Circuits That Make Sound. Tomo turns the whole topic into a game you play five minutes a day, until it actually sticks.
21 levels across 3 sections, about 42 minutes end to end, roughly 8 days at five minutes a day. It moves through Making Sound Move; Changing and Controlling the Sound; and Building, Mixing, and Troubleshooting. It starts from scratch.
Free forever · No credit card · iPhone & Android
Key ideas in Circuits That Make Sound
- A speaker contains an electromagnet that moves in and out when electrical current alternates direction or strength
- The physical back-and-forth movement of the speaker cone pushes air molecules, creating pressure waves our ears hear as sound
- A steady, unmoving electrical voltage produces no continuous sound because the speaker cone stays stuck in one position
- Slamming a voltage instantly between high and low creates a square wave
- The abrupt edges of a square wave naturally create a bright, buzzy tone packed with overtones
- Generating smooth mathematical sine waves requires significantly more complex circuitry than generating square waves
- A capacitor acts like a tiny bucket that takes time to fill and empty through a resistor
- Larger capacitors or higher-value resistors take longer to cycle, producing slower vibrations
- Slower vibrations in a sound circuit mean a lower musical pitch
- An inverting logic gate always outputs the opposite of its input (HIGH becomes LOW, and LOW becomes HIGH)
- Feeding the output directly back into the input causes the circuit to chase its own tail continuously
- This endless flipping back and forth between states is what creates a steady electrical oscillation
- Batteries provide direct current (DC), which pushes steadily in one direction without vibrating
- Continuous DC flowing through tiny headphone voice coils heats them up and can melt or distort them
- A capacitor blocks steady DC while freely allowing alternating audio vibrations to pass into the headphones
- A capacitor offers very low resistance to rapid, high-pitched electrical oscillations
You've tried the other tabs
Thirty open tabs. Four facts you actually kept.
You watched. You nodded. By Sunday it was gone.
One answer, then back to scrolling.
Eight weeks. You meant to finish. You didn't.
Tomo gives Circuits That Make Sound the Duolingo treatment: levels, streaks, and quick quizzes that test what you just learned. That game loop is what the tabs above never had, so it's the one you actually finish.
Here's what playing it feels like
A real question from this course. Take your best guess.
What actually creates the sound you hear coming out of a speaker?
Get it right to open this lesson and 20 more in the app.
How to learn Circuits That Make Sound, step by step
Go in order. 21 short levels across 3 sections, about 42 minutes in all, five minutes a day.
- 1
Making Sound Move
- Making Your First Oscillator
- Sculpting Tone with Passive Filters
- 2
Changing and Controlling the Sound
- Distortion, Gain, and Clipping
- Playing with Voltage Control
- Shaping Notes Over Time
- 3
Building, Mixing, and Troubleshooting
- Combining Signals Without Hum
- Prototyping and Debugging Sound Circuits
3 sections · 7 units · 21 levels. Built to play, not to enroll.
Questions about Circuits That Make Sound
How do I learn Circuits That Make Sound?
Go in order: start with Making Sound Move, then Changing and Controlling the Sound, then Building, Mixing, and Troubleshooting. On Tomo that's 21 short levels, about 42 minutes in all, played five minutes a day. Start free and play the first level in under a minute.
Is there a Duolingo-style app for Circuits That Make Sound?
Yes. Tomo works like Duolingo: short daily lessons, streaks and quick quizzes. Circuits That Make Sound is one of its free courses, and you can type any other topic to get a course of your own.
Is the Circuits That Make Sound course free?
Yes. Circuits That Make Sound is playable on Tomo's free plan, which doesn't expire. No credit card, no waitlist. Download the app and start your first lesson.
How long does it take to learn Circuits That Make Sound?
21 levels across 3 sections, about 42 minutes of play in total. It's built for five minutes a day, so you finish it a little at a time instead of all at once.
Do I need any background to start Circuits That Make Sound?
No. It's pitched at a beginner level, so it starts where you are and builds up. If you can tap a phone, you can start.
Tomo is in ChatGPT
Tomo is also a ChatGPT plugin: the same playable courses, built and played inside your chat.
Add Tomo to ChatGPT- What to ask
- “Make me a Tomo course on black holes.” “Turn this chat into a Tomo course.”
- What you get
- Quick questions with instant feedback, hearts and stars, ready to play in about a minute.
- Where it goes
- No sign-up to start. Connect your Tomo account and your streak carries on in the app.
You pick the voice
Circuits That Make Sound is taught in the Professor style: clear, structured, thorough. Want a different feel? In the app you can spin up the same topic in any of Tomo's teaching styles. Same facts, totally different vibe.
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Start Circuits That Make Sound today.
Download Tomo, search Circuits That Make Sound, and play your first lesson in under a minute.