Coding Sound, Crafting Circuits: Synthesizer Design as Critical Making
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
12-20-2025
Department 1
Conservatory of Music
Abstract
Studying early video game sound and music offers many active learning opportunities for undergraduate music students. This essay introduces instructors and students to the sonic capabilities and pedagogical possibilities of the Arduino platform, an affordable and open-source circuit board with a broad collection of input and output devices. Arduino allows students and instructors to explore--among other possibilities--the same potentialities and limitations that were available to early video game sound designers, helping students to forge connections between music theory, computer science, media studies, and the history of video game music, making possible a kind of speculative material history (Pinch 2008, Whitson 2015) of game sound design, as they tackle the challenging question of how to wring meaningful sounds from a few centimeters of silicon and some wires. In this article, I describe the context of a general education course on music in video games, outline a sample unit on designing synthesizers with Arduino, and argue that academic courses in music—for both majors and general education students—have much to gain from engaging with current discourses on critical making (Ratto 2011) and the digital humanities.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
DOI
10.18061/esm.6976
Version
Version of Record
Recommended Citation
O'Hara, William. "Coding Sound, Crafting Circuits: Synthesizer Design as Critical Making." Engaging Students: Essays in Music Pedagogy 9, no.1 (2025). doi: 10.18061/esm.6976.