diff --git a/docs/get-started/first-program.md b/docs/get-started/first-program.md
index 03ff6204..0f8b8cfb 100644
--- a/docs/get-started/first-program.md
+++ b/docs/get-started/first-program.md
@@ -58,3 +58,10 @@ frames of 16-bit stereo, so 100 of them make 25,600 frames.
 Put more effects in the chain with [Chain effects](../guides/chain-effects.md),
 or play a part in time with
 [Sequence a part](../guides/sequence-a-part.md).
+
+To hear something right away, run one of the two complete examples. Each
+writes a WAV file you can open in any audio player:
+[audioinstruments_simpletest.py](https://github.com/PyDevices/audiocomponents/blob/main/examples/audioinstruments_simpletest.py)
+plays a tune on a Rhodes electric piano, and
+[audioeffects_simpletest.py](https://github.com/PyDevices/audiocomponents/blob/main/examples/audioeffects_simpletest.py)
+runs plucked notes through a tape echo and a hall.
diff --git a/examples/audioeffects_simpletest.py b/examples/audioeffects_simpletest.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..2f869b6d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/examples/audioeffects_simpletest.py
@@ -0,0 +1,73 @@
+# SPDX-FileCopyrightText: 2026 Brad Barnett
+#
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: MIT
+"""Run plucked notes through a tape echo and a hall, and save a WAV file.
+
+A synthio Synthesizer plays short notes, a TapeDelay repeats them and a
+Reverb puts them in a hall. Each effect takes the one before it as its
+input, and the program writes the end of the chain to a WAV file you can
+open in any audio player. Change the names to hear any of the forty-five.
+
+Needs: audioeffects and audiodsp. Both are built into the PyDevices
+MicroPython firmware; on CPython, pip install pydevices-audioeffects.
+
+Run it:
+    micropython audioeffects_simpletest.py
+
+Tested on: the unix port of MicroPython and CPython 3.12 on Linux.
+"""
+
+import struct
+
+import audiocore
+import audioeffects
+import synthio
+
+# Change these to match your setup.
+FILENAME = "echoes.wav"
+NOTES = (60, 67, 64, 72)  # MIDI note numbers
+NOTE_SECONDS = 0.6
+SAMPLE_RATE = 22050
+ECHO_MS = 300  # time between the repeats
+
+# A synthesizer whose notes die away quickly, so the echoes stand out.
+envelope = synthio.Envelope(attack_time=0.005, decay_time=0.2, sustain_level=0)
+synth = synthio.Synthesizer(sample_rate=SAMPLE_RATE, envelope=envelope)
+
+# A tape echo fed by the synthesizer, then a hall fed by the echo.
+echo = audioeffects.create("TapeDelay", synth, SAMPLE_RATE,
+                           time_ms=ECHO_MS, feedback=0.4, mix=0.35)
+hall = audioeffects.create("Reverb", echo.output, SAMPLE_RATE,
+                           character="hall", mix=0.3)
+
+# Write the WAV header now; the data size is filled in at the end.
+out = open(FILENAME, "wb")
+out.write(b"RIFF\0\0\0\0WAVEfmt ")
+out.write(struct.pack("<IHHIIHH", 16, 1, 1, SAMPLE_RATE, SAMPLE_RATE * 2, 2, 16))
+out.write(b"data\0\0\0\0")
+size = 0
+
+
+# Pull audio from the end of the chain for the given number of seconds.
+def record(seconds):
+    global size
+    end = size + int(seconds * SAMPLE_RATE) * 2
+    while size < end:
+        status, block = audiocore.get_buffer(hall.output)
+        size += out.write(block)
+
+
+# Pluck each note, then leave two seconds for the echoes and the hall.
+for note in NOTES:
+    synth.press(note)
+    record(NOTE_SECONDS)
+    synth.release(note)
+record(2)
+
+# Go back and fill in the two sizes.
+out.seek(4)
+out.write(struct.pack("<I", 36 + size))
+out.seek(40)
+out.write(struct.pack("<I", size))
+out.close()
+print("Wrote", FILENAME)
diff --git a/examples/audioinstruments_simpletest.py b/examples/audioinstruments_simpletest.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..46154624
--- /dev/null
+++ b/examples/audioinstruments_simpletest.py
@@ -0,0 +1,69 @@
+# SPDX-FileCopyrightText: 2026 Brad Barnett
+#
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: MIT
+"""Play a short tune on a classic electric piano and save it as a WAV file.
+
+The program builds one instrument by name, plays four notes and writes
+what comes out to a WAV file you can open in any audio player. Then it
+lists the instrument's knobs, which inst.set_macro() turns. Change
+INSTRUMENT to hear another of the fifty-five.
+
+Needs: audioinstruments and audiodsp. Both are built into the PyDevices
+MicroPython firmware; on CPython, pip install pydevices-audioinstruments.
+
+Run it:
+    micropython audioinstruments_simpletest.py
+
+Tested on: the unix port of MicroPython and CPython 3.12 on Linux.
+"""
+
+import struct
+
+import audiocore
+import audioinstruments
+
+# Change these to match your setup.
+FILENAME = "tune.wav"
+INSTRUMENT = "rhodes"  # try "juno106", "minimoog", "dx7" or "tr808"
+NOTES = (60, 64, 67, 72)  # MIDI note numbers: C, E, G and the C above
+NOTE_SECONDS = 0.4
+SAMPLE_RATE = 22050
+
+# Build the instrument, in mono, on its default patch.
+inst = audioinstruments.create(INSTRUMENT, SAMPLE_RATE, channel_count=1)
+
+# Write the WAV header now; the data size is filled in at the end.
+out = open(FILENAME, "wb")
+out.write(b"RIFF\0\0\0\0WAVEfmt ")
+out.write(struct.pack("<IHHIIHH", 16, 1, 1, SAMPLE_RATE, SAMPLE_RATE * 2, 2, 16))
+out.write(b"data\0\0\0\0")
+size = 0
+
+
+# Pull audio out of the instrument for the given number of seconds.
+def record(seconds):
+    global size
+    end = size + int(seconds * SAMPLE_RATE) * 2
+    while size < end:
+        status, block = audiocore.get_buffer(inst.output)
+        size += out.write(block)
+
+
+# Play each note, let it go, and leave a second for the last one to fade.
+for note in NOTES:
+    inst.note_on(note)
+    record(NOTE_SECONDS)
+    inst.note_off(note)
+record(1)
+
+# Go back and fill in the two sizes.
+out.seek(4)
+out.write(struct.pack("<I", 36 + size))
+out.seek(40)
+out.write(struct.pack("<I", size))
+out.close()
+print("Wrote", FILENAME)
+
+# Each knob is a macro, set from 0 to 127 by its place in this list:
+# inst.set_macro(inst.macro_labels.index("Tone"), 90), for example.
+print("Knobs:", ", ".join(inst.macro_labels))
diff --git a/lib/audioeffects/README.md b/lib/audioeffects/README.md
index cf8ee65c..d082f487 100644
--- a/lib/audioeffects/README.md
+++ b/lib/audioeffects/README.md
@@ -34,6 +34,8 @@ Nearly everything here needs the audiodsp tier of nodes
 `audiomath`, `audioshaper`, `audioladder` and friends), which a stock
 CircuitPython board does not have.
 
+For a complete program to start from, see [audioeffects_simpletest.py](https://github.com/PyDevices/audiocomponents/blob/main/examples/audioeffects_simpletest.py).
+
 ## What is in it
 
 Each class below is a name you give to `audioeffects.create()`. The module
diff --git a/lib/audioinstruments/README.md b/lib/audioinstruments/README.md
index e3c63626..736b6ec0 100644
--- a/lib/audioinstruments/README.md
+++ b/lib/audioinstruments/README.md
@@ -15,6 +15,8 @@ audio_out.play(inst.output)
 ```
 
 
+For a complete program to start from, see [audioinstruments_simpletest.py](https://github.com/PyDevices/audiocomponents/blob/main/examples/audioinstruments_simpletest.py).
+
 ## Sound stability
 
 The API is our contract with you: class names, signatures, metadata, and