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This paper presents the first numerical investigation via direct numerical simulation of the tone noise phenomenon occurring in the flow past laminar airfoils. This phenomenon corresponds to the radiation of discrete acoustic tones in some specific flow conditions, and has received much attention since the 1970s, and several experimental studies have been carried out to identify and understand the underlying physical mechanisms. However, several points remain to be clarified in order to provide a complete explanation of its origin. The flow around a two-dimensional NACA0012 airfoil is considered in order to have a deeper understanding of the tone noise phenomenon. Consistently with previous experimental studies, it is shown that depending on the Reynolds number and angle of attack, two different types of acoustic spectrum are observed: one which exhibits a broadband contribution with a dominant frequency together with a sequence of regularly spaced discrete frequencies, while the other one is only characterized by a simple broadband contribution. The first configuration is typical of the tone noise phenomenon. The present work shows that in this case, the mean flow on the pressure side of the airfoil exhibits a separation bubble near the trailing edge and the main tone frequency is close to the most amplified frequency of the boundary layer. The mechanism proposed in previous works for the main tone generation – which implies the existence of a separation bubble at the pressure side – is therefore validated by numerical simulation. On the other hand, the analysis of the suction side boundary layer reveals that there is no separation and that the most amplified frequency is different from the main tonal one. However, the suction side boundary layer is highly receptive to the tone frequency. Finally, an original explanation for the existence of the secondary discrete frequencies observed in the radiated pressure spectrum is given. They are associated to a bifurcation of the airfoil wake from a symmetric to a non-symmetric vortex pattern. A possible explanation for the existence of this bifurcation is the interaction between the disturbances which are the most amplified by the suction side boundary layer and those originating in the forcing of the suction side flow by the main tone noise mechanism.