Makey Makey Vegetable Keyboard:
For this week’s assignment, we were asked to explore the Maker kit we chose and create a prototype from items found from either a thrift store or around the house. The maker kit I chose was the Makey Makey kit which costs $49.95. I would also recommend purchasing an extra set of alligator clips which cost $9.95. The extra alligator clips will allow you to connect to more keys on the keyboard at one time.
This week we were also instructed to explore Evernote to take notes during the exploration for this project. So far, I think Evernote is a great tool for not only note taking, but copying direct websites into your notes. This helped me a lot while I was researching for the project that I would create. It held all of my ideas in one place, and made it much easier once I was ready to create my final blog post.
For my Makey Makey project, I wanted to create something musical. I love to sing and make music with my husband. Music is a passion of mine and it seems only fitting to incorporate my passion into this project. I scoured the internet to discover how I can use my Makey Makey kit to turn my pots, pans, fruits, stairs, etc. into musical instruments. There are so many resources out there to create amazing projects with your Makey Makey kit.
I decided to use this Makey Makey Piano to play “Eye of the Tiger” from Rocky III. At first, my initial plan was to connect my Makey Makey board to my kitchen utensils such as a rubber spatula. However, when I tried this, no circuit seemed to be completed. I took the alligator clip off and tested it on my other hand to make sure that I had connected all the boards and wires correctly, and success! I saw the magic green light that indicated there was a complete circuit. I deduced that it must have been the rubber spatula that disrupted the circuit.
After reviewing the directions, I discovered a list of items that were “conductive”. Rubber spatulas were not one of them. However, vegetables were, so I decided to give vegetables a try and found success. Once I chose which Makey Makey program and conductive material I would use, I was ready to begin.
I started my circuit by connecting the wires to my various vegetables and testing to make sure they worked. The keyboard has around 11 different notes. At first, I hooked all 11 alligator clips in attempts to have the entire keyboard. However, I discovered it was very hard to keep a clean connection to each of the “letter keys”. The alligator clips were touching more than one key or losing their connection.
The next step I took was to figure out specifically which notes I would actually need to play Rocky III’s “Eye of the Tiger”. I was in luck, because I only needed the arrow keys, space bar, and one letter key, “W”.
In order to play Eye of the Tiger, I originally found the sheet music online to help give me a jump start, but this proved to be a little tricky to correlate with my keyboard. It did help guide me in the right direction. To help me remember which veggie went with which key and note, I made labels and taped them to my “keys”. Then, I arranged them in keyboard order. Next, I started the song and stopped to annotate it, so it would be easy to play and remember.
I wrote my first draft, then went over it several more times to make sure the notes were all correct and I wasn’t missing anything.
The final copy of my “note chart” is here. You may use it if you wish to recreate this song yourself. I also added the lyrics so those of you who feel inspired to do so, can sing along as you play.
See my “How To” below to recreate “Eye of the Tiger” on a vegetable piano.
Materials:
- Makey Makey kit (Alligator clips, Makey Makey Board, and USB chord)
- Tin Foil
- Veggies i.e. Carrots and celery
- Makey Makey Piano
- “Eye of the Tiger” note chart
1. Open the Makey Makey Keyboard on your computer using this link.
2. Set up the Keyboard so it is on Randomize and Vibraphone.
3. Make sure the Keyboard keys match the picture below.
4. Connect the large end of the USB plug from your Makey Makey kit to your computer and the small end to the Makey Makey Board.
5. Connect 4 alligator clips to the Makey Makey Board starting with the arrow connections on the back of the board.
6. Connect 1 alligator clip to the “W” key on the left side of the Makey Makey board.
7. Connect all the alligator clips from your Makey Makey board to your vegetables.
8. Create a tin foil “bracelet” and wrap it around your wrist.
9. Connect 1 new alligator clip to your tin foil bracelet and then to the EARTH part of the Makey Makey board.
10. Label your vegetables to match the computer keys and piano keys. See my note chart for more details.
11. Print off the note chart and practice away.
To view how the project turned out, watch the short video below.
Classroom Application:Through the process students should think about how they created circuits. What tools are needed? What disrupts a circuit? What materials are conductive and what is not? The Next Generation Science Standard I would connect to this activity would be 3-5-ETS1-1. Define a simple design problem reflecting a need or a want that includes specified criteria for success and constraints on materials, time, or cost.
I would also use this activity as a way to teach my students to have a growth mindset. There is a lot of trial and error that went into producing this project. It is important for students to gain a growth mindset through using the Engineering Design Process.
Multi-Modal Advantages: By incorporating pictures, links, and videos into my post, the process of creating a Makey Makey keyboard is more easily understood. The pictures along with the descriptions help to make this project recreatable. Visuals help to make step by step directions easy to follow by showing specific parts. The images can stand alone as directions. Images and videos help to bridge the gap between languages and make the instructions easily understood by the masses.
References for Inspiration
(n.d.). Retrieved March 26, 2017, from https://ericrosenbaum.github.io/MK-1/
Drum Kit. (n.d.). Retrieved March 26, 2017, from http://ronwinter.tv/drums.html
Scratch – Imagine, Program, Share. (n.d.). Retrieved March 26, 2017, from https://scratch.mit.edu/studios/223257/
Virtual MIDI Piano Keyboard. (n.d.). Retrieved March 26, 2017, from http://vmpk.sourceforge.net/
Music. (n.d.). Retrieved March 26, 2017, from http://makeymakey.com/gallery/?tag=music
Techy-Teacher 