Music in STEM Projects (banana piano, and more)

Music in STEM Projects (banana piano, and more)

About MakeyMakey Kit

Makey Makey is a small electronic kit that allows you to take everyday objects and combine them with the computer/internet (using the alligator clips attached to any conductive material).

The MakeyMakey kit contains a USB cable and a circuit board (programmed to replace a standard computer keyboard) with alligator clips attached to it.

Makey Makey has been used in thousands of fun electronics projects at home or in the classroom. Kids can use these kit to create digital pianos out of bananas, and other fruits.

Makey Makey Project – Hand Drawn Piano

here’s how to build a pencil piano with a Makey Makey.

Step 1 – Draw your keys or pads on your paper making sure that all of you pencil strokes are touching (continuous). Make sure that each key drawing is separate and not touching each other.

Step 2 – Connect your alligator clips up to each key or pad that you’ve drawn. You can connect/draw as many or as few as you like. Then connect this alligator clips to the input pads on your Makey Makey

Step 3 – Connect a ground alligator clip to the Makey Makey, and hold the other end while you play your own unique instrument!

MIT students’ kit turns bananas into digital piano keyboard

MIT students develop kit that can turn fruit, animals (and even humans) into keyboards/touchpads.

What you need
Here’s what you need to make your own piano:

• MaKey MaKey (including Mini-B USB Cable)
• Six bananas
• Alligator clips
• Computer

MakeyMakey Video Demo

How to Make
Here’s who to make the various connections:

• Connect MaKey MaKey to your computer using USB cable. Plug the small side of USB cable into MaKey MaKey and the big side into your computer. (If your computer asks you to install the drivers, simply click cancel or close the window.)
• Open this link on your browser http://makeymakey.com/piano/ to access a piano keyboard designed specifically for MaKey MaKey. Click on it and play using your computer keyboard’s arrows, space and click.
• Connect to Earth. Now you can connect one end of an alligator clip to the bottom of MaKey MaKey which is marked as “Earth”.
• Connect to Yourself. Then you hold the other end of the alligator clip (the metal part) between your fingers, and now you become “grounded”.
• Connect MaKey MaKey to bananas. If you want bananas become your piano keys you simply connect them to your MaKey MaKey with the help of alligator clips. On the front side of MaKey MaKey you find four arrows, space and click. Connect each of them to a banana. Now you can play a melody with your banana piano.

Students in Kazakhstan make BANANA piano for technology festival

Bananas are known for their health benefits but these students have turned the popular yellow fruit into a piano keyboard.

Checkout this ingenious musical instrument: the banana piano, which was on display at the “Go Creative!” technology festival in Almaty, the largest city in Kazakhstan.

The bananas were placed in a row and connected to electronic components that were plugged into a computer. It shows certian fruits & vegetables are capable of conducting electricity.

UAE students invent music for the deaf as part of science project

UAE students invent music for the blind and the deaf as part of Think Science science exhibition.

These students believe that everyone should have access to music, no matter what your level of hearing is.

Of the several projects displayed at the science fair, a couple of them were on music:

1. There was a piano with Braille letters for the visually impaired.
2. There was also a small stage where the deaf could feel the vibrations of a guitar’s strings.

“We wanted to help the people who can’t see or hear. They should be able to listen to and feel music like everyone else does. Each of the guitar’s strings has a different vibration and sound, so they’ll be able to feel the music and different patterns,” 17 year old Hammadi.

Man plays music on ‘melon piano’

Check out this video where a musician play a keyboard made of watermelon and muskmelon slices with wires attached. In the caption, he reveals that he’s using Playtronica, a device which turns any surface interactive, so that people can play music on it, according to the company’s official website.

https://twitter.com/mezerg_/status/1301226530983550985

KeytarHQ Editorial Team

KeytarHQ editorial team includes musicians who write and review products for pianists, keyboardists, guitarists & other musicians. KeytarHQ is the best online resource for information on keyboards, pianos, synths, keytars, guitars and music gear for musicians of all abilities, ages and interests.