Music MaKey MaKey Ideas

From Eric Rosenbaum:

* I built a working proof-of-concept prototype on a breadboard. it uses a teensy++, which has MIDI HID functionality and is arduino compatible. I was able to port the makey makey code to it, and use it to send MIDI instead of keystrokes. pretty sweet. I'm pretty sure it can easily switch between MIDI and keyboard/mouse- good idea!  

* I started sketching what I would want the front of the board to look like- just a piano layout, with pairs of holes for alligator clips like makey makey. (I also started adding a drum set, but not sure about that yet). I've attached a png of it. actually I'm also attaching an ai file in case you want to play around with it. 

* my idea for the next step is to use the vinyl cutter to make a copper foil circuit of the whole thing- I'll add pads for resistors, and a sort of socket for the teensy. Then I think I can make a laser cut base to adhere it to, out of wood maybe, including the various holes for the teensy and clips. one challenge will be that the through-holes will be un-plated so it might not make a good connection to the alligator clip. so I think I'll try leaving flaps inside each that can fold down into the hole. 

* of course there's a lot more to consider for the design... what about analog inputs? like you mentioned there could be built in knobs and sliders- but what if you could make your own analog sensors as well? the problem is calibrating them, so the system knows the range you're using. but maybe we could invent a system for this (not an easy design problem I think). It would probably be a capacitance sensing thing but I'm not sure.

AI file for Piano Keyboard
Teensy++ Projects & Sample Code (including MIDI)