Musical Painting Canvas With Makey Makey

Hi, in this Instructable we will learn how to make a Musical Painting Canvas, that is, a different song sounds every time we color with a brush of each color. This is very fun and works to encourage painting in young children or also to give a special character to each tone of the work.

Step 1: Materials

• Tape of any kind, I used electrical tape
• Four brushes
• Four paintings of different color
• Five thin and long cables (1.5 m)
• Six cayman-type cables - alligator
• Paper sheet
• Small towel
• A Makey Makey
• Scissors

Step 2: Strip Cables

Peel the ends of the 5 thin cables, for this an alligator-alligator cable is used as shown in the photos.

Step 3: Wiring the Brushes

In order for the brushes to work with the Makey Makey, we must connect them to one end of each thin wire. Insert one end of the cable into the tip of the brush and then secure it with tape. We repeat the process with the 4 brushes.

Step 4: Connect the Alligator -alligator Cables

At the other ends of the thin wires, connect the 6 alligator - alligator cables and secure them with tape.

Step 5: Connections to the Makey Makey

Connect the 4 alligator - alligator cables of the brushes to the 4 arrows of the Makey Makey. Connect the remaining cable to the ground of the Makey Makey.

Step 6: Set Up the Workspace (for Children and Adults)

First, locate the sheet of paper on which you are going to paint, you can attach it with tape to the surface.

Then, locate the screen where you will see the videos and listen to the music (Tablet, cell phone, PC or TV) close to the canvas to paint.

Finally, connect the ground Makey Makey to the sheet of paper and connect the Makey Makey to the tablet, phone or PC.

Step 7: Wet the Sheet of Paper

For the project to work, you must wet the sheet of paper with water, for this we use a small towel.

Step 8: Install the App

I made an app in Unity for PC or Android, you must download and install the application on your device for the project to work.

Step 9: Paint and Enjoy

When we get to this step we can already paint on our canvas!

Every time we paint with a different brush it will change the song that sounds.

Note:

• The brush connected to the arrow pointing upwards should be yellow.
• The brush connected to the arrow pointing down must be blue.
• The brush connected to the arrow pointing to the left should be red.
• The brush connected to the arrow pointing to the right should be green.

I hope that you all enjoyed this Instructable! Thanks for reading and watching.

Iván.

Comments

[Cmoorcraft]

Hi,
very new to this work, followed the steps and downloaded the files, but Im not having any luck.
ive connected the Makey makey to PC.
Extracted the rar files and opened the musical painting canvas makey makey file and get the subesguent blotted paint screen but no response from the brush in paint on the watered paper. Am i running the wrong file?
Thanks

[i95sarmiento]

Hi, thanks! How strange, when you run the application, try pressing the arrow keys to verify that the problem is not on the PC side. If everything is correct on the PC side, try connecting the MakeyMakey cables directly between the ground and the arrows. If all is well, maybe you should soak the canvas more. Make sure the wire that connects to the brush and the MakeyMakey is touching the paint on the tip of the brush.

[kfugle]

This is a brilliant idea -- thanks for sharing! It is a great way for elementary art teachers to incorporate Makey Makey and to integrate STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, and math) into their existing curricula.

[i95sarmiento]

Thank you! Yes, it is also very easy to make it work using Makey Makey.

[kfugle]

We recently held a tech showcase event at my school, and I included your Musical Painting activity for attendees to try. It was a big hit! For the music, I created a simple project in Scratch https://scratch.mit.edu (Scratch and Makey Makey play well together). Here is the link: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/303991116/ Thanks again for this inspiring activity!

[i95sarmiento]

I'm very happy with your comment, kfugle! Inspiring through creativity is one of the best prizes I can receive!

[MakeyMakey]

Great stuff! We are sharing on our social channels! :D

[i95sarmiento]

Thank you Makey Makey! :D

[miranda_sarmi]

Me encanta ! muy buen trabajo :)

[i95sarmiento]

Gracias Miranda!