hack: adding keytar volume controls

Adding an effects pedal to your Keytar Invention Launchpad!

Introduction

Now that you’re jamming on your DIY keytar, it’s time to make it even more fun, and easier to control on stage! One way to do that is by adding volume control touchpads directly to the neck of your keytar. That way, you won’t need to step away from your performance just to adjust the volume.

In this hack, you'll add three foil touchpads: volume up, volume down, and mute. They’ll work just like the whammy pad hack from the zine. The pads will connect to the header pins on the back of the Makey Makey, and you’ll use our special remap app to learn a new trick: remapping the Makey Makey to trigger different keypresses than what it is programmed to do out of the box!

Hack Details

Time: 1 Hour

Difficulty: Medium

Adult Supervision: Minimal

Tool Requirements: Basic (Craft)

Modification Warning

This hack could permanently modify your Retro Joystick! Please keep that in mind as you work.

Tools and Materials

This hack requires some basic craft tools and supplies for you to be successful! You can find most of them at home or in a desk drawer. We do list a few materials that are available through the Makey Makey store in some of our other kits!

Required Tools

Scissors
Glue Stick
Ruler
Pencil

Required Materials

Completed Keytar
Cardboard (minimum size 12” x 8”)
Aluminum Foil
Brass paper fasteners (2)
Rubber Band
Conductive Fabric Tape
Tape or glue
Long alligator clips (2) ( From Get Up + Go Booster Kit )
Makey MAX Backpack
Effects Pedal Template

Plan Your Touchpads

First, decide what your touchpad shapes will look like. They could be:

An up arrow for volume up
A down arrow for volume down
An X or symbol for mute

Or you can use fun shapes like stars, planets, or geometric designs that match your keytar’s style.

Cut paper mock-ups of the shapes and test different placements on the neck of your keytar. Think about where your fingers naturally rest when you play, then place the touchpads where they’re easy to reach.

2: Cut Your Conductive Foil or Tape

Once you’ve finalized the shapes and positions, cut out the foil touchpads.

Make sure they’re not too small or too large (test with your fingers.)
Use a glue stick to coat the back of each foil shape
Stick them onto the neck of the keytar and press firmly

Pro Tip: You can use tape around the edges of the foil to keep them secure. Just make sure enough foil is exposed so your fingers can still make contact.

Punch Holes and Add Fasteners

Now you’ll add the brass fasteners that allow the jumper wires to connect to the foil pads.

Use a thumb tack, pencil, or screwdriver to punch a small hole through the neck of the keytar where each foil pad is placed

Push a brass fastener (brad) through each foil shape so it makes solid contact with the foil

Spread the fastener prongs out on the back of the neck to secure it in place

Connect the Jumper Wires

Take one end of a jumper wire and place it under each brass fastener on the back of the neck.

Secure it tightly under the prongs so the wire touches the fastener

The other end of the wire connects to a header pin on the Makey Makey

We’ll use the following pins:

MOUSE UP: Volume Up

MOUSE DOWN: Volume Down

RIGHT CLICK: Mute

Note: If you did the Whammy Pad hack already, you may already have a foil strip running up the back of the neck connected to EARTH. This can be reused to complete the circuit for each touchpad. Just be sure that your brass fasteners don’t overlap each other or the strip of tape connected to EARTH. If they do, lay down a layer of non-conductive tape to insulate between the fasteners and EARTH.

Remove your Makey Makey

To make your new touchpads control volume, you’ll need to remap the header pins using the Makey Makey remap app. While it is possible to do this with your Makey Makey still attached to the keytar, it is much easier to remove the Makey Makey, remap, and then reinstall/rewire your Makey Makey.

Unclip all of the alligator clips and unplug any white jumper wires. (You might want to label each wire with a strip of masking tape, or take a picture of the keytar that you can reference later.) Once you’ve disconnected everything from the Makey Makey, unscrew the plastic nuts that hold the board down. Be sure to put these somewhere safe where they won’t roll onto the floor or get lost. If you still have the bag they came in, that’s the best spot!

Remap the Makey Makey Inputs

After you’ve freed your Makey Makey, go to makeymakey.com/remap and follow the instructions to launch the remap app:

Disconnect your Makey Makey from your computer

Connect an alligator clip to LEFT and RIGHT

Connect an alligator clip to UP and DOWN

Reconnect your Makey Makey to your computer, and wait for it to confirm that you’ve entered remap-mode.

Disconnect your alligator clips.

Once you’re inside the app, you’ll use the Makey Makey to navigate around the menu.

Inside the app:

Navigate to MOUSE UP, press Enter

Scroll to VOLUME UP, press Enter to remap

Repeat for MOUSE DOWN/VOLUME DOWN, and RIGHT CLICK/MUTE

Save your remap

Test Your Volume Controls

Now reconnect your Makey Makey to your Keytar and reconnect all of your wires. Plug your Makey Makey into your computer and test your new controls:

Touch the “up” foil pad. Your volume should go up

Touch the “down” foil pad. Your volume should go down

Touch the “mute” pad Your sound should mute/unmute

If something’s not working, double-check:

Are the jumper wires making solid contact?

Is the foil peeling up? Try taping it down

Did the remap save correctly?

Keep Hacking!

Once your volume controls are working, think about other ways you could use the remap app to control additional features for your Keytar. With the Makey Makey, your keytar can do way more than just play notes.

You can also think of other ways to trigger keypresses. With the Whammy pad and these volume controls, we used foil shapes connected to jumper wires. Can you build a tactile button that can be pressed like the keys? A switch that can be flipped up and down? What other ways of triggering keypresses can you invent?