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Students build a simple electronic drum kit. Students work in groups of two or three to make the drum pads, build the circuit, and write the Arduino program for their project.
Software, Mac: Arduino, Ardrumo, Java 6
Software, PC: Arduino, Hairless MIDI/Serial Bridge, loopMIDI, and LMMS (a music software similar to GarageBand)
Soldering Iron
Wire Strippers
Arduino Uno
Microcontrollers
Piezo Sensors
Electronic Components
This project is based on this “Midi Arduino Drums” tutorial from Instructables with modifications by Michelle Kornberg, MIT 2020. The project was tested with high school seniors and college freshmen, most with some background in Java or in C++, some with circuitry experience. They completed the project in 16 total hours of work, so 4 hours have been added to the time estimate above to account for difference in age and experience.
Have a question or want to share your Makes with us? Contact us!
k12maker@mit.edu
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We help educators integrate Maker/STEAM projects into regular academic classes, making their curriculum more engaging, promoting "21st-century" durable skills, and fostering literacy in creative technologies used by professionals.
