Touch My Piano

Touch-sensitive pocket piano

Touch My Piano turns your touches into tones! It runs for hundreds of hours on a coin cell, turning your every stroke into weird bleepy bloops that are almost like music!

To use Touch My Piano, flip the power switch and hold the board by the pad in the top left. Touch the keys using a finger on your other hand. BLEEEEEEP!

To produce glorious noise, try these goofy shenanigans:

  • Lick your finger before touching the keys

  • Press down hard to bend the note

  • Touch a key through a capacitor, banana, or ice cube

  • Hold hands with a friend, and have them touch the keys

You can also solder wires to the pads to break out the keys! Add tinfoil or banana slices and turn anything into an obnoxious synthesizer!

Assembly is simple:

  1. Gather the resistors and capacitors specified on the schematic. Using the schematic as reference, solder them in place. Don't substitute for these - use the values on the schematic or your Piano might not work!

  2. Solder an NE555 onto its footprint. Note that this must be an NE555 and not the more common LS555 or KA555.

  3. Buy a 12mm piezo buzzer, 20mm lithium coin cell holder, and SPST switch from Sparkfun. Solder the buzzer and switch into place.

  4. Apply little mounds of solder directly onto the three pads of the coin cell holder's footprint.

  5. Hold the battery holder in place with tweezers, and apply heat to one leg until it melts into place. Repeat for the other leg.

  6. Install a blue LED in place. The LED must be blue. Using a different color may damage your battery.

  7. Install a 2032 lithium coin cell.

  8. Start a rock band and explore outer space.

This project was designed by Zack Freedman, professional hardware prototype designer at Voidstar Lab. If you have an awesome idea that you want made, give him a shout! His sites are zackfreedman.com and voidstarlab.com.

Touch My Piano is based on Drawdio open hardware by Jay Silver. Support him by buying a Drawdio!