Turn Your Shoes Into A MIDI Controller: BeatSneaks

While your shoes may get old and worn, the idea behind transforming your footwear into a musical instrument just doesn’t. Thobson, on Instructables, shows how he makes musical MIDI shoes or as he calls them, BeatSneaks, using an Arduino.

Regular readers of Ask.Audio are likely familiar with the concept of turning things into MIDI controllers like a Toy Piano and gloves. And 2015 saw more of us creating non-keyboard based alternative musical MIDI controllers too. So, why not shoes? Most of us tap our feet in rhythm to a song, so why not turn that movement into sound!

Is a shoe? Is a MIDI controller? No, it's a BeatSneaker!

Back in 2009, Thobson created his own MIDI shoes and decided to share how he did so with the world. If you have some spare time and the following materials to hand, you can follow suit:

• 4 Force Sensitive Resistors
• 1 Pair of Shoes (obviously, though sandals and slippers will probably work just as well ;)
• 4-6 10Kohm Resistors
• 1 Arduino
• 1 Project Box
• 8-10 1/8" Mono/Stereo Jacks
• 4-6 1/8" Mono/Stereo Cables
• 1 USB Cable
• 1 Roll of Electrical Tape
• Mad Foot-tapping Skills (recommended!)

Check out this video of the original BeatSneaks in action:

[Via: http://duino4projects.com/musical-midi-shoes-using-arduino/]

Find out how to make these over at Instructables here.