December 10, 2019 

 
 
Madelyn Pemberton 
Technological Applications in Music 
JMU Music Education ‘23 

 
C
​ hristmas Adventures  
On The 
The Stranger Express 

Designer: Madelyn Pemberton 

Technologies Used:  
● Makey-Makey- used to connect my project to the actual musical sound(s) coming from
my project.
● https://scratch.mit.edu​ (coding platform)- holds the codes and patterns used for importing
the sound to the Makey-Makey device
● www.soundtrap.com/​- used to create additional sounds and melodies that will be used

Learning Goal: ​MU:Re7.2.T.IIIa Demonstrate and justify how an analysis of the structural
characteristics, context, and technological and creative decisions, informs interest in and
response to the music.”
(​https://nafme.org/wp-content/files/2014/06/3-Core-Music-Standards-Technology-Strand1.pdf​)
 
 

 
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Assessment: T​ hrough this project, I will assess the participant(s) in their ability to
understand and create music/musical sounds in a fun, creative, and enjoyable way. He/she will
stand in front of the project and touch the different metal “knobs” that will trigger a sound or
melody from the Makey-Makey connection. Afterwards, they will take a “survey rubric” in which
they will test themselves honestly in their personal responses to the experience. 

Project Overview: ​He/she will stand in front of the project and touch the different metal 
“knobs” that will trigger a sound or melody from the Makey-Makey connection. There will be a 
few melodies, the Stranger Things theme, the Polar Express theme, and a couple of traditional 
Christmas songs (jingle bells, All I want For Christmas Is You, etc.). There will also be some 
singular sounds, some abstract (trumpet, drumset, bubbles, bell). The participant can play 
around with the different sounds and create new sounds and/or remixes from combining the 
melodies with the singular sounds. There will be no specific notation on this- only 
painted/drawn pictures that are related to the main themes. Examples include painted bubbles, 
Stranger Things and Polar Express designs/fonts, the instruments creating the singular sounds, 
and some Christmas-themed pictures, since the project is due in December. I feel that this is a 
fun way for someone who doesn’t have a basic understanding of music to play around with 
different sounds and melodies and to add to them to explore their own creativity. Its auditory 
and visually inviting. My goal is for a participant to just have fun playing and exploring with a 
new tool to create interesting music.   

 
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Details 
For this project, I incorporated my favorite holiday with my favorite Netflix show, Stranger 
Things. I hand-painted the demogorgon sitting on top of the Polar Express Train and added a 
few Christmas scenes on the sides of the board (Christmas tree, present, snowman, etc.). Along 
with the Polar Express theme song and the Stranger Things theme song, I also recorded Frosty 
The Snowman and Jingle Bells. To record and write these sounds, I used 
https://scratch.mit.edu/​ and ​https://www.soundtrap.com​. T
​ o actually feed these sounds 
through the project, I taped bath bomb tins to the board and with different colored alligator 
cables and a Makey-Makey device, I connected the tins to the computer. When a participant 
touches the tins, a song will play. The Makey-Makey device is shown below. Enjoy the 
experience!  

 
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Participant 1 2 3 4 5
Responses

The
participant
enjoyed
taking part in
this
experience

The
participant
felt like they
learned how
to create
music in a
fun and
creative way

The
participant
felt that the
project met
the original
goals and
plans

The
participant
would
recommend
to other
students to
try out