Currently there are 3 kinds of pedals usable in keyboards..

- expressions pedals
- half damper pedals
- foot switches On/OFF

Just wondering who is using which pedals?

My perfect setup would be 2 of each and 4 foot switches, but there is no Keyboard/synth having so many connections... Tough i remember some roland keyboards where you could attach an organ pedal board and use those as switches.. and Korg these days has the EC5 with 5 switches, which is awesome, but i dont think Yamaha has anything like this.

I could create a midi unit that sends the signals over Midi to the instrument, but i highly doubt how efficient this could be on the likes of Tyros and Audya. From the Audya, i know there is barely any usefull midi stuff that i can program into the performances.

It would work however on the Kronos, and maybe on the PA3x, that seems much more programable with technical features then other arrangers..

Never mind, just found the Behringer FC1010.. and a video for Tyros... seems its working.





Does anyone know any other midi solutions like this one?

You can also use a 13 note MIDI pedalboard to do a bunch of control things as well as play notes.
I have a Roland PK-5.
Lee

I have never seen anyone PLAY, SING and use a multi pedal board like this without glitches in their playing style.........
correct me or show me if I'm wrong??

I use a 5-switch pedal board every night. Usually only use 3 of the switches at most though. I always use two, one for vh on/off and the other for break/fill. I also use a dedicated sustain pedal.
Plenty of glitches, but none I can blame on the pedals.

and thats the EC5 form Korg on a Korg arranger?

I have the EC5 on my Korg, too. Any glitches here are 'pilot error'.

Show me someone playing by hand alone that never gets something wrong... LOL

I use an FC-7, mostly for Variation and Fill selection, never have to stop playing to get one, and never get it wrong. No offense, Donny, but any organ player is expected to run at LEAST 12 (usually 17-24) 'switches' (you can call them notes!) without mistake, to do the bassline.

Just because YOU can't do it, don't mean it can't be done!

and that's with singing Diki as I stated? Big difference..

and Don if you only need 3 pedals get a few boss FS5u and link them together posted? Thats korg fs5 is so light it moves all over.

I actually love the EC5. Perfect for what I do. Easy to fix it where it doesn't slide!
Also I have the option of using it for the Chord Sequencer when I want.

What ever works for your needs Don ....you been at the game long enough...enjoy!

Plenty of singing organists... I sing in my show. What has your voice got anything to do with your feet? LOL

You need to stop looking for roadblocks to why you CAN'T do something, Donny, and maybe TRY some of these things you keep saying can't be done!

I use a Roland sustain pedal (the one with the rubber heel flap) assigned for sustain and a Yamaha FC7 Volume pedal which is assigned to affect the three Right Hand voices only.

I learned how to use the sustain pedal with my left foot, so I can use the right foot on volume...I'm used to using right foot from back in the Yamaha/Hammond organ days.

Everything else is triggered by hand, registration changes, style fills/variations, SA control, turning style parts on/off etc.

Ian

I always dread having to make a choice... Do I play the correct chord, at the correct time, or do I trigger the fill and Variation change, at the correct time..?

It's amazing how often they are the same time!

Watch many people's arranger demos, and you'll often hear most flubs (if they make any!) when trying to make that choice. Generally, turnarounds and section ends are when there are MORE chords than at any other time. Bad news is, this is exactly when you are also changing Variations, hitting fills, changing OTS and a bunch of other stuff too.

When doing most of that is as simple as tapping a button at your feet, why would anyone WANT to take their hands off the keyboard?

If you can work a sustain pedal (Donny has often posted he finds this tough, too!), you can work a few footswitches, and let your hands do what they are SUPPOSED to be doing...

Playing!

lol I can do it and have done so many, many, times on stage thru the years with many pedals.. ...but I just dont like using them anymore and that is my comfort zone and my choice at this time,......does it effect my playing or singing not in the least. Do I see many players looking down at their feet while playing on stage to make sure they hit the right pedal while they are singing ? yes..

Plenty looking at their hands too...

I can't even SEE my pedals when I'm playing! As long as you make sure they don't slip and slide, you are good to go.

I don't think Donny is talking about not being able to play and sing at the same time. Most of us can do that.

A friend, years ago, said to me you can't be a great vocalist and a great keyboard player (and working pedals too) "at the same time." I puzzled over that for years, and finally I realized what he meant. He meant you can't be a "GREAT" vocalist and a "GREAT" keyboard player "at the same time."

You pick one and go with it. When I'm playing just music I can improvise great arrangements. But when I'm singing and need to stylize the song rather than just sing words, my "great arrangements" go to the bottom of the deck.

One either plays good background while spitting out the words to a song, or you sing like Josh Groban and bang out chords and a few fills behind yourself.

Mark

Actually, that has never been an issue, which is why I have never used a pedal for that function (fills etc.).

However, pitch bends are another matter, which is where a chord sequencer might come in handy for some situations.

But, since I don't have one, and never had one in a very long time (so I don't really miss one) I can make do pretty good all the same.

Yamaha's SA/SA2 voices, especially wind, like sax and clarinet, and some string sounds, are easily given bends, scoops and other expression by playing technique, not the SA buttons, although one can still use them if they wish. Having both is a nice option.

Also, the Tyros4's aftertouch can be assigned to various expressions per voice, which is also very handy.

The Tyros4 seems to have a mellower sound (which I like) than the T5, but still more detail than the Tyros3, so I'm very happy with the instrument I have...nothing from any other manufacturer, other than the Casio PX-5S synth/piano I mentioned on another thread, interests me in the slightest.

In any case, you seem to be happy with your pedal setup, and, of course, the one that is better, is the one that works best for the individual...mine works best for me. If it didn't, I'd have no problem in changing it.

But, thanks for the suggestions, nonetheless.

Ian

Hi - when using the pedalboards with many switches (such as the Behringer mentioned in this thread, or the Yamaha MFC10, I have a question. If using the "Function" to edit the foot controllers, you can (for each of the 3 footswitches you can plug in) controller what function it does, AND whether that function applies to L, R1, R2, and/or R3 in any combination.

I do this for my sustain pedal - for example, if I have a Piano sound in L and a sax in R1, I'll set it to have the Sustain pedal (#1 in my case) affect L but not affect R1. This can
be memorized into a Registration too.

Can this same thing be done with the bigger MIDI-based footswitches such as Yamaha MFC10 or the big Behringer? I can't see on the programming page where you could have a footswitch on one of these affect (or not affect) L, R1/2/3 separately.

I was thinking of replacing my 3 separate pedals (plugged into pedal inputs 1, 2 and 3) with say a Yamaha MFC10. However, then I may not be able to set one of its switches to Sustain AND have it affect only the part(s) (L/R1/R2/R3) that I want.

the video in the 2nd post explains how ...

Hi - yes, I'm sure the video does explain, but since I don't speak German it was hard to glean that info! :-) I can see on the video that the setup screen shows "Controllers" (CC) such as Volume, and that they can be assigned parts. However, I want to assign a Footswitch to specific parts (such as sustaining only R1, or having DSP Variation, on a different pedal turn "on" only for Part R3).

(I do this so Sustain only affects voices that should sustain such as guitars, tuned percussion, guitars) and so that DSP Variation only affects a voice in which I have an Organ Flute (to turn the "Leslie" fast to slow etc.)

Still looks like the settings page for the MIDI foot controller such as MFC10, does not have a place to program "which Parts is affected" for footswitches; only for continuous controller pedals. . . ???

Jim

Oh, didnt notice it was German... i speak way to many languages to notice they are different.

Actually it works quite simple, you assign the pedal to a midi note... the pedal sends midi on and off messages for that note on the assigned cahnnel.
Then in the Tyros midi interface you can assign all special functions you just mentioned and a lot more to the specific notes..
There is a listing of assignable commands in your Tyros manual..

Good grief! How many great singer keyboard players do you need to forget about before this makes any sense?

Elton John
Nat King Cole
Dianna Krall
Harry Connick Junior

Just off the top of my head (three pedals under a piano!)

I have never read such BS in all my life.

There is a reason pianos have 3 pedals
There is a reaason organs have a pedal board and an expression pedal

There is a reason people playing keyboards want more pedals as they play piano, organ all kinds of instruments, sing, controll their arranger, controll their vocal harmony and all at the same time, while their hands are bound to the keys....

Elton John only played piano and sung.... And he was great at that.... He also had a whole orchestra and some sound engineers to help him out with that, an OMB is just alone, not even a roady to accompany him...

Sorry, just wanted to see how that would look!

Looks pretty good to me, Don. Wouldn't mind being on that billboard myself!

A singing organist runs up to 24 'switches' at his feet while he plays the two manuals, runs a swell pedal, then changes registrations, switches Leslie and Cho/Vib effects in and out, fast and slow with his hands.

Don't make me look them up for you, I'm done pandering to your laziness..!

All you are saying is YOU can't do it, not that it can't be done.