Hi all,

During my organ-playing days (Yamaha Electones), the expression pedal (right leg)
was VERY important. It controls volume, fill-ins and program changes etc. Since switching to arrangers, I had a sustain foot controller only.

I am curious to know how often do you use the expression pedal for arrangers?
Specifically, how do you handle those do loud and soft sections in a song? Do
you use the expression pedal or internal controls?

Greetings Freestyle: A day without an expression pedal on your Technics, is like a day out of office for Bill Clinton, you don't really have total control, of volume and expression. Former Organ Players will yearn for one, when converting to Arranger
Keyboards. Lots of luck. ARJ

Kind of like when you get married. You have to find a different way to get what you want. Sort of crimps your style, so to speak. The longer you do things as a bachelor the more set in your ways you become. The more set in your ways you become the harder it is to break out of them. What happens? You quit? Divorce? OR..... You live with your old ways and make the best of it. (Tolerate it!) It works but never is it really great and will never be what it could be. OR....... You access what you have to work with, determine to use fully the positives of the new union and with a good deal of work and effort finally reward yourself with a new blissful and rewarding life. So it is with old organ players matching themselves up with a new high-tech keyboards. Come-on you guys, where is the thing I put my old number thirteen on to get this thing to come alive and give me some expression? I want my old swell pedal. For years it worked great and I thought it was swell. (Do I have to hold up a sign? Maybe just a giggle?) Anyway guys, set in your ways? Just like marriage, you got a new partner. She’s young and got a spirit of her own. Wild, and wants to go! She’s got everything in the right places and just looking for you to turn her on. Come on grandpa, touch me in the right places and we can make music together. I got touch control baby. I can get real, real sensitive if your set me up right. That’s right, play with me. Got something else! I like it and you will too. Don’t be afraid! Turn me on! Try my after touch, but watch out. You want to see some real expression? Play with it. Get me turned on and you will be too. See, when you get used to it, after touch is kind of like an after burner, gives things a real kick. Play with me my love and I’ll sing ‘Light my Fire’, like you never heard it before. Give me time and you will be so glad you traded in one number thirteen foot for ten very sensitive fingers. Use your feet to do what feet do. Carry you over to play with me. The fingers? Oh those sensitive fingers. Play me tender, play me hard. Play me soft and play me loud. I will respond and please the crowd.

FreeStyle, learn what’s inside, you wont regret it. Art, I like your Clinton stuff but former organ players can choose to be set in their ways and remain organ players, playing on an arranger keyboard, or with a little work, experimentation and a new mindset expand their horizons and become an orchestra with the ability to play and sound like every instrument in the band. Make your choice. We are free men living in a free country with the liberty to make free choices. I perceive an organ and an arranger keyboard as having the same ability and purpose: they make music for the enjoyment of people. Also a Buick and an Indy car. They both move people and are for the enjoyment of people. If an arranger keyboard is played like an organ in the area of expression, you will never achieve the full potential of expression built into the keyboard. So with the cars. If the Indy car is driven like the Buick the full expression of handling built into the Indy car will never be realized. Yet, people will still enjoy them.

These ideas have been tossed around many times on this forum. People being people will always differ in perception of values. Good? Bad? Don’t know but sure is good for verity. Look at it this way. What works for you, works for you.

Question: How do I tell if my playing is OK. People will say they like it because they do. People will say they like it because they are kind. People will say they like it because it sounds better than RAP. So what? I play because I like it. If others don’t like it they can go home. Just experiment. You just might like yourself more than you did before. Ruthie just tapped me on the shoulder and said let’s go to bed. Right now I like that the most so good night guys.

Grandpa Doug

Great expressions Grandpa! Art, thanks for your feedback too!

I agree, an open mind to learn and explore will always produce results beyond our expectations.

I'm gonna get hot with my 1400 tonight and have it sing Fly Me To The Moon - Tony Benett style!

FreeStyle,
I started out with the same mindset and used an expression pedal. I also have a set of Roland Midi Bass pedals that I use when I play the keyboard as a two manual organ.
The bottom line is that I now only use the expression pedal with the bass pedal/organ setup, and not when the keyboard is played as an arranger keyboard.
With the new organ voices of the KN7000, the keyboard sounds better than most full blown organs, which I use occaisonally for accompianment, ETC.
Otherwise, it's arranger all the way, and no expression pedal needed.
Regards,
Walt

I play a Roland G1000 and not a Technics..I have found the need to use an expression pedal a must..most of the time I use it to bring in a "color" sound.. for example, while playing a piano in the right hand, i can bring in a color sound, maybe organ,guitar , etc..The expression pedal also allows me to bring in left hand "color" sounds such as choir or strings when desired...You can also use an expression pedal to change or blend one sound to another...I think you can see why I say the expression pedal is a must...I think Technics has some of the same assignable features as the Roland..Is that correct?

I guess you're right Fran, but I don't know which features on the Roland you are referring to, cause I have none. But the KN7000 can assign both initial touch and expression pedal setting to each individual part. So you can "adjust" the color of your sound either by hand or foot.

You are overlooking an important use of the pedal...for expression. I use the panel memory setups for changing sounds, tempos, or anything that might be needed in a song, and using my pedal to move up or down through the panel memories to get the expression I desire. It's smooth and effortless, and I can add pressure to the keys to gain another type of expression. This machine is amazing!

Bud,

Expression pedal! Expression pedal is a pedal built sort of like like a teeter totter. Place your foot on it. When exerting pressure with the toe part of your foot the keyboard, either in total or in part, will increase and with the heal will decrease the volume. Can be adjusted under the window ‘Foot Controllers’. Under that same window you will see ‘Foot Switches’. There is provision for two single switches and technics has a four switcher that can be programed also. Six foot switches in total. Bud I think you are talking about the foot switches. I don’t know what Fran is referring to and I think Ad Rouw is scratching his head too. What we are talking about here is the Expression pedal, the pedal sometimes called on an organ the swell pedal. The pedal that makes the organ louder or softer. In other words, volume control for the organ, the only way to make an organ loud or softer. Just don’t want some poor guy wasting hours trying to find out how to change his panel memories with his expression pedal. Ruthie has a way of changing my expression, but we won’t go into that here.

Grandpa Doug

It's kinda like saying that the gas pedal in your car will no longer be on the floor. You now control the speed of your automobile by how hard you bang on the sterring wheel.
_______________
Larry Hawk