Expression Pedal Problems

edited February 2013 in General Questions
I am sending this out just in case this topic has never been brought up. My apologies if it has. I did mention this a few years ago and no one seemed to have a solution or offer one. It has really nothing to do with Samplemodeling instruments per se, but when fixed, it makes them sound more expressive.



Since i bought a Yamaha expression pedal and the CME88 midi keyboard 6-7 years ago, i could never figure out why i was only getting expression values between about 70 and 127 (should be 0-127!!) After a while, instead of returning the pedal, i figured out how to do the same thing with a midi slider on my keyboard but then i had to put the modulation in after the fact. Or i just drew in the expression values with my mouse, again, after the fact - no fun!



Turns out there are no wiring standards for expression pedals (unless that has changed in the last few years)



So, depending on what keyboard and what pedal you have you could luck out or NOT (as in my case) So, there was nothing wrong with the Yamaha pedal or the CME keyboard - just a matter of coordinating the correct wiring.



Solution: Simply changing the wiring in the stereo plug or inside the pedal itself will solve the problem (switching the white and red wires for example in the Yamaha pedal - the non- grounding wires) Now the expression values with my pedal are 0-127 which is great. I am assuming most of you have done basic soldering being in the music and sound business?



I also adjusted the pedal (slider on the bottom of the pedal) so that it forces your foot to push forward and sort of down (as opposed to just forward and back) This way i tend to get lower midi values more rather than higher ones for expression. For me this means better and wider dynamics.



BTW - the upgrade to the soprano sax sounds great!



Hope this helps!



Del

Comments

  • Hi Del,



    the expression pedal must be of the linear type.



    Some pedals offer a switch, rather than a soldering option. Anyway, what needs to be checked is whether one gets a linear response over the 0 - 127 range. This is what is really needed.



    Glad you could finally come out.



    Giorgio
  • edited 1:47AM
    Thanks for the info Giorgio - Now i really like my Yamaha pedal as the response is so much better than what i was using on my keyboard - smoother with no glitches - so i am assuming it is linear as it works great.



    Sounds like at least some of the smarter pedal companies have addressed this issue with a switch.



    Del

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