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How important is half pedaling?


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Did my first solo gig this morning on my new (to me) SV1. Having had the Kronos for so long and a Stage 2 before that - I am soooo used to half pedaling! Was strange playing some stuff that would usually be smooth (lazy technique or using the available tech?)

 

I really miss it on the SV1! My fault for presuming it would have that feature, but it was a good price in the current climate. I like the RH3 and I needed something in a hurry (it"s the special red/black keys version which obviously sold me haha)

 

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SV-1 supports half-pedaling. Maybe your pedal is not compatible. It at least works with the original Korg DS-2H damper pedal that came with the SV-1.

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I agree that half-pedaling goes a long way to creating that subtle illusion that you're playing a giant resonating block of wood and metal, instead of triggering a lot of individual samples. I feel like the quality of the notes themselves are for the audience, but those idiosyncratic details of the instrument are for the player (which, ultimately, makes it for the audience too, of course).

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Yes half-pedaling is supported by the SV1. I really saw how nice it is when my DS-2H pedal got broken, and I had to replace it by a standard pedal without half-pedaling (at the time when I wanted to buy a new DS-2H pedal, it was out of stock :-( ). I could finally find a new one and I was very happy to being able to control the sustain with half-pedaling. Definitely nice feeling for the player, but as Samuel mentions, I don't think the audience cares so much about it ;-)
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Thanks, guys.

 

Using the original DS-2H pedal... maybe it"s just not working properly. It"s physically quite noisy.

Tried a Yammy one and 2x Korg Ds-1H pedals and they didn"t work at all.

 

And, shame on me for another assumption... that all half-damping pedals are TRS!

 

Korg Italy and Japan/US could"ve sent an email one day to make their own DS-1H compatible with all...

 

Minor niggle, but pleased to have some work after all these months!

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Years ago a thread here, live players could care less about half pedaling and were more about reliability,

sticking to on/off pedaling, while I couldn't think of playing without it, at least with a hammer action board.

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Thanks, guys.

 

Using the original DS-2H pedal... maybe it"s just not working properly. It"s physically quite noisy.

Tried a Yammy one and 2x Korg Ds-1H pedals and they didn"t work at all.

 

And, shame on me for another assumption... that all half-damping pedals are TRS!

 

Korg Italy and Japan/US could"ve sent an email one day to make their own DS-1H compatible with all...

 

Minor niggle, but pleased to have some work after all these months!

 

Yes the DS-2H can stop working properly after a certain time, it happened to me ;-) And the DS-1H is not compatible with the SV1 due to the type of potentiometer which is used inside. But you can modify it to make it compatible with the SV1. If you are willing to do it yourself, you can go to the Korg Forum, somebody posted a link to a website where it is shown in detail how to do it ;-).

 

I can confirm the DS-1H is much better than the DS-2H: it is more heavy and doesn't slide on the ground. I have one which I'm using with my Vox Continental unit. And now, I will also be able to use it with the SV2, as Korg made them compatible ;-)!!!!

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Depends on context. If alone and hacking my way through Chopin then half pedaling is important. If playing CeeLo Green"s 'F*** You" at 110 dB under the lights then it don"t matter. None of it matters ð

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The only keyboard I've experimented with half-pedaling on is my PX560. It acts nothing like a piano's damper pedal.

 

On a piano, most of the range of the pedal does nothing--you have to feel for the spot where the dampers start to touch the strings and then use a careful touch. I remember finding that kind of frustrating when I first learned how. So for all I know maybe I'd prefer the PX560's implementation if I took the time to get used to it. As it is, I said "huh, that's weird", and dropped it.

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What is happening with the sound engines when they see this data? How is the "half-pedaling sound" recreated? Filter and amp envelopes that close faster, or actual samples of half-pedaled notes? E.g., you play a note with the damper fully down then slowly release it; what happens? As opposed to triggering a note with the pedal already halfway down? Seems to me there would need to be some pretty sophisticated scripting going on for this to be authentic to a real acoustic piano's response. I'm sure you can tell I've never played a DP or software piano with this feature!
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I've been playing pianos on Kurz/Nord/VSTs that support half pedal, and I can feel it immediately when I play a VST or an instrument that doesn't support it. I'm not at all sure than anyone but me notices it, but I certainly do.

You want me to start this song too slow or too fast?

 

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Depends on context. If alone and hacking my way through Chopin then half pedaling is important. If playing CeeLo Green"s 'F*** You" at 110 dB under the lights then it don"t matter. None of it matters ð

 

 

Exactly!

 

It's also possible that some keyboardists haven't really played enough piano literature that require half pedal on an acoustic piano. That's how one really develops solid pedaling techniques.

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I personally think the more important aspect is re-pedaling, which behaves differently from simple on/off. The percentage of on/off may have some subtle effect but it is momentary (who can hold their foot in a precise position once they find the magic spot?). Still, it is nice to have it so that re-pedaling is easier.

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I have it with a Yamaha FC-4 pedal on my S90ES. It works quite well, it is a neat effect for realism when playing solo. Less noticeable with a singer or sax player. Not noticeable in band context. Like string resonance it"s a subtle thing.

 

 

I thought it was the Yamaha FC-3A that did the half pedaling?

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Yes Bobby. The FC3 and FC3A are the continuous pedals. .... you can tell the the old FC3 by the larger square housing. The 4 are on or off.

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Essential. I bought the half-pedal-capable FC3A for my Motif XF8 after using a on/off M-Audio sustain pedal for years with another keyboard. It makes everything one step closer to a real piano, and I also am fairly active with pedaling, so I really notice if I have to play something without it. Fun fact...it's not just helpful for piano sounds, but for layered combinations with pads and such it really helps cut down on the polyphony usage without constantly turning the full sustain on and off. It is also really useful if I have a bass layered with something. Most acoustic instruments have a slight "resonance" trail and aren't instantly off, so for me half-pedaling is an important part of getting the most expressiveness out of my keyboard.

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Yes the DS-2H can stop working properly after a certain time, it happened to me ;-) And the DS-1H is not compatible with the SV1 due to the type of potentiometer which is used inside. But you can modify it to make it compatible with the SV1. If you are willing to do it yourself, you can go to the Korg Forum, somebody posted a link to a website where it is shown in detail how to do it ;-).

 

I can confirm the DS-1H is much better than the DS-2H: it is more heavy and doesn't slide on the ground. I have one which I'm using with my Vox Continental unit. And now, I will also be able to use it with the SV2, as Korg made them compatible ;-)!!!!

 

Thank you for the pointer to that thread :-) I have three DS-1Hs as I agree, they"re really nice. I"ll try the mod on one of them!

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Did my first solo gig this morning

Don't mean to derail the thread, but, what kind of gigs do you get these days? I happen to have two funerals this week, but otherwise it's still pretty much "dead" for as long as I can see over here.

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