Which make/model pedals (specifically for M50)?

[evergreenthompson]

What make and model of pedal(s) are people using for their Korgs? (M50 in particular, but I'm making the admittedly big assumption Korg wires the pedal ports with the same polarity across product lines.)

GC's keyboard dude sold me a Roland DP-10, but it works backwards. Once pressed, you have to constantly press it to keep from sustaining the notes. Oh, now that feels natural.

What I'm looking for is a good pedal that supports half-damper, has the correct polarity for a Korg, and is powered only by the keyboard.

I'd just go with Korg pedals, but GC doesn't sell any but the PS-1.

Thanks for your help!

Update: Korg pedals use a normally OPEN switch.

 

[kanthos]

The M50 doesn't have a way to explicitly reverse the polarity? I don't have the manual handy (and don't want to redownload it; yes, I read through the manuals of the keyboards I'm considering purchasing), but I'd be surprised if there wasn't a setting for that on the global page. Either that, or turn the keyboard off and on again; some keyboards are able to detect the polarity and compensate accordingly if the pedal is plugged in when the keyboard is powered up.

 

[fbieler47]

It's in the global settings for keyboard polarity

 

[evergreenthompson]

Good grief, someone just slap me. I was positive I had seen it in the global settings somewhere during an in-store test drive, but for some reason couldn't find it again. In my defense, weak as it is, I would have found it had Korg included these settings in the OM, instead of or in addition to the PG.

Hey kanthos, I thought I was the only one who collected manuals before buying? I still have my collection of 16!

 

[kanthos]

Not trying to collect, necessarily, but I have a fairly specific and complicated set of necessary MIDI capabilities to accomplish what I want, and the only way I could figure out if all of them were doable was to poke through the manual.

 

[evergreenthompson]

Well, I've got the correct polarity set for my Roland DP-10 pedal. However, I don't think half-damping works properly with this pedal. (Yes, I've run the calibration and made sure the switch on the pedal is set to continuous.) Partial pressure on the DP-10 yields the same sustain effect as fully pressing it down.

If I understand correctly, partially pressing the pedal should yield a short sustain, and the more the pedal is pressed down the longer the sustain. Fully pressing the pedal should yield a full-length sustain. Correct?

 

[kanthos]

Not sure what half-damping is supposed to actually do, but it's probably something that is implemented differently by manufacturer and requires that manufacturer's pedal to work properly. As far as I know, there's no MIDI standard for half-damping.

 

[evergreenthompson]

This web page explains half damper better than I can, along with related MIDI information.

 

[kanthos]

Thanks; never bothered looking it up since I already have a sustain pedal in my setup and can't handle two at once (plus an expression pedal for organ swell, switch pedal for rotor speed on the leslie, another switch pedal for program changes, and if I really needed it, a small pedalboard for controlling my guitar effects unit). There's only so much space at my feet!

 

[evergreenthompson]

Well, folks, I cannot recommend the Roland DP-10 as a half-damping pedal for the M50.

Today I brought my pedal in to the nearest GC for a different make/model. They didn't have one available, but the assistant manager offered to try finding a solution with the current pedal. After some fiddling, he tried adjusting the undocumented (in the pedal's owner's manual) hex-keyed round thingy on the top. Turns out that is the pressure resist adjust. He was able to increase the half-damping range (distance-wise) slightly, but nowhere near enough to make half-damping feasible with this pedal. If you press down beyond maybe 1/4" you get full-damping.

He's going to check with Korg to see what they have to suggest. But at this point, I am assuming I'll be returning the pedal to GC and tracking down a Korg pedal from an online source.

 

[jpscoey]

For the benefit of anyone who has not read the above link (which, I would suggest, assumes
some prior knowledge of acoustic pianos) I'll try to put this into a nutshell as best I can.

The dampers on an acoustic piano are soft felt 'pads' which are pressed against the strings by springs.
The heavy gague - and longer - bass strings require a greater spring pressure to damp them
than the shorter, lighter gague, treble strings.
It is the transition from heavy to light springs that contribute to the 'graduated' weight on a
piano keyboard from heavy to light touch the higher up the register you play - paired with the
much bigger hammers in the bass end, compared to those in the treble.
Indeed there are no dampers at all in the very highest couple of octaves.

The damper pedal mechanism is really quite simple - you press down the pedal & a 'push-rod' system
lifts the dampers from the strings so that they can 'ring', and therefore sustain.

If you were to slowly release the pedal, whilst the notes are sustaining, the dampers reach a point
where they are touching, but not fully damping, the strings.
This results in a sort of 'muted' half-way house - the strings are neither ringing freely, nor fully muted (damped).

It is at this point you have your 'half-damping'.

If you don't own an acoustic piano, try this out in your local store & you will see what I mean.
It's not dissimilar to a guitarist resting the ball of his 'plucking' hand on the strings, near the bridge,
whilst playing.

In both cases the result is a 'dulled' but still very audible sound.

I hope this makes it a little clearer?