Help! FC4A pedal not working? on EZ300

[maverich40]

I plugged in my newly delivered foot pedal, and functions are set to SUSTAIN ON, and Foot Pedal #1 for Sustain only,
when I play Piano voices I can not detect any difference in sound what-so-ever? Also nothing on display indicates Sustain is in operation!

Feeling disappointed printed manual for EZ-300 doesn't really say much, and material that came with Pedal is rather lacking as well.

How do I know that this FC4A pedal is working properly? Plugged it in both with Keyboard off, and with it on, but does not seem to make any difference.

 

[happyrat1]

EZ-300? You're lucky if the piano samples are more than a couple of Kilobytes.

Pianos won't sustain because there's not enough memory for the sample to play any longer.

Ya gets what ya pays for.

Gary

 

[maverich40]

That statement is defeated by fact on the Casiotone, using their implementation of "Sustain", there is clearly a longer duration to notes!

So what would the point be of Yamaha saying FC4A is an accessory if it did absolutely nothing? Not logical. and it is clearly listed as an accessory to this model keyboard :: https://usa.yamaha.com/products/mus...ds/portable_keyboards/ez-300/accessories.html

What does appear to be happening is that CERTAIN voices apparently respond to the Sustain Pedal, while others do not
...or it is just too subtle for me to recognize it. MIDI-GRND appears to have a longer sustain with Pedal down, than up;
but difficult to detect with other Voices.

In terms of trouble-shooting, it might help to try the Articulation effect(s) and if those only operate while pedal is down, that
would prove it is responding... But Sustain on this yamaha is nothing like what you get from a Casiotone.

 

[happyrat1]

You asked a question and I gave you an answer. Not an argument

Gary

 

[maverich40]

It definitely looks like certain, specific Voices respond to the Sustain function! "CLAVI" definitely seems to be responding.

And the functions that can be applied to foot pedal do not include Articulation, which would have been nice!

Chalk it up to experience. Wonder if there's an explanation as to why only certain specific Voices are given Sustain feature?
Would have been nice to know these things up front.

Meanwhile plan was to try a little self-teaching and see where that gets us using Alfreds Adult Course Level 1... and youtube.

Was thinking those Flashcards might prove useful for beginners, since identifying notes on Clefs etc is essential, Alfred even sells his own Level 1, 2 and 3 cards! Probably a bit of overlap there as well.

For us its just a hobby... and something for our musical friends who visit to show off their latest skills!

 

[maverich40]

Discovery: Yamaha EZ-300 with FC4A pedal, bank of instruments starting at #333 appear to fully utilize Sustain function from pedal!

It only took a little experimentation to discover this...

Sustain shouldn't be any different than any other DSP-effect! It's all the same is it not?

And I have people telling me, it is not practical that every instrument have a "sustain function", still you would think the manual would cover these finer points rather then to leave beginners ignorant.

The research continues!

 

[happyrat1]

Look. If you want to sustain a weak voice, use reverb instead.

The problem with sustain is that it loops the final part of the note envelope.

But on your $100 tablehooter they cut corners on wave samples.

They probably recorded no more than a fraction of a second or possibly one full second on the piano voices.

My point is, you can't loop what's not there.

You could loop a steady tone but with a piano you have a sharp attack and minimal sustain before a VERY rapid decay and release.

Study up on ADSR Envelopes and you will learn what I am talking about.

Meanwhile, suck it up. It is what it is.

Ask anyone on the forum. My personal opinion is that Yamaha is the Antichrist

Gary

 

[maverich40]

LOL "$100 tablehooter" -- more like $250.00 (EZ300) + $28.00 Pedal (FC4A), and if one includes Metronome, + $18.00 (Kord TM60)...
Not to mention + $90.00 in instructional beginner music books/flashcards... (Seems like we're committed now! lol)

One would not want to accuse you of trying to insult or embarrass someone just because they purchased an economical model with reasonable features for a beginner... Gosh you aren't that kind of person, eh?

 

[happyrat1]

The point is the lighted keys are a dead giveaway. It's a toddlers toy. Your expectations of the sound are entirely unreasonable.

Gary