How do I put a sustain pedal on a keyboard with no input dedicated for pedals?

[TitaniumTronic]

Yes this may be a really dumb question but I am desparerate ok!

I have an alesis melody54 and it does not have an input for a pedal but it has one labeled "PHONE" and "MIC"

I am learning a piece which requires quick chanbes between having sustain and not having one so pressing the sustain button everytime is kind of not very efficient...

So is there any hacks at all to get a pedal to work with this? Adapters anything at all? Please I'm really desperate!

 

[delaware dave]

it's not possible with that model keyboard.

 

[Biggles]

Welcome.

On a £50 keyboard you are not going to get much by way of features.

If you are really keen yto take up playing then a Yamaha PSR E473 or Korg Ek50 would be by far a better investment.

 

[anotherscott]

Yes, you need to get a different keyboard. (At first I thought maybe you could use your keyboard in conjunction with a computer or iOS device you may already have, which would let you add a sustain pedal using an adapter, but the keyboard doesn't have a connection for that, either.)

You don't have to go all the way up to the kind of models Biggles mentioned, though (which, U.S., are $370-$550), if the only thing holding you back right now is the lack of a sustain pedal. The far cheaper Casio CT-S200 can use a sustain pedal ($129). But if you can stretch, I'd suggest at least going up to something with velocity sensitive keys (so that, for example, piano sounds play louder when you strike the key harder, and quieter when you strike the keys more softly), so that brings you up to at least their CT-S300 ($159). Some more capable boards that are still under $200 could be their CT-X700, or a Yamaha PSR-E373. Also, everything I've mentioned has a USB connection for connecting to a computer or iOS device, which allows you to expand your capabilities in all kinds of ways.

 

[Biggles]

To add to Scott’s post and my own.

If you are now looking for a new keyboard then you will find that once they are connected up to say an iPad there are plenty of Apps available to help in using the keyboard.

Some include a few months trial of Learning Apps like Flowkey depending upon what model is bought.

Chordana is the App associated with Casio.

The low end Casio CT S models have a number of inbuilt instrument sounds and c75 rhythms whereas the Korg and Yamaha models I quote are Arrangers where the keyboard has a full backing band that plays along with the Style selected. Chords are played left handed that trigger the auto accompaniment and right hand plays melody or improvises.

 

[brotach]

Hi I a

Yes this may be a really dumb question but I am desparerate ok!

I have an alesis melody54 and it does not have an input for a pedal but it has one labeled "PHONE" and "MIC"

I am learning a piece which requires quick chanbes between having sustain and not having one so pressing the sustain button everytime is kind of not very efficient...

So is there any hacks at all to get a pedal to work with this? Adapters anything at all? Please I'm really desperate!

I also have the same problem. My keyboard is Casio CTK-530. Touch response. No sustain pedal port but it has MIDI input/output port. Is it possible to have sustain effects on my keyboard using midi cable to my android phone? Or anything that can sustain my keyboard. I badly needed your help guys.

 

[brotach]

it's not possible with that model keyboard.

I also have the same problem. My keyboard is Casio CTK-530. It has touch response. Unfortunately, there's no sustain pedal port but it has MIDI input/output port, 5 pins not USB. Is it possible to have sustain effects on my keyboard using midi cable to my android phone? Or anything that can sustain my keyboard. I badly needed your help guys.

 

[anotherscott]

My keyboard is Casio CTK-530. Touch response. No sustain pedal port but it has MIDI input/output port. Is it possible to have sustain effects on my keyboard using midi cable to my android phone? Or anything that can sustain my keyboard. I badly needed your help guys.

Most keyboards recognize MIDI CC 64 for the sustain function over MIDI. If you have a manual for the keyboard, see if it has a MIDI Implementation Chart to confirm that is recognized. If it is, there would be ways to do it, though it may be more trouble than it's worth. For example, MIDI Solutions and Audiofront make adapters that allows you to connect a sustain pedal through a keyboard's 5-pin MIDI IN jack, and that might work... but the adapters are $150+ which is more than the keyboard is worth, and more than it would cost you to just buy a new keyboard that had a sustain pedal input. So unless you're really tied to that CTK-530 for some particular sounds/functions it has, it might be better to just get a keyboard that already has what you need.

As for using an Android phone... maybe (again, if the keyboard recognizes standard MIDI sustain commands), but even if it worked, the real-world usability would probably not be there. You don't want to be tapping a screen every time you want to sustain or stop sustaining a sound, because you probably need that hand to, you know, play the keyboard, and latency could be an issue besides.

 

[Vjhgh]

I also have a piano with no available sustain slot (model rockjam rj361) the features visible behind the keyboard is power-mic-aux in-phone and usb i was wondering if we can use any type of adapter or connector with the usb slot or any other method.or will just have to get a higher end keyboard

 

[Biggles]

Welcome.

A higher end keyboard would be worth the investment.

Yamaha PSR E473, if you want a 61 keys but it depends upon your budget and if you want to continue to learn Keyboard or learn Piano.

 

[Dhdani]

I also have the same problem. My keyboard is Casio CTK-530. It has touch response. Unfortunately, there's no sustain pedal port but it has MIDI input/output port, 5 pins not USB. Is it possible to have sustain effects on my keyboard using midi cable to my android phone? Or anything that can sustain my keyboard. I badly needed your help guys.

I know I'm a few months late, but I also have this keyboard, and managed to add a sustain.
1, connect the midi to a computer (you will only be able to use the sustain with the computer)
2, download a program like freepiano, and also a piano plugin
3, inside freepiano, you can toggle the sustain

4, if you want to make a pedal, you can take apart an old keyboard, solder a switch to a key that you usually don't use (like scroll lock), and map that key to the sustain input in freepiano. You can make a diy pedal like this.

 

[keymaninaz]

If you have midi in/out. Airturn Bt500s-6 and Widi Master will pair nicely with no wires.