Organ Pedal time?

[Fred Coulter]

My daughter, a vocal performance and musical theater double major at Oklahoma City University, has recently informed us that she's going to take five years to graduate rather than the four she had originally planned on. Part of this is that scheduling all the required courses in only four years was going to be a bit difficult. Additionally, there were other courses that she wanted to take that she just couldn't fit in.

She also is paid to sing at a church in the area. Recently, she's also been hired to play piano for their spirit band. (She's pretty good on piano, and has a Casio 88 key "piano" in her dorm room.)

Her piano teacher in town told her that if she learned to play the organ, she'd be working every Sunday morning. I asked one of the people at work who's also a minister if that was true, and he agreed.

So her plans were always to learn organ eventually, but she kept putting it off. Composition lessons, on the other hand, were starting next semester.

Last weekend she ended up making some money accompanying an oboist and clarinetist, more than she has made on any other gig. She called me while driving to the bank and told me that she's going to take organ lessons as soon as possible.

I guess the "get as many blades in your swiss army knife" advice really sunk in.

It looks like I'll be getting that AGO pedal board sooner, rather than later.

Here are the two sources of pedals I've found. Has anyone dealt with either one of them?
http://www.pedamidikit.org/
https://www.midiworks.ca/

The keyboards themselves are easy; just get five octave MIDI controllers. It don't need to be pretty, just functional.

 

[Arranger]

Don't know if these are available to you since they are in the UK.
http://viscountorgans.net/products/midi-pedalboards/

 

[Fred Coulter]

Even pricier than the ones I found, but definitely usable.

 

[Arranger]

Yea. I can't believe how pricey these things are. I mean they are just a master keyboards with oversized wooden keys right? And probably not even velocity sensitive.

I suppose they have a small market so that keeps the prices high.

 

[happyrat1]

You can save a bundle if you just buy the components and assemble your own case.

These guys look reasonably priced.

http://www.midikits.net/products/bass_pedal_encoders/bass_pedal_encoders.htm

And here's a DIY on how to build the actual pedalboard yourself.

http://www.fagerjord.org/index.php/organ-project/38-organ-related/69-building-a-pedal-board

Gary

 

[Fred Coulter]

The MIDIKits seem to be more oriented to non-classical (non-AGO) pedals. The build it from scratch seems like an interesting idea, but I don't think my skills are up to it.

Velocity sensitivity isn't an issue for traditional AGO spec organ pedals. But you're right. The size of the market is small, so all the joys of mass production don't apply.

 

[momboc]

You will need more that just a pedalboard and some MIDI keyboard controllers.

Have a look on the Hauptwerk Forum here: (you may have to register to see the Forum)
http://forum.hauptwerk.com/viewforum.php?f=15&sid=aa652471ff51d3cf3ebb97956911d0a1

Also have look here:
http://www.pcorgan.com/indexEN.html
http://www.pcorgan.com/Fotos3cEN.html

Maybe give these guys a call:
http://organtechnology.com/contact/

Or contact these guys through their website's contact page:
http://www.encoreorgan.com/home-page.html

 

[johnny196775]

great information here. Thanks for posting this.

 

[Fred Coulter]

I'm well aware that in the long run, to produce a playable instrument, I'll need more than merely pedals and keyboards (as well as a computer, MIDI interface, table for the keyboards, etc.) However, when starting to play, and working on merely the initial techniques, that's what I'll need. Just like a practice piano wouldn't be used for "real" performance, the initial purchases wouldn't be used for real performances. As I improve, I've also got a great rationale for adding/upgrading the setup.

But thanks for the links.

 

[johnny196775]

I'm well aware that in the long run, to produce a playable instrument, I'll need more than merely pedals and keyboards (as well as a computer, MIDI interface, table for the keyboards, etc.) However, when starting to play, and working on merely the initial techniques, that's what I'll need. Just like a practice piano wouldn't be used for "real" performance, the initial purchases wouldn't be used for real performances. As I improve, I've also got a great rationale for adding/upgrading the setup.

But thanks for the links.

I feel it is good to learn to drive on an old stick shift so later in life you can drive anything nearly. Or get really good on a cheap instrument before upgrading. And if a musician learns every style he or she can with his or her instrument then they can write music not sticking to one genre. . Kind of like cooking with more ingrediants. Have a nice day everyone.

john

 

[Fred Coulter]

I feel it is good to learn to drive on an old stick shift so later in life you can drive anything nearly.

I am now 57 years old, and am driving my first car which isn't a stick shift. (Actually, that might not be entirely true; I can't remember what my first car, The Deadly Dart, used. It had an internal combustion motor, though.) So driving a stick isn't a sign of it just being an old car. My last car was a new Honda Civic Si Sedan, with a six speed manual transmission and a tendency to ignore anything resembling a speed limit. After 180,000 miles, and looking at my age and physical characteristics, I'm now driving a Subaru Outback with a camera and radar in the back and video cameras in the front. I've gotten very mellow with adaptive cruise control.

 

[johnny196775]

I am now 57 years old, and am driving my first car which isn't a stick shift. (Actually, that might not be entirely true; I can't remember what my first car, The Deadly Dart, used. It had an internal combustion motor, though.) So driving a stick isn't a sign of it just being an old car. My last car was a new Honda Civic Si Sedan, with a six speed manual transmission and a tendency to ignore anything resembling a speed limit. After 180,000 miles, and looking at my age and physical characteristics, I'm now driving a Subaru Outback with a camera and radar in the back and video cameras in the front. I've gotten very mellow with adaptive cruise control.

last car i had was a toyota pickup 1980 so mabye things have changed a bit since then. i live on mars.