Sustain key problem

[Sophia9997]

Hello, I have a cheap electric keyboard which sadly has no sustain socket but it has sustain mode. My question is in songs like fur Elise that you have to sustain on and off is there any way to do it remotely? Or somehow switch off the key without having to use my hand? P.S. my keyboard is not MIDI. Thanks in advance. I am attaching a picture of my keyboard below.

 

[Biggles]

Hi Sophia and welcome.

I cannot find a manual online for your keyboard.

Can you post an image of any sockets that you have on the rear of your keyboard.

 

[Sophia9997]

Hi Sophia and welcome.

I cannot find a manual online for your keyboard.

Can you post an image of any sockets that you have on the rear of your keyboard.

 

[happyrat1]

This thing looks REALLY cheap.

No MIDI or USB socket so I assume it's not MIDI capable unless there's a USB socket squirreled away somewhere.

That means that you can't use a third party MIDI switch pedal either.

Your only real option is to either live with it or else sell off the keyboard and upgrade to something better.

Gary

 

[SeaGtGruff]

If it doesn't have a jack for connecting a sustain pedal, then there's no way to turn the keyboard's sustain on and off without pressing the button on the panel.

I can't make out what the labels above the jacks say, but from left to right I'm guessing that they're for a microphone, headphones, and the power adapter. You can't use any of those for connecting a sustain pedal.

 

[Sophia9997]

Thank you for your replies.

 

[CowboyNQ]

Hi Sophia,

The ShenKong 20066 is essentially a toy aimed at children and is marketed as such. It's designed to get absolute beginners into keyboard playing and making music.

While there's nothing at all wrong with that, if you're getting really serious about your piano playing and doing things like sustaining the notes properly in Fur Elise, I would support Gary's commentary about upgrading to something a little more appropriate if you're able to.

On the plus side, it does have some lovely pictures of ducks and sheep on the front panel, and I did see this picture on line which shows it performing very adequately as a pot plant holder.

Good luck!

 

[SeaGtGruff]

If your situation doesn't support upgrading to a different keyboard right now, I saw a reference to recording and playback features on the SK-20066. If those features allow it, you might be able to record yourself playing part of a song with sustain turned on (or off), then play along with the recording with sustain turned off (or on).

Also, I couldn't find a manual for the SK-20066, but if it lets you split the keyboard between two sounds, and if (as is sometimes the case) the sustain feature works with the right-hand sound but not (when using the split mode) with the left-hand sound, then you might be able to turn on the split mode, set both sides of the split to the same sound, turn on the sustain for the right-hand side, and then play on either the left-hand side or the right-hand side depending on whether you need to sustain the notes or not. You might also need to set the position of the split point to a location that allows enough keys on each side of the split, and transpose either or both the left-hand or right-hand sides of the split up or down an octave or two as appropriate.

Neither of those suggestions is an ideal solution to this particular issue by any means, but they may still be viable ideas for certain other situations. In our modern era of polyphonic multitimbral electronic keyboards, it's easy to forget that musical geniuses such as Wendy Carlos and Isao Tomita had to record themselves playing monophonic tracks, and build their early masterpieces by combining many such tracks just to create simple chords and more complex orchestrations.

 

[Sophia9997]

If your situation doesn't support upgrading to a different keyboard right now, I saw a reference to recording and playback features on the SK-20066. If those features allow it, you might be able to record yourself playing part of a song with sustain turned on (or off), then play along with the recording with sustain turned off (or on).

Also, I couldn't find a manual for the SK-20066, but if it lets you split the keyboard between two sounds, and if (as is sometimes the case) the sustain feature works with the right-hand sound but not (when using the split mode) with the left-hand sound, then you might be able to turn on the split mode, set both sides of the split to the same sound, turn on the sustain for the right-hand side, and then play on either the left-hand side or the right-hand side depending on whether you need to sustain the notes or not. You might also need to set the position of the split point to a location that allows enough keys on each side of the split, and transpose either or both the left-hand or right-hand sides of the split up or down an octave or two as appropriate.

Neither of those suggestions is an ideal solution to this particular issue by any means, but they may still be viable ideas for certain other situations. In our modern era of polyphonic multitimbral electronic keyboards, it's easy to forget that musical geniuses such as Wendy Carlos and Isao Tomita had to record themselves playing monophonic tracks, and build their early masterpieces by combining many such tracks just to create simple chords and more complex orchestrations.

Thank you very much for your reply, I will try and see if it works when I am able too and I will let you know

 

[Sophia9997]

Hi Sophia,

The ShenKong 20066 is essentially a toy aimed at children and is marketed as such. It's designed to get absolute beginners into keyboard playing and making music.

While there's nothing at all wrong with that, if you're getting really serious about your piano playing and doing things like sustaining the notes properly in Fur Elise, I would support Gary's commentary about upgrading to something a little more appropriate if you're able to.

On the plus side, it does have some lovely pictures of ducks and sheep on the front panel, and I did see this picture on line which shows it performing very adequately as a pot plant holder.

Good luck!

I did get this one, because obviously I didn't have the money for a more good one and also because I am planning in the feature on upgrading to a digital piano, and I think it is pointless to spend now 250€ when digital costs 500€. Also I still don't know why these animals are displaying there

 

[SeaGtGruff]

I think the animal icons are for the sound effects. There are buttons for percussion sounds, which have icons or little images of different percussion instruments. And there are buttons for sound effects, which have icons of different animals-- and presumably of a few other objects, such as perhaps a car or helicopter.

 

[Mg04049063]

Hello, I have a cheap electric keyboard which sadly has no sustain socket but it has sustain mode. My question is in songs like fur Elise that you have to sustain on and off is there any way to do it remotely? Or somehow switch off the key without having to use my hand? P.S. my keyboard is not MIDI. Thanks in advance. I am attaching a picture of my keyboard below.

Hi Sophia,

My daughter now has the same keyboard. Forgive me for not really understanding anything about keyboards but she is saying that can’t play a chord so that it stays playing (on the left of the keyboard), whilst she plays the notes on the other side. Is this the same thing? Did you manage to find a manual for this?

 

[Biggles]

Sustain is a system where the notes are held and they slowly decay as per what would be experienced when playing an acoustic piano and using the pedal.

You need to look at the manual for the keyboard and look for splitting the keyboard and assiging the sustain function to the keys to the left of the split point.

Your Daughter should then be able to play a left hand chord and the notes will sustain for as long as she depresses the keys, meanwhile she can play the song melody line with her right hand.

If she is serious about learning then please give serious consideration for buying her a far better quality keyboard or digital piano. Yamaha PSR E463 or Casio CT X3000/5000 would be by far better keyboards to learn on. Or a Yamaha P125 or Roland FP30 or Casio S1000 if she wants to learn piano.

There is a difference between learning to play a keyboard and learning to play a piano.

 

[CowboyNQ]

My daughter now has the same keyboard. Forgive me for not really understanding anything about keyboards but she is saying that can’t play a chord so that it stays playing (on the left of the keyboard), whilst she plays the notes on the other side. Is this the same thing? Did you manage to find a manual for this?

I'm guessing it's a polyphony issue - in other words there's probably only so many notes that the keyboard can physically sound at one time.

As per my earlier comment - this is really a toy more than a proper musical instrument. If your daughter is keen to learn how to play properly it might be time to invest in something a little more serious. You wouldn't have to spend a huge amount of money to achieve a significant upgrade over this thing.

 

[Mg04049063]

Sustain is a system where the notes are held and they slowly decay as per what would be experienced when playing an acoustic piano and using the pedal.

You need to look at the manual for the keyboard and look for splitting the keyboard and assiging the sustain function to the keys to the left of the split point.

Your Daughter should then be able to play a left hand chord and the notes will sustain for as long as she depresses the keys, meanwhile she can play the song melody line with her right hand.

If she is serious about learning then please give serious consideration for buying her a far better quality keyboard or digital piano. Yamaha PSR E463 or Casio CT X3000/5000 would be by far better keyboards to learn on. Or a Yamaha P125 or Roland FP30 or Casio S1000 if she wants to learn piano.

There is a difference between learning to play a keyboard and learning to play a piano.

We don't have the manual for it but I believe they're selling the keyboard at Smyths so I'll go and see if I can have a look at one there. If she starts to show a serious interest, then we'll definitely have a look at upgrading. Thank you very much for the advice, its really appreciated

 

[delaware dave]

I find it hard to believe that this thread is getting this much attention. It's a cheap controller with no sustain pedal nor MIDI input to even send sustain via MIDI. The only option is to push the sustain button. She asks if it can be done remotely; without a sustain jack for a sustain pedal nor MIDI capability the answer is no. Move on.....

 

[Mg04049063]

I find it hard to believe that this thread is getting this much attention. It's a cheap controller with no sustain pedal nor MIDI input to even send sustain via MIDI. The only option is to push the sustain button. She asks if it can be done remotely; without a sustain jack for a sustain pedal nor MIDI capability the answer is no. Move on.....

Cheer up Dave, its nearly Christmas

 

[Mg04049063]

Hello, I have a cheap electric keyboard which sadly has no sustain socket but it has sustain mode. My question is in songs like fur Elise that you have to sustain on and off is there any way to do it remotely? Or somehow switch off the key without having to use my hand? P.S. my keyboard is not MIDI. Thanks in advance. I am attaching a picture of my keyboard below.

Hi, I know this won't be relevant to you anymore but if anyone else finds this thread and can't find the manual as there doesn't appear to be one online, I've managed to get one from the manufacturer. I've had to compress it so it will upload.