Adding Swell / Crescendo Pedals

Hi
I am new to Hauptwerk and am loving it though it has been a hard slog as I am not a computer savvy person. I have built for myself a 3 manual plus built my own pedals. I am doing this on the cheap mind you as I can't afford the expensive gear. I am wondering if it is possible to add swell /crescendo pedals and how to do it. I have an old National organ that no longer works and it has one pedal (crescendo I think) plus some levers for swell, reverb control. Can I use these and does anyone have suggestions where to look to achieve this. I have tried to look but have not found anything yet
Thanks
John

Check out this post. viewtopic.php?f=15&t=10400&hilit=swell+pedal

I've done similar linkages many times, never exactly the same way. This approach would work with simple hinged wooden pedals.

This is how have done it:



Hinged plate, (the hinge a quality one I happened to have lying about, probably anything reasonably robust would do).
Two linkages, the top (brass) to the potentiometer, the bottom (aluminum) for friction, the metals don't matter at all.
Linear slide potentiometer, the actual travel used is only about the middle third, HW will sort this out with no problem.
Assorted bits of timber /plywood, anything that comes to hand.
Self adhesive felt and/or foam pads as required to quieten things where necessary, and for friction.

Theoretically, the geometry of the potentiometer linkage makes the response non-linear. For the same angular rotation the change in resistance is somewhat different at the 'closed' end of travel than at the 'open' end. I haven't found this a problem in practice.

If it helps, I could do a 'proper' detail drawing, but not until after the weekend. By then you might find the thread moved to the 'DIY Organ Consoles/MIDI' section.

Nick

[mdyde]

[Topic moved here.]

Hi Nick
I have managed to get the crescendo/swell pedal off my old organ and going by your pic there is only a few pieces of metal in it. If I can work out how to attach a pic of it I will do so, but it is all metal, but I am making a copy in wood, so does there need to be any particular pieces of metal for any conductivity reasons? If you have the time to do some detailed drawings I would greatly appreciate it.
Nope I cannot work out to get a pic on here and as I am doing this on my iPad that doesn’t help as I can’t seem to copy and paste.
Cheers
John

High JohnPrincipal8;

The only part of a crescendo/swell pedal that needs to conduct electricity is the potentiometer. All the rest of the unit can be of any suitable material.

The only part of a crescendo/swell pedal that needs to conduct electricity is the potentiometer. All the rest of the unit can be of any suitable material.

Just so, though the friction strip at the bottom, and to a lesser extent the potentiometer linkage from the top corner of the pedal, will at times be under compression as well as tension.



The drawing above gives some more detail, as well as a sense of scale.

The only important mechanical part is the hinge (in black on the drawing) which should be of really good quality. I happened to have one lying about which, I think, was intended for use on a fire door. It is very solidly made, smooth in operation, and has very little (if any) 'play' in its movement.

The potentiometer is a 10k Ohms linear, with an overall length of 60mm. Not all the travel is used, but I wouldn't use a shorter one unless absolutely necessary since the geometry of the linkage might become rather difficult to determine.

The 'buffers' where the pedal hits the frame are self-adhesive felt pads, and there are also two providing friction against the strip at the bottom. The geometry of the arrangement isn't critical, I seem to recall trying to find out if there were RCO/AGO recommendations for the limits of the pedal travel but couldn't find any. On mine the pedal varies from between 30 (closed) and 60 (open) degrees from the vertical. The width of the pedal is about 12 cm (4 1/2 inches) which might be a bit narrow I suppose.

The whole assembly is bolted to the back edge of the pedal board through the bottom plate.

Good luck,

Nick

Hi Nick
Thanks very much for that. I now need to do some homework on potentiometers and how to use them. I have a big learning curve coming up which I hope I will enjoy. As the saying goes, you learn something new every day and this will be first for me.
Cheers
John

Hi Nick
Sorry to bother you again, but looking at the potentiometers there are an aweful lot of them. What size/amp etc do I need and also resistors. Can't seem to find any sites with specific details on this subject, guitars yes, but not keyboards!
Thanks
John

Hi John,

if you type:

10k linear 60mm

into an ebay search you will find some, any of which would do probably.

It would help to know whether you are in the UK (or elsewhere).

Nick

Hi N I know I am in Australia, South Australia.
Cheers

Try this:

https://au.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Bou ... WpCZ94k%3D

Is John asking how to program (setup) Hauptwerk's Master Crescendo feature?

Rgds,
Ed

Hi Ed
Sorry I didn't see your post sooner, but yes I would like to be able to set up a crescendo pedal and (a swell if I am ever able to master the art of Hauptwerk. I have pulled the crescendo pedal from my old National organ which doesn't work anymore and I have bought (hopefully!) the right bits and pieces to do that, but i have been busy with other things that have cropped up and been a bit more urgent so the organ has gone on the back burner for a while.
I hate to admit it, but I am going to invest in a new computer as I am having too many problems with my old one. Everything does work in my current situation just not all the time and not necessarily in the correct order. I have never known a computer to do so many crazy things. Anyway I will hopefully be able to get this new computer to fit what I need out out of it. in short Ed I do need all the help that I can get.
Cheers
John

Hi Nick and others who have commented on my post.
It has been a while since I was online, but I have had other important issues and problems that needed sorting out so my organ schedule has been somewhat delayed though I have all the keyboards and pedals working which is nice and I would like to get a start on trying to work out the Swell/Crescendo Pedals thing but I am once again totally confused. I bought the ssc-1 midi encoder from John Barber which allows for up to 4 pedals to be added, but can't find any decent instructions for assembly. His info that is supplied with it say that I should use a 5k pot where as Nick you said a 10k pot (linear). So which do I need if I am going to have 2 or maybe 3 if the first 2 work out!
Nick on your diagramn you had the pot indicated as fixed to the pedals casing yet when I have tried to source out help via you tube which is not that much it indicates using the encoder with a breadboard thus making it solderless which I do like and that the pot goes on the breadboard with the connections joining up to the encoder.
It makes more sense with it on the pedal, but if it goes onto the breadboard, do you leave it on the full open and the wiring does the work of transposing?
Cheers and thanks again for putting up with my lack of knowledge in the world of computers and electronics.