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Yamaha Expression pedal- hardly moves for full range

Connecting Hauptwerk to MIDI organs, sequencers, ...
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adelaideviewer

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Yamaha Expression pedal- hardly moves for full range

PostMon Nov 02, 2020 3:36 am

Hi all,

Can anyone help with this. I have bought a Yamaha FC 7 expression pedal for my Hauptwerk set up.
It is plugged into a Kong M1 control pedal socket and the whole set up is into a MOTU Midi interface.

I got the pedal to connect fine in the Hauptwerk settings and did the option where it says press it closed and then press it open - presumably to get it's full range of operation.

When I actually go to use it on the Paramount organ samples the full range shows on the screen but the pedal is hardly pushed on at all. Is there any way to more accurately match the volume alteration range to the physical movement of the pedal?

Many thanks.
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mdyde

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Re: Yamaha Expression pedal- hardly moves for full range

PostMon Nov 02, 2020 4:05 am

Hello adelaideviewer,

I'd suggest first trying auto-detecting the pedal again, making sure that, when prompted, you move the physical expression pedal back and forth a few times across its full physical compass. During auto-detection, Hauptwerk listens for the highest and lowest position (MIDI controller) values that the pedal transmits, and maps that range automatically to the range of virtual pedal. Hence it's important that you move the physical pedal as far as it will go each way.

If that doesn't solve it, when Hauptwerk isn't running, try using something like MIDI-OX ( http://www.midiox.com/ ) if using Windows, or Snoize MIDI Monitor ( https://www.snoize.com/MIDIMonitor/ ) if using a Mac, to view the MIDI mesages the pedal is sending. You will then be able to see whether it's sending a good range of controller values smotthly (and broadly linearly) across its full physical compass. (Ideally it would send controller values ranging from 0 to 127, but many pedals send a somewhat smaller range, which isn't a problem unless it's very small).
Best regards, Martin.
Hauptwerk software designer/developer, Milan Digital Audio.
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heilei

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Re: Yamaha Expression pedal- hardly moves for full range

PostMon Nov 02, 2020 6:00 am

I suspect this has nothing to do with Hauptwerk per se... All footpedals are not wired the same way: f.ex. the Yamaha FC7 you mentioned is not compatible with all keyboards. I don't know about Korg M1, but I had to rewire my FC7 to make it work with my Roland XP-30. I found rewiring instructions somewhere in the Internet, can't remember where anymore. Google around, this is a fairly common problem.
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randallschmid

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Re: Yamaha Expression pedal- hardly moves for full range

PostMon Nov 02, 2020 7:24 am

I suggest you also look at your Korg M1 pedal assign configuration pages. I would verify that the pedal is defined as a 'volume' pedal and not as a footswitch.
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engrssc

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Re: Yamaha Expression pedal- hardly moves for full range

PostMon Nov 02, 2020 7:01 pm

If all efforts fail, there is an option to replace the 50K potentiometer in the Yamaha expr pedal with a 10K linear (not audio) pot such as:

https://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Bo ... LrxQ%3D%3D

and connect it to MIDI encoder such as:

https://www.midi-hardware.com/index.php?section=prod_info&product=PEDSCAN&R2=USD

This board gives you a single expression pedal input along with a MIDI output. A small 5-12 vdc wall "wart" can be used for the power source. Overall, this is probably the most economical (cheapedt) way to go. With a little DIY fabrication this very tiny PEDSCAN board could be mounted in the Yamaha pedal housing.

BTW, there is a way to run the power for the board in the same 5 wire MIDI din cable as there are 2 (spare) pins. The standard MIDI configuration only requires 3 connections.

Rgds,
Ed
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adelaideviewer

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Re: Yamaha Expression pedal- hardly moves for full range

PostMon Nov 16, 2020 11:23 pm

Hello all,

Problem solved. Thanks for the suggestions.
I went into my Kong M1 keyboard global settings and made sure that PEDAL was set to be a VOLUME pedal and not any other sort of control.

Then as Martin suggested I did the auto detect again and it all works fine.
The only issue might be is the first part of travel of the pedal seems to not make a lot of difference to the volume level of the organ, but as you progress further with the pedal it seems to be a faster change in output (mind you I know some real organs are actually a bit like that mechanically).

Thanks for the advice.
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adelaideviewer

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Re: Yamaha Expression pedal- hardly moves for full range

PostMon Nov 16, 2020 11:35 pm

randallschmid wrote:I suggest you also look at your Korg M1 pedal assign configuration pages. I would verify that the pedal is defined as a 'volume' pedal and not as a footswitch.


I think that was the solution - thank you!
Adjusted my KORG M1 configuration to ensure that pedals were set to be "volume pedals' - now it works! cheers.
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mdyde

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Re: Yamaha Expression pedal- hardly moves for full range

PostTue Nov 17, 2020 3:47 am

Excellent. Thanks.
Best regards, Martin.
Hauptwerk software designer/developer, Milan Digital Audio.

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