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M-Audio SP-2 - Universal Sustain Pedal with Piano Style Action For MIDI Keyboards, Digital Pianos & More?
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Here you go!!! I have the same digital piano and this is what I use. It’s heavy and durable plus feels good on your feet. $25
M-Audio SP 2 - Universal Sustain Pedal with Piano Style Action For MIDI Keyboards, Digital Pianos & More https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00063678K/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_5MHTBKAYEQS2YAT1WVDP?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1
M-Audio makes a pedal that's affordable, comfortable enough, and shaped similarly to an actual acoustic piano pedal. My only complaint with mine is that it doesn't always stay in place, but I'm sure someone more creative than me could pin it down somehow.
Not sure if getting a new pedal is something you're interested in but I bought this one for my keyboard and my piano teacher seems to think it's very impressive! I'm able to pedal in exactly the same way as on her piano https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00063678K/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_fabc_EZACDZ1M3R81SS4FY582?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1
- As a beginner, you really just need the sustain pedal. This is a good digital one I've been using for 3 years.
- Not super important; but generally the more the better. I wouldn't focus on this too much.
- 88 fully-weighted keys with good action and, if possible, headphone functionality.
- Depends on the model, but my understanding is that Yamaha > Roland > Kawai > Korg > Casio. Differences in durability isn't that significant.
If it's anything like the small, square pedal on my PX-350, it's crappy. I was much happier after I spent $20 on an M-Audio SP-2 Sustain Pedal from Amazon. Heavy and properly shaped like a piano pedal.
Well, I've just gotten a sustain peddle but I think it may be the wrong one.
On Clubbed to Death I hold down the peddle at the same time as pressing that lower G and it holds the note for much longer while I have it pressed in. Problem is...after pressing that G I need to immediately play other notes. So the peddle is pressed down and the G sounds, but so do the other notes because I have it pressed in, but if I let go of the peddle in order to play the other notes, the G dies out immediately.
I assumed somehow that the peddle would allow me to prolong that G note, then I could let it go and play the other keys normally.
Get this one:
Otherwise these are general criteria:
Does not "walk" (slide away from you as you use it).
Long cable.
Doesn't squeak.
Doesn't bend.
I've got one of the old school square box pedals from back in the 80s when shysters weren't as (as) concerned with milking every single ounce of currency out of every single thing, and a. it still works and b. the cable is long enough to reach a keyboard across the room. This is important when you have something where the pedal input it on the side, or you put something on the top tier of a multi-tier stand. This one has enough cable and then some.
It'll walk though.
The M-Gear one above will walk too (almost any of them will and you have to figure out ways to deal with it - a few used to come with a rubber pad that flipped out from the bottom that your heel sits on so it can't move away from you - if your heel stays on the pad - Roland DP-10 is an example).
I bought a cheaper one and the pedal bottoms out where the pedal itself is not touching the ground. But because of this, if I pressed harder (or too hard) it bent past that point. It still works fine, but it's bent down a bit, and it squeaks.
So you can tell by the way the metal part of the pedal is formed - some are a thin sheet of metal the edges are just bend down on and there's no strength at angles.
So all those cheap Donner and other no-name brands - for what the M-Gear costs it's just a no brainer to get it instead.
Yes they are just on/off switches (which is why some of them can be so cheap) but there are some out there that can send other messages so you can do half-pedalling on a grand piano if the Patch supports it - which on some of the nicer digital pianos and some synth piano patches is available:
Notice it has a TRS plug.
Expression pedal - depends on how much you're going to use it, move it around, and so on. I assume you're talking about a treadle style pedal, and there are two things that irritate me about them - throw and angle.
Some of them, when they bottom out, the heel of the treadle is basically on the floor, and the angle can be really steep - almost 45 degrees. Some of them with the toe down will be less than parallel with the floor, some will be parallel, and others will go past that point!
This is important whether you're standing or sitting. But I have a Yamaha FC7 - built like a tank - you could swing it around your head like a Medieval Flail and seriously deter people from coming on stage, and it could take a bullet for you I'm sure. But the travel on that thing - my ankle joint doesn't move anywhere near that far so if I want to go from 0-127 it means sliding my foot up the pedal as it travels - basically pressing it more like a see-saw than smooth travel.
The other big thing is if the nuts that hold the treadle are going to work loose over time, or rather, how "stiff" it's going to be and if you can adjust that. I like some resistance because again, you can do smoother travel, and leave it in the middle position easier, etc.
Once they get loose you breathe on them and they go toe down - some of them are top heavy because of the fulcrum point so they will just fall to toe down position from the treadle's own weight!
https://www.sweetwater.com/c520--Expression_Keyboard_Pedals?sb=low2high
There's an M-Gear EXP for like 5 bucks more than the sustain pedal and it looks good to me.
The Roland FV-5 is a classic, but it's Roland so you know, over-priced. It looks like the M-Gear includes the adjustable range feature and they're basically the same kind of design.
The Moog EP-3 has what looks like an interesting angle.
You know you can get into all the deal with what kind of potentiometer they have and so on but an inexpensive plastic one that has a good angle for you and that is snug or you can adjust easily is usually good enough unless there's some real specific need you have.
IOW, if you don't want to drop a lot of coin on it, I don't see any need to pay a lot for things like the Roland - the the metal ones - only if you really need something durable to hold up to stage abuse or something.
I've got some Line 6 expression pedals (which I stupidly over-paid for) that are cheap plastic and actually will detach inside if you put too much weight on them (and I'm small guy).
But the good news is you can open them up, reattachment the arm, and keep on going. So there's something to be said for simple.
However I will say this: some pedals - especially the cheap ones - won't return all the way to 0 when you go heel down. Some devices can calibrate to the pedal but this can be an annoyance for some applications. Those Line 6 ones have this issue.
So that's another thing to look out for in reviews.
HTH
I got this for my Alesis Q49, and works fine when I upgraded to the KK A49, good price and solid action
It depends what you are using but that link should work. Please check before purchasing Amazon
/r/flz1 is mostly correct. The Hammer 88 doesn't have an input that uses a TRS jack (Tip-Ring-Sleeve - like a stereo headphone jack), so only two pedals of the the multi pedal you linked would actually work. You have the Sustain pedal jack with a single TS connection. I have this pedal from M-Audio that I use on all my MIDI controllers, and it'll work perfect for you as well.
The documents for the Hammer 88 say that the second foot switch is set to Soft, or Sostenuto, by default, but you can change it to anything you like. You can use another SP-2 pedal I linked, or you might be able to find a two-pedal version. M-Audio and Studiologic used to make a dual, but I can't seem to find one for sale.
You also might want an expression pedal for the third jack, EXP. M-Audio makes one of those as well.
When I had a keyboard I got this . Though it used to be $18, now it’s $25. :[ Make sure to invest in a good pedal so that it will last long and carry notes out well!
You won't be needing any other pedals other than the sustain pedal for a long time. Many people end up never using the other pedals. However, the sustain pedal the P45 comes with is this FC5, right? I heavily recommend getting a sustain pedal like the M-Audio SP-2 for cheap, because this is the shape that acoustic piano pedal are like, and because this shape allow better pressure control, as it has more depth. If you can afford it, get the FC3A instead, because it also allows half-pedaling, which will be useful later.
As for not being able to get a piano teacher, along with others' suggestions of getting an online teacher, I also recommend supplementing (not replacing) it with good Youtube tutorials and theory videos.
I have a Yamaha P-45 and like it a lot. Besides price, weighted keys/general feel were my primary importance when looking and going from playing on purely acoustic pianos for 10+ years to digital out of necessity I think they feel pretty good and true to the real thing.
You can get the P-45 for $400 right now on most websites (down from the usual $450) and fits your criteria. I bought mine on B&H Photo-Video-Audio to save the ~$30 tax that would have been charged buying it in person and on most other websites. As for sustain pedal and stand, those have done me well. Full setup for ~$484 with Amazon's tax. Not bad if you ask me.
My advice: If you're not absolutely sure what you want, go to a music store and try out as many keyboards as you can until you find something you like. The Guitar Center near me had a P-45, its big brother the P-115, and a few others on display you could mess around with.
Also, if you do end up going with a digital keyboard and get it shipped to your house, make sure everything works before throwing the packaging away (there's lots of it). The first one I got had a dead key but after contacting B&H they did a good job with returning it and sending me a replacement.
I have the P45, it's sustain only. I use the M-Audio SP-2 sustain pedal which is half-pedal and surprisingly heavy and sturdy for the price.
Assuming it is compatible like what /u/joename said, I can recommend this one. It is super heavy/solid and myself and a buddy of mine have had one each for years.
A lot of hobbyist/amateur musicians rave about Pianoteq, but in spite of modeling some of the string behavior of a real piano, it still sounds like a toy and it just isn't at the point where it can be a serious contender for the sampled piano libraries, yet.
For a sustain pedal, you should try this one from M-Audio and see if that gives you a better response.
As far as a VST sample is concerned, some that support "true half-pedaling" are Ivory II, True Keys and the Ravenscroft 275. You might want to check out their official sites, or type them into Youtube to see if you like the sound of any of those.
Lastly, you could probably get a more realistic digital piano action if you spent a few grand for something with wooden keys, like the Yamaha CP4, or Kawai CA97. I've also seen people using the Kawai VPC1 controller to play VSTIs. It doesn't have an onboard sound like a digital piano, but people say that it's probably the closest you can get to an actual grand piano action in todays' market.
https://www.amazon.com/M-Audio-Universal-Sustain-Electronic-Keyboards/dp/B00063678K
I have one for my Casio piano at home, works like a charm.
Any sustain pedal should hook up to it just fine. I'd recommend this $20 one from M-Audio. It's what I use now, and I think it's pretty good. Getting any of the piano style action ones helps, but I wouldn't say it hindered my progress when I had one of these pedals and it worked just fine. I think an expression pedal would would work fine, though, since it's basically an on-and-off switch controlled by your feet for the digital effects of the piano.
will this pedal work to trigger ableton push REC button ?
I think /u/mwjt42's suggestion is best. If you can't find anything there another option would be an electric keyboard pedal.
I guess the real question is, what is your input method? Is it connecting to a computer? Were you hoping for USB? Maybe something like this, used for gaming it might be durable enough. Maybe look for something better, from a reputable brand in the gaming industry.
> ed half-damp)
Would this work with the half-damp?
http://www.amazon.com/M-Audio-Sustain-Pedal-Action-Keyboards/dp/B00063678K
How soon would a beginner need that?
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