Pedals & Controllers

Many musicians master their instrument hand and foot. To ensure that this triad sounds perfect, pedals and switches for keyboard instruments are particularly important. High-quality equipment from Yamaha or Hammond not only makes the musician's life easier, they also increase the sound quality . The session online shop offers a variety of high-quality pedals, switches and controllers.

The different keyboard pedals

Just like the classic piano or grand piano, electric pianos and keyboards are also equipped with pedals. These are broadly divided into three different categories. These are:

The sustain or holding pedal

The sustain pedal, such as the Roland DP-10 Sustain Pedal , is standard equipment on conventional uprights and pianos. It means that the tones can be sustained longer when struck. With electric pianos, this sustain effect is simulated, the tones continue to be sustained and gradually lose volume . The authenticity of this sounds is very dependent on the quality of the pedal. The Korg DS-1 H Sustain Pedal, for example, is particularly high quality. It enables particularly lifelike piano playing with outstanding quality.

The sostenuto pedal

The name of the sostenuto pedal is derived from a musical performance instruction, the “soten” an Italian term for “held”. The tones should be held longer and fade out while the tempo is slowed down. The sostenuto pedal is also a sustaining pedal, but unlike the sustain pedal, it does not allow all tones to continue to sound, but only those tones that are in play when the pedal is pressed. Sostenuto pedals are often found as so-called triple pedals, such as the Clavia Nord Triple Pedal .

Soft pedal

Soft pedals, also known as Una Corda pedals, are intended to reduce the sound volume of classical concert grand pianos. On the grand piano, the hammers are moved slightly to the right so that they can only strike one string. This sometimes changes the sound of the respective instrument very significantly.
With an electric piano, this sound is simulated with the soft pedal and causes various modulations of the tones, such as tremolo, vibrato or distortion. In many cases, the soft pedal is now also called a modulation pedal .

Programmable midi foot controllers

An invention from the field of electronic music are midi foot controllers, such as the Nektar Pacer . The pedal consists of programmable foot buttons that can play entire musical sequences. The Nektar Pacer, for example, has ten programmable footswitch, two programmable expression pedals , and a number of relays and encoders. Other controllers are available from Boss and other manufacturers.