Half-Pedal w/ Casio PX310?

Sorry folks- I'm sure this has been addressed multiple times, but 've searched the hell out of these forums and I can't find an answer.

I play a PX310, and I'm severely unhappy w/ the "half-pedaling" of the M-Audio SP-2 pedal I picked up to go w/ it. The middle ground doesn't seem to exist- my grand is either soaking wet or bone dry, nothing in between. Can anyone recommend a better expression pedal that is compatible? Or I am stuck because of the board? Casio claims the PX310 supports half pedaling, but they claim alot of things.

Thanks,

PR

That's because the SP-2 is either on or off; it's the pedal that's letting you down here. You need a pedal that sends continuous levels (i.e. a range of voltages or MIDI values, not on/off). CME makes one with three pedals, the GPP-3; the rightmost pedal sends continuous levels. I have one and, when it works, it's fine. Right now it doesn't work and we'll see how CME comes through on support. The CME is nice because (when it works) it supports MIDI and USB as well as having the standard phone jacks (Tip-Ring-Sleeve for the right pedal). I think Roland makes a pedal with continuous output as well but not USB/MIDI.

Oh, and you'd be surprised at how rarely this comes up. Almost never.

He doesn't need a CME at all.

If the Casio supports half-pedaling, all he needs is something like a Roland DP-8. About $30.

He just bought the wrong pedal.

Thanks for the feedback. I'll give the roland a try first.

I guess the issue here is; who's fudging the claim? I noticed that both Guitar Center and Musician's Friend are touting the SP2's "expressive half-pedal capabilities" but M-Audio's website doesn't mention it.

Doug- your point is well taken re: the range of values the pedal assigns to to certain points on it's response curve. This makes sense, and might indicate that if the SP2 does in fact support half-dampering, the curve from 0-127 is probably very steep.

I just looked at the Casio webpage for the PX-310:

http://www.casio-intl.com/emi/piano/privia/px310.html

Here is the manual:

http://ftp.casio.co.jp/pub/world_manual/emi/en/px_310/01_e.pdf

On page E-11, there is a section called "Adjusting the Effect Applied when the damper pedal is Pressed Half Way"

(with optional SP-30 only).

http://www.casio.com/products/Accessories/Pedals/SP-30/

My Conclusion: Casio PX-310 ONLY supports half-pedaling with THEIR pedal

You could always try another pedal, but you might be wasting your money.

Finally, when you mention "half-pedaling... wet or dry" are you sure you mean half-pedaling? There should also be an adjustment for reverb on the keyboard.

Here is a "real-piano" explanation of partial sustain (a.k.a. half-pedaling):

http://www.choraegus.com/LW/dissertations/pianoTechnique/pedal.html

I took 10 years of piano lessons and we never got around to covering partial sustain technique (at least I don't remember it), so I consider it an advanced technique.

I agree that it's probably a compatibility issue w/ the SP-2 and the Casio, good point there. I've got a Roland SP-8 on order, so maybe this will do the trick.

To clarify, I was using wet & dry in a general sense in this case (all effect, no effect)...sorry for the confusion. There's 4 reverb settings, and they're all very lackluster, . I probably should talk to the sound guy(s) about adding some reverb at the board & just let this go.

For the record; I'm not an advanced player by any means, but I do have a pretty delicate ear. This is definitely a sound I can achieve using the damper ® on my upright, and would like to duplicate, if it's indeed possible.

"Half-pedaling can also be used to remove some amount of resonance from the music you're playing. Because of this, it's useful for clarifying the harmonies or keeping the melody from being overwhelmed by its environment. A very useful variant of half-pedaling is "flutter pedaling", which consists of a series of very quick half-pedalings in rapid succession. An example of where this is useful is found in the repeated chords in the last few pages of Jack Fina's Bumble Boogie, where a little half-pedaling can be used to allow each of the repeated chords to have its own clear accent without having to increase applied power boundlessly."

This is our concern, dude.

PR

I have the PX-110 with the SP-30. I'm afraid that if it's only possible to use half-pedaling with the SP-30 then you just have to buy one. The SP-30 is connected to the PX through a non-standard plug at the bottom of the piano. Looks similar (but bigger in size) to what you use for ethernet cables.

In other words, I am not sure if the standard pedal input on the back supports continuous input.

That would be interesting to see. I was shocked to find that my x-station's sustain input is on/off only. Which is why I need MIDI/USB output.