Half damper pedal vs. footswitch

Michael:

I hear you, and for what it's worth, there are thousands of midi files with only ON and OFF values that seem to sound pretty good.

My own DP generates all the values from 1 to 127, and I don't consciously "feather" the damper pedal.  However, on some midis I've recorded, I can hear the difference when values other than 0 and 127 are removed.  And I'm not particularly good with the pedal - in fact I'm quite bad.

As for clutter, I've wondered about that myself - obviously Pianoteq must read and respond to the values.

Perhaps someone from Pianoteq could enlighten us.

Glenn

An addendum to what I previously said:

I do consciously use the full range at the end of a song to dampen the sound to fit the music.

Glenn

I can't argue with the point you're all making, and I agree that there's a greater level of sensitivity available with a half damper pedal.  So I guess it all depends on our individual playing styles.

Just a reminder that half-pedalling is not the same as continuous damper controls.

A midi file with half-pedalling has values of zero, 64, and 127.

A full range pedal generates all the values from zero to 127.

In my midi editor/sequencer, there is a window called the Event List.  This is a screen shot of the Event List for one of my midi files:

http://www.box.net/shared/y4e9r1c9gl

The red numbers are the Pedal Control values, the blue ones are the notes.

In this particular file, there are as many Pedal Control values as there are notes.

Which is the point that Michael was making I believe.

Glenn

Michael:

Your original point about cluttering up the midi stream is very valid.  As I said, I usually have more Pedal Control values than notes/music.

Surely our computers have to read all the values, and there must be instances where the midi stream gets "choked".  The complexity of Pianoteq has risen considerably since I started using it, and the computations required must be mind boggling.

Glenn

Hi Glenn,

Yeah, I think the amount of midi data is unfortunate, although how else they'd do it is beyond me. Since this data is so small I think modern computers can handle it just fine ~most of the time~, but my VMK188plus keyboard is extremely unreliable when continuous pedal info is sent through it- and then there's the annoyance factor during the editing of notes. I guess we're stuck with this.

try polyphonic aftertouch: OUCH!

Actually, I can't see any difference in performance (I think Pianoteq ignores it anyway) from a Midiboard into an older MacBook. But I keep it turned off anyway.

Just seen this thread. I'm not suprised at the amount of response. I don't think I'd want to play a piano without half/continuous damper capabilities. It is an essential prerequisite for faithful pianistic performance of piano works. It makes such a difference. The creative scope of a half damper enabled pedal is far greater than the limitations of a switch. It brings so much to a piece if used skillfully, just as does a soft/una corda pedal used in the same manner. I for one would miss these capabilities on a pedal immensely!

Chris

I must just add that I do understand the issue with 'midi clutter/burst' when using a potentiometer equiped pedal. I have had problems in the past with clicks/crackles when using my Yamaha FC3 Pedal! The midi activity is clearly visible on the indicator led on my X-Midi 1x1 midi to USB interface. It is a greater issue the less CPU power you have, obviously.

Chris