Topic: USB Pedal Hacks to Try/Use All 11-Pedal Types?

I've been using my low cost Yamaha MX88 Synthesizer (88-key keyboard with GHS Graded Hammer Standard action) to teach myself piano.
Presently working on a more advanced piece with a Sostenuto section.  And my keyboard does not have 3-pedal support.

I purchased a Source Audio, Soleman MIDI Foot controller for another experiment  https://www.sourceaudio.net/soleman-mid...oller.html
(This appears to be used mostly by guitarists, but I bought it to tinker with on my keyboard . . . to trigger vocal effects in Logic Pro X.)

And the Pianoteq 8 Pro manual states there are 11-piano pedal types available--so I got the idea I could map 4 of them to the foot switches on the Soleman (inlcuding the Sostenuto function I currently need).

Question:
1.  Are all 11-piano pedal types functional, for all Pianoteq piano plugins available?

One of my favorite piano plugin is the Bluthner Studio Recording AB.

I've attempted to setup the Soleman 4-foot button switchess, as (left to right):
1-Mozart Rail
2-Soft Pedal (Una Corda)
3-Sostenuto
4-Sustain

I have pedals 3 & 4 appearing to move up and down in the Pianoteq pedal graphic.  Having trouble getting pedals 1 & 2 to work.

Screenshot 1:  Pianoteq 8 Pro Settings
Screenshot 2:  Soleman Editor Settings

Can anyone help with my question and steer me in the right directions as to MIDI settings?
From this forum it appears others have tried various hardware to do something like what I am trying to do, but I am reluctant to buy any additional hardware due to the minimal support available in the manual to access these (11) pedal types via a USB MIDI Pedal Controller.  I am not a MIDI expert, and don't want to spend too much time away from my daily piano practice

Thank you.
(P.S. Can't figure out how to easily attach screenshots, sorry.)

Re: USB Pedal Hacks to Try/Use All 11-Pedal Types?

Hey Dean, welcome! I don't have a good answer for why the first switches aren't triggering the pedals, but it sounded like you might have some helpful screenshots. You can upload those to a free image hosting platform (imgur.com or similar), and use BBCode's img tag to include them in your post:

https://www.bbcode.org/posting-images-with-bbcode.php

I don't have experience with Logic or your footswitch, but would probably start by clicking on "Options" in Pianoteq and then look at the MIDI tab, specifically the MIDI messages inspector window to make sure the Soleman is sending the messages you expect, and maybe figure out what's different between the broken and working switches.

To partially answer your first question, I've tried some weird pedal/instrument combos (e.g. celeste on a Rhodes, rattle on a hand pan, etc.) and they affect the physical model similarly across different instrument types. I don't know for sure if all 11 pedals work across every possible instrument, but that's my assumption.

Pianoteq pedaling is really neat. Many of the pedals are graded (sustain, pinch harmonic, and celeste are for sure... probably others, too), meaning if you use something like an expression pedal or continuous pedal, you can get some interesting variation between the extremes of "off" and "on". You can also map those to a modwheel, fader, encoder, etc. to get the full spectrum without buying additional pedals.

Last edited by miiindbullets (13-11-2023 20:43)

Re: USB Pedal Hacks to Try/Use All 11-Pedal Types?

Thank you for your comments/ideas miiindbullets.

Just tried to upload the screenshots again, and discovered that my full name/location was exposed, etc. so I gave up.

If I'd like to maintain some confidentiality I will need to create a fake persona/email address, etc.  And I am just not up for this right now.  Wish Pianoteq would allow up loads.

Here is a reasonable facsimile of my Pianoteq settings:

Global MIDI Mapping:  DP Soleman (unsaved)    Dialect:  Auto-detect
G  Controller 5  [ANY]  Mozart Rail  [SET]  range:  [0]  [1.00]
G  Controller 6  [ANY]  Soft Pedal  [SET]   range:  [0]  [1.00]
G  Controller 7  [ANY]  Pedal 3 (Sostenuto Pedal)  [SET]  range:  [0]  [1.00]
G  Controller 8  [ANY]  Pedal 4 (Sustain Pedal)  [Set]  range:  [0]  [1.00]

Here is a facsimile of what I have in the Soleman Editor:
Footswitch Name    MOZ    UNA    SOS    SUS
Switch Action    Momentary    Momentary    Momentary    Momentary
Default State    OFF    OFF    OFF    OFF
Message Type    CC    CC    CC    CC
MIDI Channel    1    1    1    1
On Data 0    5    6    7    8
On Data 1    127    127    127    127
Off Data 0    5    6    7    8
Off Data 1    0    0    0    0

Last edited by DeanP (14-11-2023 00:07)

Re: USB Pedal Hacks to Try/Use All 11-Pedal Types?

DeanP wrote:

Thank you for your comments/ideas miiindbullets.

Just tried to upload the screenshots again, and discovered that my full name/location was exposed, etc. so I gave up.

If I'd like to maintain some confidentiality I will need to create a fake persona/email address, etc.  And I am just not up for this right now.  Wish Pianoteq would allow up loads.

Here is a reasonable facsimile of my Pianoteq settings:

Global MIDI Mapping:  DP Soleman (unsaved)    Dialect:  Auto-detect
G  Controller 5  [ANY]  Mozart Rail  [SET]  range:  [0]  [1.00]
G  Controller 6  [ANY]  Soft Pedal  [SET]   range:  [0]  [1.00]
G  Controller 7  [ANY]  Pedal 3 (Sostenuto Pedal)  [SET]  range:  [0]  [1.00]
G  Controller 8  [ANY]  Pedal 4 (Sustain Pedal)  [Set]  range:  [0]  [1.0


Here is a facsimile of what I have in the Soleman Editor:
Footswitch Name    MOZ    UNA    SOS    SUS
Switch Action    Momentary    Momentary    Momentary    Momentary
Default State    OFF    OFF    OFF    OFF
Message Type    CC    CC    CC    CC
MIDI Channel    1    1    1    1
On Data 0    5    6    7    8
On Data 1    127    127    127    127
Off Data 0    5    6    7    8
Off Data 1    0    0    0    0

__________________________________

Today I had a breakthrough on all this and now have it working.  Unforuntately this forum does not support the direct posting of graphics, if it did, I would have posted my PowerPoint Cheat Sheet with screen shots.  Instead, here is a summary of how I got some of this to work.

A very brief note on the topic is in the manual:  4.5.6. Assigning a parameter to a MIDI controller

Here is the step-by-step method I followed in a little experiment.

Goal:  Make my existing Yamaha MX88 synth hardware sustain pedal trigger the Sostenuto function (instead of the Sustain)

(Although the Pianoteq manual discusses this as "Assigning a Parameter," I have other software/hardware products which describe this functionality as "LEARN NEW ASSIGNMENT.")

1.  Open OPTIONS MIDI page.  (Button at the top right of the page, below Metronome symbol.)
2.  Confirm GLOBAL MIDI MAPPING>MINIMALSTIC.  (Note what your original setting was to return to it when finished with this experiment.)
3.  Delete anything in white box in the bottom half of the page.  (Select any existing row, then click the delete button at the bottom right of the page.)
4.  Return to the main graphic user interface page.
5.  Place your cursor on the 4th (furthest to the right pedal) and right click--it will say SUSTAIN PEDAL; 0 (=OFF); MIDI.
6.  In the dropdown box at the top, click and replace SUSTAIN PEDAL>SOSTENUTO PEDAL.  Click the dot (adding a check mark to it), so that the software will “Ignore the sustain pedal”
7.  Click the MIDI dropdown box>ASSIGN MIDI EVENT and click ASSIGN MIDI EVENT.  (This is the "learning/teaching part . . .")
8.  White pop-up box appears:  MIDI LEARN: PEDAL 4; MOVE THE MIDI CONTROLLER THAT YOU WANT TO ASSIGN . . .
9.  On the Yamaha MX88 keyboard, depress the hardware “sustain” pedal.  The White pop-up very briefly adds a sentence:  ASSIGNED TO CONTROLLER 64
10.  Now , again, press the Yamaha MX88 hardware pedal to confirm the Pianoteq Pedal 4 graphic (last pedal on the right) goes down.
11.  Return to OPTIONS MIDI page and you will see a row of content related to what was just done has been added to the previously blank section.
12.  Press Yamaha MX88 hardware pedal again, and you will see the MIDI messages move in the top white box on the OPTIONS MIDI page (confirming communication)
13.  If you wish to save this functionality, click the GLOBAL MIDI MAPPING dropdown and click SAVE AS and give it a name.

Note:  When experimenting with this using my Soleman MIDI Controller, it's metal pushbuttons which are set as “momentary” in the Soleman Editor did not work, without me changing the Pianoteq>OPTIONS>MIDI field “SET” to “TOGGLE.”

To return the software to normal pedal functionality, return to the GLOBAL MIDI MAPPING dropdown and choose the setting you orignally noted/started with.

**Final Soleman Settings:
Footswitch Name MOZ  UNA   SOS    SUS
Switch Action    Momentary    Momentary    Momentary    Momentary
Default State      OFF    OFF    OFF    OFF
Message Type    CC      CC      CC      CC
MIDI Channel        1         1          1         1
On Data 0          119        67       66       64
On Data 1               0        0          0         0
Off Data 0           119        67       66       64
Off Data 1               0         0          0        0