Topic: Can I use FC7 expression padal with i500 keyboard ?

[shirish]

Hi,
I have bought new i500. It has only one port for pedal control. The manual mentions that I can use it only as sustain pedal with FC4 or FC5 pedals.
Is there any way I can use expression control (volume control) on i500 keyboard ?
If not inbuilt, can I connect any external devices to create expression control with FC7 like pedals ?
Please help.
Thanks,
 

[BogdanH]

hello shirish, welcome to the forum.
As far I know, there's no way to use expression pedal (to control the volume) on i500.

Bogdan

[shirish]

Thank you @Bogdan

It may not be possible directly, but is it possible to use any external devices that will help controlling the volume ?
I am not expert at this but just imagining !
If I connect my Lineout to a device which also has a port for FC7 like expression inputs (basically potentiometers) and then the device connects its output to the mixer. I can then connect FC7 and control the volume. Is this possible ? Are there any such devices ?
Thanks in advance.

[BogdanH]

I don't know if there's a device that would make that possible. And even if there would be such a device, then that would only be a replacement for volume knob on your keyboard. That is, by pressing the pedal, you would change volume of the whole keyboard -and that's no what we want. With expression pedal we only wish to influence volume of what we're playing with left and/or right hand (not the volume of the style).
What I'm saying is, such solution would only be usable if you don't use the accompaniments (for example, you're only playing organ voice without using styles).

Bogdan

[SciNote]

I don't know if there's a device that would make that possible. And even if there would be such a device, then that would only be a replacement for volume knob on your keyboard. That is, by pressing the pedal, you would change volume of the whole keyboard -and that's no what we want. With expression pedal we only wish to influence volume of what we're playing with left and/or right hand (not the volume of the style).
What I'm saying is, such solution would only be usable if you don't use the accompaniments (for example, you're only playing organ voice without using styles).

Bogdan

This is not necessarily the case.  I learned how to play keyboard on a traditional home organ, and on those, at least on the models available at the time (late 1970's to early 1980's), the expression pedal controlled the volume of everything at once -- all keyboards, bass pedals, drums, and any backing automatic accompaniment, if one was in use.  To this day, one of my set-ups is a multi-keyboard system with bass pedals all going through a mixer, then to an amp and speakers.  And yes, I have a stereo expression pedal in line between the mixer and the amp that controls the volume of everything.  However, I normally only use the styles for the drums.

Without opening the keyboard and modifying the circuitry, there is no way to have an expression pedal control the volume of the I500's built-in speakers -- and the same is true of any of the current PSR-E keyboards, as well.  So, the only way that I know of to accomplish this is to essentially do what I did.  Use the phones jack as a line out, run the line through a stereo expression pedal, with the outputs of the expression pedal going to the inputs of a stereo amp and speakers.  Unless you're running other keyboards or audio equipment at the same time, you probably do not need a mixer.

You'll probably need to get an adapter plug that has a 1/4 inch stereo male plug that plugs into the I500's headphone jack and then splits that into two 1/4 inch mono jacks (left and right) to allow you to run the stereo signal through a stereo expression pedal, as the expression pedal will likely have separate left and right inputs and separate left and right outputs, all using 1/4 inch mono jacks.  And then, any adapters and audio cables you might need at that point depend on what kind of amp you're using and what kind of input jacks it has.

You definitely want to keep everything stereo.  If you just combine the left and right outputs of the I500 into a mono signal, you'll lose all sorts of imaging and fullness of the sound.

[shirish]

Thank you @BogdanH and @SciNote.

@BogdanH
Yes I understand that I will be controlling the full output volume and not just the lead or right part of the keyboard. But I will accept that limitation.

@SciNote
Yes, thanks for your help. The expression pedal FC7 of Yamaha does not have such 4 ports, 2 in + 2 out to keep the stereo in place, as you have mentioned. I have further questions, please help.
1   Clearly FC7 cannot be used. Do I have look for an alternate expression pedal ? Can you please suggest one ?
2   Additional 2 lines in and out can create noise pickup at the pedal, after several months of usage, as it is a moving part. Is this assumption reasonable ?
3   Also, this is a very long shot ... I have seen some other devices that work with MIDI out Port and let you connect an expression pedal. They call it MIDI Expression - please check https://www.audiofront.net/MIDIExpression.php   - Will this be useful to achieve volume control ? I wish to play this in live music on stage. So will this kind of thing work ? Off course i500, i see no separate MIDI out port, then I may have to buy MIDI Adapter that connects to USB or Phone out ? Again, I am not an expert, just imagining.

Thank you!!!

[SciNote]

You are correct in that you would not be able to use the FC7 with the method that I suggested using the external amp and speakers.  There are a variety of stereo volume pedals that have the left and right inputs and outputs like I described.  I believe I am using one by Boss, but I'll have to check it.  I do know that there are two kinds, related to the overall resistance or impedance of the pedal.  It's been a while since I bought mine, but I believe one type is for regular line-in levels, like what we would be using with the output of our keyboards, and the other type is for use with an electric guitar or other device that outputs a significantly lower level signal.  If you use the wrong type of pedal, then it will either be too sensitive, where just a small amount of pedal travel will go from silence to blasting, or not sensitive enough, where even full pedal travel would have little effect.

I have not noticed any real noise issues with the pedal I am using now, but I did notice noise with a previous model.  It was just a lower quality pedal that started going bad.  Also note, however, that most of the music I play is rock, pop, movie/TV themes, and other louder types of music, so I don't usually have very quiet passages where such noise would be more noticeable.

I took a look at the link you provided for those MIDI pedals.  Honestly, I know very little about MIDI.  I was wondering if having some sort of interface with MIDI could control the volume, but I don't think that overall keyboard volume is a MIDI function.  It seems to me that the volume of the notes being played by MIDI is dependent on the data being sent with each note, and the volume settings of the device that is playing the MIDI data.  I didn't see anything about overall volume control in the advertisement in that link.  However, maybe someone with more knowledge of MIDI can weigh in on this.

Finally, I imagine that you've been playing the keyboard and have determined that a pedal would be beneficial to you.  However, have you tried just experimenting with the touch sensitivity?  I've played a couple live gigs recently, and I didn't use my pedal for the gigs.  I was using a set-up where I stand up, so the only pedal I used was a sustain pedal on my PSR-E433 (I also use a Roland Gaia SH-01 synth with it).  And I didn't really miss the pedal -- I just use touch sensitivity to control the volume of the music while playing.  However, as I said before, I mainly play music that is typically a moderate to loud volume, without too many dynamic changes throughout the songs, so that would also play a part.

I'll post again once I get a look at the pedal that I'm using -- as well as the one that went bad -- and let you know what brand/model those are if that information is printed on the pedals.