Topic: Sustain - Set To Glide

[DaveD]

I have set my sustain pedal to Glide for use with the PedalSteelSlde voice. I am looking for the ideal settings for the Glide control ie. UpDown, Range, On Speed and Off Speed to give this voice maximum authenticity.

Thanks,
DaveD

[mikf]

I am not sure about pedal steel, but with guitar I usually set the pedal to a range of about 2 semi tones. I make full up = full pitch. Then I depress the pedal a little just a fraction before I play the note and ease back to full pitch for the slide. I control the speed with my foot. Just experiment and practice, and you will soon get a feel for what works.. I always slide up to the note.
You can also get a nice tremolo effect by oscillating your foot on the pedal.
Don't overdo it.
Mike

[DaveD]

Thanks Mike, I'll give it a try but I am still struggling.
DaveD

[mikf]

What kind of pedal are you using?
It needs to be an expression pedal, Yamaha FC 7 or similar. To check you have it set right, take the following steps
1. Check full up is full pitch.
2. Push full down and check it drops a couple of semi tones
3. Depress a bit , half way roughly, and back off to full up. You should hear a nice slide up to full pitch. Practice this till you get a feel for speed.
4. If you feel this is too much or too little slide, or too much or too little foot movement, experiment with the range. It’s a personal feel thing.
Also make sure the pedal position and spring load are such that it’s comfortable to make the small foot movement required, adjust if it’s not.
Are you already competent at using a sustain pedal? Some people never use one, so they might have problems with easy foot control. You need to be able to control the right foot without really thinking about it. It has to be reflex.
Mike

[DaveD]

Mike, thanks for your further advice. Perhaps the lack of experience with the sustain pedal is part of my problem.

DaveD

[mikf]

I never found it difficult but then I played piano all my life where using sustain is second nature, and I also played drums where using both feet to play bass drum and hi hat in rhythm is normal. On the other hand present me a set of organ bass pedals to play with my left foot and I am snookered! So I definitely understand that this pitch bend control by pedal might not come easily to everyone.
Mike