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Problem with Yamaha P60, iControl, Garage Band, and Sustain Pedal

post #1 of 5
1/26/07 at 8:52pm
Thread Starter 
Ok, I've got my Yamaha P60 hooked up to my iControl via 6ft MIDI cable. The iControl goes into the MBP. For some reason, when I step on the sustain pedal, the iControl recognizes the proper sustain signal, but when it is released, the iControl interprets that as a signal to disable recording on the track in GB that is receiving from the keyboard. So it just keeps on sustaining. won't stop.

Any suggestiions?

update: if I yank the pedal plug from the back of the keyboard, the sustain stops....

taking a closer look at that damn generic pedal...
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post #2 of 5
1/27/07 at 10:51am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Celemourn View Post

Ok, I've got my Yamaha P60 hooked up to my iControl via 6ft MIDI cable. The iControl goes into the MBP. For some reason, when I step on the sustain pedal, the iControl recognizes the proper sustain signal, but when it is released, the iControl interprets that as a signal to disable recording on the track in GB that is receiving from the keyboard. So it just keeps on sustaining. won't stop.

Any suggestiions?

update: if I yank the pedal plug from the back of the keyboard, the sustain stops....

taking a closer look at that damn generic pedal...

second update: I used a program called MIDIMonitor to inspect what's going on. It looks like when I depress the sustain pedal the computer recieves the appropriate 'Hold Pedal' signal with a value of 127, as it should be (I think). When I release, however, the 'Hold Pedal' signal only drops down to about 24, rather than all the way to 0 (it sends several new 'Hold Pedal' signals, doing about 100, 80, 48, then finally 24).
A Conclusion is the place where you get tired of thinking. - Lesicus Stupidicus
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post #3 of 5
1/27/07 at 5:18pm
I understand sustain pedals to simply be closing a circuit and then opening it again. If the iControl uses a normal open/close sustain pedal the it's either the iControl misinterpreting the signal or converting it to the wrong value or perhaps the pedal isn't operating as fullopen/fullclosed. I'd try another pedal. (or if you're technical, attached a 1/4" jack to some small leads and close the circuit while monitoring the MIDI activity.

There is a newer design of sustain pedal that is similar to a voltage control pedal where they essentially have a potentiometer inside and adjust it's variable resistance amount. The more recent Yamaha's ship with this type and chances are the iControl is expecting a "normal" open/close unit. These new variable sustain pedals don't work on "old style" keyboards either.
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post #4 of 5
1/27/07 at 5:55pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hujib View Post

I understand sustain pedals to simply be closing a circuit and then opening it again. If the iControl uses a normal open/close sustain pedal the it's either the iControl misinterpreting the signal or converting it to the wrong value or perhaps the pedal isn't operating as fullopen/fullclosed. I'd try another pedal. (or if you're technical, attached a 1/4" jack to some small leads and close the circuit while monitoring the MIDI activity.

There is a newer design of sustain pedal that is similar to a voltage control pedal where they essentially have a potentiometer inside and adjust it's variable resistance amount. The more recent Yamaha's ship with this type and chances are the iControl is expecting a "normal" open/close unit. These new variable sustain pedals don't work on "old style" keyboards either.

Well, I rewired my sustain pedal so that it is now open/off, closed/on. The pedal itself is, sadly, not the Yamaha FC3, which has the half pedaling capability you've mentioned. Bummer for me, right? Anyway, before I rewired it, when I depressed it, the keyboard/iControl sent to the computer a series of 'Hold Pedal' midi signals with varying values, depending on how far it was depressed. Basically about 5-7, each being, I think, 24,48,80,100,127, in that order. When released, it went backward, 127,100,80,48,24. It did not send 0. After rewiring, it now starts at 0, but only goes to about 80. No big deal. BUT...

Now there is another problem. If the pedal is not depressed, the notes become silent. They are recorded accurately, it appears, but they cannot be heard in playback. those with the pedal depressed can be heard.

One other symptom that I've observed, is that every time I depress and release the pedal, it cycles the record button light (on the iControl) corresponding to the track that is using the piano. It also would actually cycle the record button within GarageBand, untill I fixed that by changing my keyboard's out to channel 2, instead of channel 1. Although the iControl (it communicates with GB using standard MIDI signals which it's commandeered) and its MIDI IN controller operate on separate ports, there seems to be some cross talk going on.
A Conclusion is the place where you get tired of thinking. - Lesicus Stupidicus
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A Conclusion is the place where you get tired of thinking. - Lesicus Stupidicus
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post #5 of 5
12/8/07 at 1:07pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Celemourn View Post

blah blah blah...

well, haven't updated this recently, but here's some new info, incase anyone else should be unfortunate to come across this same problem: It's not the iControl. I got fed up and bought the Yamaha UX16 MIDI interface, thinking, "Gee, if its made by Yamaha, surely it will work right."

No go. The problem persists. So that tells me that the problem is either in GarageBand, in the wiring in my piano, or in the pedal. More investigation is required to find out what exactly is going on.

C
A Conclusion is the place where you get tired of thinking. - Lesicus Stupidicus
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