Nord User Forum

[orcoaffamato]

What do you think about the Nord Pedal Keys 27?
It's one month that I have it and sometimes I find it difficult to play it (toe-heel), the lenght of the pedals isn't enough for me (my shoe size is EU 46 - UK 11 - US 12) , so I was thinking to replace the pedals with custom ones made by a woodworker.

[tacitus]

There's a cunning logic behind the C2/D's baroque organ. Most organs of that era had straight pedalboards and heel and toe playing was not generally used (J S Bach only 'toed'). So having a straight set of pedals like the Nord ones is perfectly in keeping. You wouldn't expect a pedalboard to AGO/RCO standards for B3-type stuff, still less Vox and Farfisa.

While you can play later music for church organ perfectly well with the Nord baroque stops (and careful use of the couplers), I think they did a fair job in matching the baroque sound set to the physical organ they already had. You can in fact buy a 30-note radial pedalboard to proper dimensions for about half the cost of the Nord pedals, so if that's your thing, probably best to do that. I'm a UK size 10 (Euro 44) and have no problems with the Nord pedals, but if I were a full-blown church organist I'd probably want a curved set of pedals, if only to match what I'm likely to find in a church (although, as it happens, my local church has a one-octave straight pedalboard which I do find quite difficult. I have taken my Nord into church before, not so much for the pedals as to have two manuals and be able to do echo stuff properly, especially with the trumpet stop.

[orcoaffamato]

I already checked the Viscount pedalboards, but they are too heavy (about 34kg), so I'll just change the pedals with longer ones (I only need 10 cm more to be comfortable).

[tacitus]

Have a look at this website:

http://www.pedamidikit.org/

They're in Italy, but they offer a good variety of formats and will be cheaper and more predictable than getting it made yourself (unless you know a craftsman well enough to get a really cheap rate!). I couldn't find a weight on the description, but probably less than the Viscount pedals (the ones I looked at were about 90-something pounds!)

I did consider this approach but chose the Nord pedals in the end, largely so I had the whole Nord kit including Half-moon switch, case, stand and their pedalboard. Funds permitting, I may yet get an AGO spec board.