Expression Pedal

Post by **DJKeys** » 15 Jun 2011, 19:08

I am using a Yamaha FC-7 expression pedal with my Electro 3. Is there any way to have it simply control the volume of the entire instrument? I would like to bring the volume to 0 playing samples, piano or organ. The options seem to be Org swell/piano vol org swell/sample vol/ etc. Is there a way to control all three?

Also, on organ patches that use a lot of drive, bringing back the volume also decreases the drive. It would seem to me that the effects level should not change with the volume but it does.

Any input would be appreciated.

Thanks-

dj

JaZzMaN251 · Post by **JaZzMaN251** » 15 Jun 2011, 23:07

DJKeys wrote:I am using a Yamaha FC-7 expression pedal with my Electro 3. Is there any way to have it simply control the volume of the entire instrument? I would like to bring the volume to 0 playing samples, piano or organ. The options seem to be Org swell/piano vol org swell/sample vol/ etc. Is there a way to control all three?

No, the manual is clear about this.

Control Pedal
1⁄4" stereo connector for a pedal of the potentiometer type (also known as expression pedals). A connected pedal can be used as a swell pedal for the organs, a volume pedal for pianos and samples and also as a controller for two of the effects: the P-wah and the ring modulator (RM).

Also, on organ patches that use a lot of drive, bringing back the volume also decreases the drive. It would seem to me that the effects level should not change with the volume but it does.

Actually, this is more a 'feature' than a bug or shortcoming...
On real (Hammond) organs, the swell pedal controls the volume of the signal that is going into the different tube-amplifiers which create the natural 'growl' of the sound.
When rising the volume, pressing the swell pedal, the 'growl' or drive increases. This is what Nord wants to simulate.

Aside from that, the Nord also simulates the variaty in tone when using the swell pedal.
The tone of an organ when the swell pedal is up isn't the same as it is pressed down.

But I totally see your point in where you want to have the ability to just change the volume of all instruments.
I'm afraid it's not an option. You will have to use an external volume pedal for that (from the outputs of the keyboard), which will actually perform as you described in your opening post. All instruments, same amount of effects all over the volume range.

Post by **DJKeys** » 15 Jun 2011, 23:37

JaZzMaN-

Thanks very much. The second part of your response really makes sense and shows how much I know about Hammonds, which is next to nothing LOL! Very interesting how the Nord emulates that stuff so accurately.

I will probably get a Yamaha FC-9 which has the two VCAs and can control the actual output volume on two different instruments at once, as I am using the NE3 and the Wave together on stage. It also can use one of the outputs as a control source as well.

Thanks again for your input.

jazzystu · Post by **jazzystu** » 16 Jun 2011, 01:02

Yep, that's right.

On a hammond, you have the preamp, which is beautifully made and has no overdrive ever.

A leslie is a different animal. On a proper one (145/147 in this case) you have a preamp tube (122/142 have 2) and this is what distorts when you jam too much signal into it. If you ever do have a valve leslie, the preamp tubes are the ones to muck about with. They all sound hugely different. I had one old military radio tube which made the fattest overdrive ever, despite testing the same as the other ones. The power tubes only really start overdriving when you wring the $hit out of them, then the different shaps give a different sound. The "tube" ones sounding more harsh than the "bottle" ones.

At some point, the Nord C4 will probably feature the ability of swapping virtual tubes.

Sadly, with my old 147 and C3, if you wanted a nice overdrive sound, you almost had to deafen the whole village and also give yourself tinnitus.

Post by **DJKeys** » 16 Jun 2011, 01:10

Great Stuff! I have never owned an instrument with modeled sounds, and now I own 2! Good forum here.

hammondking · Post by **hammondking** » 16 Jun 2011, 06:00

Related to this question, I'm using a Romand ev-5 (I believe) and even with the dial all the way down I get a significant amount of volume with the pedal all the way back. Aside from an external pedal is there a pedal (or on the Ne3) that will bring it down to nearly quiet?

Post by **DJKeys** » 17 Jun 2011, 20:18

I just got the Yamaha FC-9 yesterday, and this setting is adjustable. It is very easy to set it so that the volume goes to 0 when the pedal is all the way back. It controls the output of both instruments perfectly.

jackwarner · Post by **jackwarner** » 30 May 2019, 20:35

I have an Electro 4 SW and have just purchased a Yamaha FC-7 expression pedal. With regard to RM, does the expression pedal only control the dry/wet signal of RM? As when I adjust the pedal is does not change the rate of modulation, in this case RM.

Post by **maxpiano** » 30 May 2019, 23:46

jackwarner wrote:I have an Electro 4 SW and have just purchased a Yamaha FC-7 expression pedal. With regard to RM, does the expression pedal only control the dry/wet signal of RM? As when I adjust the pedal is does not change the rate of modulation, in this case RM.

Yes, as written in the NE4 manual...

Ring Modulation (RM) is a an effect that multiplies two signals with each other . In the Electro 4D, these are the instrument audio signal and a modulation sine wave . The results can be range from a subtle coloring to screaming, inharmonic, bell type sounds . The Rate knob controls the frequency of the sine wave, also perceived as a “modulation rate” .
A connected control pedal will control the amount of the ring modulation . If no control pedal is connected, the amount defaults a medium setting and the Rate knob can be used to produce a manually controlled ring modulation effect .

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