[Electronic Piano/Keyboard Pedal Polarity] What to do when notes sustain even though you’re not pressing the pedal

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[Electronic Piano/Keyboard Pedal Polarity] What to do when notes sustain even though you’re not pressing the pedal

• bloggersunao
  I’ve been interested in music since I was a child. I joined the brass band in junior high, and I’ve been playing in bands as a keyboardist since high school. I’m not a professional and have mostly taught myself piano and keyboard, but my goal is to share articles that offer a bit of help from a beginner’s perspective. My blog is a mixed bag where I casually post about things I’m into, like anime and games, but above all, my motto is to have fun!

Are you using a pedal from a different manufacturer?

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To get straight to the point, the main reason the sound sustains even when the pedal isn’t pressed is that the keyboard and the sustain (damper) pedal are made by different manufacturers.

I will describe the situation from when I previously encountered this phenomenon.

• The keyboard is KORG.
• The pedal is Roland.

Both are well-known manufacturers.

I originally had a Roland stage piano and had bought a pedal to match it.

When I later bought a KORG as an additional unit, I figured I could use the same pedal, so I brought it along to the live show.

And then the above phenomenon occurred.

Can't pedals be used for anything?

In the sense of lengthening the sound, it’s the same, right?

That's what I thought, butPedals have something called polarity.I will do it.

What is pedal polarity?

Sustain pedals have polarity, and they are divided into two types: normally open and normally closed.

And it seems that this polarity varies depending on the manufacturer.

• KORG is normally open
• YAMAHA and Roland are normally closed.

So it didn’t work well because KORG and Roland use different polarities, right?

If the polarity is the same, you can sometimes use products from different manufacturers together (e.g., YAMAHA and Roland).

However, it may vary depending on the release timing and other factors, so basically it's preferable to stick with the same manufacturer.

That said, you want to use what you have, right?

Here are some ways to deal with it.

If the polarity is different

Even if the polarity is different, there are several ways to deal with it, so please use these as a reference.

Check whether the keyboard side has a function to switch polarity.

The equipment has a function that allows the polarity to be switched.

Whether this is available depends on the equipment, so please read the manual and look for it.

I will explain it with photos later, limited to KORG keyboards only!

Try turning on the power while keeping the pedal pressed down

On some equipment, if you power it on while the sustain pedal is pressed down, it may be possible to switch the polarity.

It feels like a bit of a gamble, though...

Try changing the polarity on the KORG m50 keyboard

I’ll explain how it works using the KORG keyboard I own. It may vary depending on the release period and the equipment, but since it’s KORG, the operation might feel similar, so please use this as a reference.

We’ll proceed with the settings using the group of buttons enclosed in the red frame on the right side of the screen in the image above.

This is a close-up of the area that was enclosed in a red frame earlier.

General basic settings are configured from the GLOBAL button. On the m50, the area you press lights up red.

For now, if you see this screen, you're good to go!

From here, we'll select more pages.

To display the settings screen, press the button labeled 'PAGE SELECT' on the right side of the screen.

Then the screen will change like this. This time we want to configure the pedals, so select Controllers, which is highlighted with a red frame.

For the M50, it has an LCD screen, so just touch it as is.

There is something called “Damper Polarity” at the section underlined in red.

Since I’m not good at English, I looked it up and found that “polarity” literally means polarity (lol).

Touch the arrow part to change the polarity.

I had already changed the polarity, so it was shown with a plus sign, but (-) KORG STANDARD was also displayed.

I think it’s set to this at first, so please match the pedal with the polarity (if the sound keeps sustaining, you need to switch to the opposite polarity from the one that was set).

If you can change the polarity, you need to save that state; otherwise, you'll have to set it every time you turn the power off and on.

Touch the upper right where the arrow points.

The text “Write Global Setting” appears.

So it’s asking, “Do you want to overwrite it?” right?

You’ll be asked about twice, but if you select OK, it will overwrite successfully, and the next time you power it on, it will start with the polarity settings preserved.

Please follow the same steps when you want to revert it.

That was a long one, but that wraps up the KORG edition on how to switch polarity!

Thank you for your hard work.

Summary

If you don’t know about pedal polarity, you can end up struggling with an unexpected pitfall.

If you know about it, it's nothing to worry about, but it's true that you’ll panic the first time you run into it.

It seems that some recent sustain pedals can switch polarity, so if buying one for each manufacturer is a hassle, using that kind of pedal is one option.

Well then, enjoy your keyboard life!