pedals (mp3 included)

[cryptkeeper]

Hi

A week ago I bought a Roland HP-2e digital piano. Before that I had a cheap keyboard with no pedals. The piano however has pedals, and this is new to me.
I am self-taught and I don't know what to do with the pedals.
I asked a guy and he said I constantly have to press the right (damper) pedal and sometimes release it by hearing when to release it.

But when I do that there's always an echo when I play. Or do I just have to press the sustain pedal?

I've made 3 short recordings with diffirent pedal action. Is one of those recordings correct or are they all wrong.
Here's the sheet in case you want it.
https://users.pandora.be/lanparty/sheet.zip

Damper: Playing it without lifting the damper
https://users.pandora.be/lanparty/damper.mp3

Damper2: Same as above but with lifting the damper somtimes
https://users.pandora.be/lanparty/damperlift.mp3

Sustain: Playing it with the sustain pedal
https://users.pandora.be/lanparty/sustain.mp3

What's the correct way to do it?

Thanks in advance!

[allchopin]

Your pedals, first of all, I think you have confused.  I'm not sure what the damper pedal is (assuming you mean the sostenuto pedal) is actually the sustain pedal, which holds out every note you play (sounds slurred).  The best recording would be a mix between the first and second mp3's, leaning more toward #2.  However, in between pedalling, lift and re-articulate quicker, that way the notes don't slur between measures but there is no real audible pause in pedaling. A.k.a., each time you want to redo the pedal, lift and press instantly, like a hiccup.

[bernhard]

Have a look at this thread for a descritpion of pedals and their fuctions:


https://www.pianoforum.net/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi?board=stud;action=display;num=1075762128

Best wishes,
Bernhard.

[rlefebvr]

I have the same piano.

The right pedal is your sustain pedal and learning to properly use it takes lots of time. It sustains every note you play until you release it.

The middle pedal sustains the first note you play only after you use it. So if you play C E G. C will resonate, but not EG.

The left pedal is a damper pedal and is used to bring the sound down of the notes you are playing.

This is all explained in the book you should have gotten when you bought your piano.

Hope this helps.

[cryptkeeper]

Thanks for all the replies.
I've looked in my book and it sais the right pedal is the damper pedal, the middle is the sostenuto pedal and the left is the soft pedal.

It doesn't matter what they are called, I know what you guys mean.
I have still one question though. If you are able to play legato without the pedal, do you press him?

[bernhard]

I have still one question though. If you are able to play legato without the pedal, do you press him?

Yes, in certain specific cases.

You can sustain a single note by keeping the key depressed, and in this way sotpping the damper form going back to the string and silencing it. But the opnly vibrating string will be the one you are holding with your finger.

By depressing the damper pedal all dampers will be lifted, which means that all the strings will vibrate in ressonance with the note you are pressing. You can actually hear this very clearly: paly a note a dn hold it without the pedal, and then with the pedal. You will immediately hear the difference.

This means that depressing the damper pedal not only sustain the sound of a note as it adds "colour" to it.

Use of the damper pedal is one of the most important ways to give tone colour to your playing, in addition to its sustaining role.

Best wishes,
Bernhard.

[leemay001]

I think your question has been answered well enough but I would to say that I like the piece. Is there a site to download it from?
~Lee~

[cryptkeeper]

Thank you Bernhard! I think that answers my question.

Leemay001: You can download the sheet at the beginning of this thread.
I've provided the link, just above the mp3's.
It's a short and easy piece, but I like it.
Enjoy!

[faulty_damper]

I have the same piano.

The right pedal is your sustain pedal and learning to properly use it takes lots of time. It sustains every note you play until you release it.

The middle pedal sustains the first note you play only after you use it. So if you play C E G. C will resonate, but not EG.

The left pedal is a damper pedal and is used to bring the sound down of the notes you are playing.

This is all explained in the book you should have gotten when you bought your piano.

Hope this helps.

The middle pedal is the "sostenuto" pedal.  That pedal activates only certain mutes, usually the bass notes.  It doesn't sustain the first note you play only after you use it as you've said.  At least not on a real piano.  It might do that on the Digital, though, but I don't know about that one.

[faulty_damper]

Quote Bernhard in the link to the other thread:

"middle pedal  - sostenuto pedal. Press a key and before releasing it, press the middle pedal. It will raise the damper corresponding to that single key, which is allowed to vibrate freely - but not the other strings. "

Really?  What kind of piano are you all referring to?  That's not what happens on the Yammie baby grand...?  On the Yammie, it only raises the bass note dampers of the first two octaves.  So if you play a note above those octaves (like Middle C) and use the sostenuto, you'll only get an echo of that note as the damper of Middle C will have silenced that note but the bass strings were allowed to vibrate.

But, what you've described is the kind of pedal action that I've been looking for.  And it doesn't exist... does it? Tell me it does!  Tell me you are right about that action because that would be great for some pieces which would require it.

[rlefebvr]

The middle pedal is the "sostenuto" pedal.  That pedal activates only certain mutes, usually the bass notes.  It doesn't sustain the first note you play only after you use it as you've said.  At least not on a real piano.  It might do that on the Digital, though, but I don't know about that one.

Yes, that is the way it is on my real piano also, but not on this Digital. Like most digitals, the pedals work a little differently depending on the make and model.
So yes, I stand by what I said, except to add that any notes held before the pedal is used will vibrate and not just to one note like I said before.

[bernhard]

Quote Bernhard in the link to the other thread:

"middle pedal  - sostenuto pedal. Press a key and before releasing it, press the middle pedal. It will raise the damper corresponding to that single key, which is allowed to vibrate freely - but not the other strings. "

Really?  What kind of piano are you all referring to?  That's not what happens on the Yammie baby grand...?  On the Yammie, it only raises the bass note dampers of the first two octaves.  So if you play a note above those octaves (like Middle C) and use the sostenuto, you'll only get an echo of that note as the damper of Middle C will have silenced that note but the bass strings were allowed to vibrate.

But, what you've described is the kind of pedal action that I've been looking for.  And it doesn't exist... does it? Tell me it does!  Tell me you are right about that action because that would be great for some pieces which would require it.

It exists.

I would think that the likes of Borsendorfers, Steinways and Faziolis would have it as described. There are some people in this forum who actually own these pianos, plus performers who have played in a large variety of pianos (Hmoll, Robert Henry, Thracozaag, Meiting and others) Maybe they can be more precise.

However amongst digital pianos, I can tell you that the Yamaha Clavinova CLP970M definitely has the sostenuto pedal as described (and maybe other models as well - but this particular one I tried).

Best wishes,
Bernhard.

[faulty_damper]

Really?!   I'm still in disbelief.  I've been wanting a pedal action exactly like that for a while now and thought 'wouldn't it be great if a manufacturer actually invented that?'

WOW!  

[faulty_damper]

So yes, I stand by what I said, except to add that any notes held before the pedal is used will vibrate and not just to one note like I said before.

But the damper does silence the note.  Since the sostenuto only activates the bass note dampers, the strike of the key in the treble will cause the bass strings to vibrate.  So it will sound hollow because the string is only sounding because it's tuned to that frequency.