Calibration of the pedals
Last edited: 29. April 2024|Publishing date:6. April 2020|Setup
Sensors near the three pedals detect the movement of the (left) Una Corda-, (middle) Sostenuto/ Moderator and (right) Sustain- or Forte-Pedal.
The pedal sensors – like the keyboard sensors – are factory calibrated. However, a recalibration from time to time can be useful. Proceed as follows:
- Navigate to the “Pedal Calibration” area.
- Press Start – the pedals in the graphic turn grey.
- Wait until the system has first recognised the rest position of the pedals. This process takes a few seconds.
- Now step down the three pedals of your piano one after the other – and release them as you would with normal playing.
- Ready? Then press the Save button.
The next step is to adjust the pedal position, which is used to calculate the switching point (see next section).
Using pedals in professional applications
A tip for use in DAWs or software instruments. When using in these environments, you will probably want to maximise the use of the sensor data generated by our system, especially for the sustain pedal.
In this case, modify step 4 above and only press the sustain pedal up to the point where the dampers of all strings are raised on an acoustic instrument (to check: listen, and play, while the sustain pedal is slowly pressed downwards).
Instead of pressing the pedal even further from this acoustically relevant point, return it to the rest position instead.
Background:
This calibration reduces the distance over which the MIDI values generated by C. Bechstein Connect are determined. While the pedals of digital sound generators (synthesisers, etc.) focus on the distance that the pedal moves, in the world of piano makers the effect of the mechanics as a whole – including the influence on the sound – is considered.
As the dampers on piano software instruments are usually lifted at CC value 127, you can therefore make better use of the range because the desired effect in your software is actually reflected in the sound at the same point at which the change in the acoustic instrument (already) occurs.
However, your needs may be different when playing synthesiser sounds. Nevertheless, this method gives you a very intuitive way of matching the measurement path to the actual behaviour of your acoustic instrument (which we think is the main application).
Sensors near the three pedals detect the movement of the (left) Una Corda-, (middle) Sostenuto/ Moderator and (right) Sustain- or Forte-Pedal.
The pedal sensors – like the keyboard sensors – are factory calibrated. However, a recalibration from time to time can be useful. Proceed as follows:
- Navigate to the “Pedal Calibration” area.
- Press Start – the pedals in the graphic turn grey.
- Now step down the three pedals of your piano one after the other – and release them as you would with normal playing.
- Ready? Then press the Save button.
The next step is to adjust the pedal position, which is used to calculate the switching point (see next section).