S88 triple pedal with half-pedaling support?

ToddlerTN
ToddlerTN Member Posts: 16 Member
edited July 2022 in Komplete Kontrol

I’m looking for is a triple pedal with una corda, sostenuto and continuous sustain. Several NI Kontakt piano instruments support this in software, and I just purchased the S88 Mkii controller, so what pedal do I need to purchase to get this working? The Studiologic SLP3-D is the only triple pedal I can find that offers this (on/off for the left and center pedals, continuous for the right pedal), but it uses a single 1/4” TRS, and I can’t find any documentation about using this with the S88 Mkii. Help?

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Best Answer

  • Jeremy_NI
    Jeremy_NI Customer Care Posts: 9,298 mod
    Answer ✓

    Hey @ToddlerTN As mentioned in another post, I'm afraid these pedals are not supported in the end on the S Series keyboards, I'll get back to you on this topic.

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Answers

  • Brad Yost
    Brad Yost Member Posts: 350 Pro
    edited June 2022

    The Studiologic VFP3/15 works on the S88. It has one TRS & one MONO 1/4" plugs.

    I have a composer friend that uses it constantly. I believe that you have to program the S88 to invert the NC polarity switching to work.

    See this article: [https://support.native-instruments.com/hc/en-us/articles/115005166305-How-to-Configure-Sustain-Expression-Pedals-on-a-KOMPLETE-KONTROL-Keyboard?_ga=2.201929433.955282210.1653100029-1816333201.1653099959]

  • ToddlerTN
    ToddlerTN Member Posts: 16 Member

    Thanks Brad, but the VFP3/15 only has three open/closed switch pedals. I’m looking for a continuous sustain pedal to do half-pedaling.

  • Jeremy_NI
    Jeremy_NI Customer Care Posts: 9,298 mod
    Answer ✓

    Hey @ToddlerTN As mentioned in another post, I'm afraid these pedals are not supported in the end on the S Series keyboards, I'll get back to you on this topic.

  • Maarten
    Maarten Member Posts: 2 Member

    Hmm, that's a bit sad to hear.

    I just installed the Studiologic/ Fatar VFP3/15 on my S61 and only the left pedal can be used (as a sustain pedal). The middle and right one are just sitting there... So no sostenuto or mute or expression pedal.


    Would this be something Native Instruments can and would patch in a software update?

  • ToddlerTN
    ToddlerTN Member Posts: 16 Member
    edited June 2022

    JesterMgee is right. The VFP3/15 pedal is fully supported. I believe there’s even a YouTube video that shows someone configuring the KK keyboards for that pedal. It’s just three switched pedals, no continuous pedals.

  • Jeremy_NI
    Jeremy_NI Customer Care Posts: 9,298 mod

    I'm afraid that what supported means for these pedals is that one of the pedals can operate as a sustain pedal. We should get a couple of pedals to check soon, then we'll probably update this article accordingly. @ToddlerTN If you could find a link to that video, that would be great.

  • ToddlerTN
    ToddlerTN Member Posts: 16 Member
    edited June 2022

    I can’t find the video, but here’s what I remember.

    The VFP3/15 has three pedals and two connectors. One is mono (TS) and the other is stereo (TRS). Connect the TRS to pedal A input and the TS to pedal B. Next in Komplete Kontrol, click the MIDI icon button (top right) and configure both tip and ring of pedal A as switch type input. Map each input to control whatever MIDI CC is desired (for example –sustain is 64, sostenuto is 66, and soft pedal is 67). Now do the same for pedal B except you won’t have both tip and ring options since there’s only one pedal connected to this input. I believe the end result is that pedal A tip = 64, pedal A ring = 66, pedal B = 67.

    Studiologic/Fatar makes the SLP3D pedal which has one continuous pedal for sustain and two switch pedals for sostenuto and soft. That’s the perfect configuration for realistic classical piano pedaling. The problem is that it only has one cable with a TRS connector. If it had the same dual cabling output as the VFP3/15 then connecting it to one of the NI keyboards would be dead simple.

    It’s really frustrating that such a high end keyboard like the S88 doesn’t have a triple pedal with half-pedal support, especially when NI’s own Kontakt piano libraries support half pedaling. I’m currently doing it with three individual sustain pedals, which is sloppy given the way they each move about and slide around even on carpet.

  • Jeremy_NI
    Jeremy_NI Customer Care Posts: 9,298 mod
    edited July 2022

    @ToddlerTN I hear you, unfortunately that is not something that is likely to change. Still waiting for the pedals, once we'll be able to check this out, we will correct our Knowledge Base articles to make it clearer and avoid future headaches for users. I'm really sorry you had to go through this and maybe we can find some kind of compensation for all your effort.

  • Maarten
    Maarten Member Posts: 2 Member

    @JesterMgee, yes, I went true the entire setup and also watched this YouTube video by TD Cat Tech on Sustain Pedal Setup | Komplete Kontrol: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9BD2veB2RWY

    So tomorrow I will return my pedal set to the shop and will get a set of single pedals.

    @ToddlerTN , regarding your pedals sliding around I can advise you to combine them on a pedal board the way guitarist do, dual lock is your friend: https://youtu.be/IwxiQ8gQZK0?t=938

    @Jeremy_NI, yeah, it would be really good to have a lineup of pedals that are fully supported. Maybe an idea to get in touch with Studiologic/Fatar (or another pedal builder) to build a pedal set/ combo that would make the perfect match with KK S-keyboards?

  • Jeremy_NI
    Jeremy_NI Customer Care Posts: 9,298 mod

    @Maarten Working on that list after we test everything. Great idea for Fatar, I will forward this to our devs for the next generation of Komplete Kontrol keyboards as the hardware would need a change, so this won't happen for this one, I'm afraid.

  • ToddlerTN
    ToddlerTN Member Posts: 16 Member

    The ideal pedal device would be a triple with left and center being switched pedals combined on one TRS cable connected to KK Pedal A input, and right being a continuous pedal on its own TRS cable connected to KK Pedal B input. That would be fully functional on current Komplete Kontrol hardware.

    Fatar (Studiologic) actually already makes this pedal – it’s the SLP3D. All they would need to do for KK support is offer a variant changing the output from a single proprietary TRS connector (supported only by their own SL88 keyboard) to dual standard TRS connectors as outlined above. No changes would be needed on the Komplete Kontrol side at all. It would work right out of the box on existing KK keyboards.

  • ToddlerTN
    ToddlerTN Member Posts: 16 Member

    @Jeremy_NI – just checking to see if you’re still waiting on the pedals.

  • Jeremy_NI
    Jeremy_NI Customer Care Posts: 9,298 mod

    @ToddlerTN I have the pedals now but didn't have time yet to get to this. Hopefully I can do that soon, once things are a bit more quiet. Thanks for pinging me!

  • Yadi
    Yadi Member Posts: 1 Member
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