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Good evening, I'm about to buy an NS3.
I have some questions about setting the Yamaha FC7 expression pedal to adjust the volume.
This pedal has three positions: zero, mid, and maximum, with the spring returning to the mid position.
When I try to adjust my pedal, I press the "ctrlped" key and then adjust the volume output value.
My problem is that I want to set the volume level for the mid position, not the zero position.
I don't know if this is very clear
How do I do this?
Thank you very much!
Wil
I have no idea what instrument you use your pedal with at the moment. And I don't know how you adjusted volume.
I don't see the FC7 the way you described it: In my eyes, the pedal has two limits like any other pedal: upper and lower volume. Where the lowest volume is zero and can't be adjusted like in other pedals. And the highest volume will lead to a controller value of 127 (in MIDI). When I got my NS3Compact, I removed the boost function from the pedal, so I can't tell you how to set the volume to what you call a middle position - it's probably not in the middle, that middle position that you set by yourself, but maybe around 70% or so, right?
As 'morphing' on the Nord Stage is a very variable way of shaping sounds, the pedal can be used not only for volume, but also for FX depth, tempo and much more. And you can set it in a way that any volume can be a starting point, not only zero. Often, I 'boost' volume just by fully depressing the pedal - and have normal volume in home position (zero pedal). I didn't find it useful anymore on the Stage 3 to have that boosting spring position halfway on the pedal. You will probably end up using the pedal for different purposes on every different program and won't want a fixed 'boosting' point anywhere on the pedal travel.
Just out of curiosity, I've got two FC7 pedals. There are NO electronic adjustments on either pedal, only pedal angle and spring tension.
I've also found the FC7's (at least the two that I have) do not provide a full scale range on any of my Nord instruments (I've use it with a NE2, NE3, NE5, NS3, NP5) regardless of the specific pedal setting on the Nord.
I've had much better luck with other pedals, that produced a really nice smooth 0-100 control for Swell and Control functions.
Current Gear: NS3C, NP5-88, NP5-73, Alesis QS7.1 & QS8.2, Hammond B3 with Leslie 122, Yamaha CP70, Yamaha C3 6' Grand, Roland D-05, Roland AX-Edge
I understood Groswilly in the sense that he activated the spring allowing the pedal to have part of its travel as a boosting section coming back to a certain point with reduced volume when lifting the foot.
I don't use a FC-7 for the control pedal jack any more, but I do use it to control organ swell. Reason: For wah and the like, the FC7 is too slow or sedate (I use a Moog EP3), but I like its long travel for volume control. I don't have any issues with the full scale range (0..100%) of the pedal - more pedal gain will only result in earlier 100%, that's all; pedal type is set to FC7.
FZiegler wrote: ↑13 Mar 2025, 01:41
I understood Groswilly in the sense that he activated the spring allowing the pedal to have part of its travel as a boosting section coming back to a certain point with reduced volume when lifting the foot.
I don't use a FC-7 for the control pedal jack any more, but I do use it to control organ swell. Reason: For wah and the like, the FC7 is too slow or sedate (I use a Moog EP3), but I like its long travel for volume control. I don't have any issues with the full scale range (0..100%) of the pedal - more pedal gain will only result in earlier 100%, that's all; pedal type is set to FC7.
Neither of my FC7's go to zero, doesn't matter what pedal setting I use (I actually get better scale/range with the roland setting). Bottom of the travel lands around 25-30. No problem getting to high 90's or 100.
I actually use a pair of DOD mini pedals on my live rig, because of size constraints. I'm using a pair of dunlop pedals in my studio. Good travel, well built, medium size (small than the FC7 which are huge compared to most other pedals).
Both the DOD and Dunlop work perfectly with respect to range and scale.
Current Gear: NS3C, NP5-88, NP5-73, Alesis QS7.1 & QS8.2, Hammond B3 with Leslie 122, Yamaha CP70, Yamaha C3 6' Grand, Roland D-05, Roland AX-Edge
Not sure if it's luck. I haven't been able to determine why my FC7's work the way they do and others (like yourself) don't seem to have the same issue.
I imagine it could be some sort of batch variation.
But I have 2 pedals and currently own and use 2x NS3 compacts, 2x NP5, and have had 3 prior Nord Electros (2, 3 and 5) so I'm sure it's not just something odd about my Nords or a random FC7 (since I own two).
Having used a range of volume/control pedals I'm not particularly fond of the FC7 format. It's a pretty large clunky format compared to the other pedals, and I really don't like the attached cord.
But its a personal preference and there isn't a right or wrong pedal, just what works for the individual user.
Current Gear: NS3C, NP5-88, NP5-73, Alesis QS7.1 & QS8.2, Hammond B3 with Leslie 122, Yamaha CP70, Yamaha C3 6' Grand, Roland D-05, Roland AX-Edge
Could be a batch variation, I also used my FC7 on all Nord Stage/Electro models I owned in the last 10 years, anyway making a measurement at TRS jack level should reveal the defect and maybe cleaning or replacing the pot would make them usable.
It is funny, what I like of FC7 is exactly what you don't, i.e. that it is larger than other pedals I own (even if not yet as large as a real Hammond expression) and bulkier/heavier so less subject to unwanted movements on the floor. I am not so fond of retractable cord as well, but it kind of works and so far I didn't have any issue with it (wrapping it around my hand after unplugging and before putting it back inside)
My live rig is where things get very space constrained, so pedal size is an issue. I've got everything mounted to a pedal board and use a custom wired snake/loom to connect pedals to the keyboards.
A single FC7 is larger than two of the mini pedals and my entire pedal board fits in a the front third of a drawer in a custom multi-drawer road box that has all of the PA system cabling, mic cords, snakes, power stringers, mics, DIs, etc.
It's definitely not for everybody as the road box is probably 200lbs and has to be moved in a van, but I know when the box is there, so is everything else that I need. On small gigs, I don't unload the road box from the van.
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Hello,
Thank you for your replies.
I currently use my pedal on a Yamaha CK88. But I just bought an NS3, which will replace my Yamaha in a few weeks (once I've gotten to grips with it and have stored all my livesets).
I just need to learn how to use my pedal from scratch to the max.
These are just new reflexes to acquire on a new instrument that I'm discovering.
I feel like I'll be asking questions here regularly! You're nice and responsive!
And sorry for the syntax errors: it's Google Translate doing the work.
