Does anyone use volume or expression pedals to control the overall volume of styles? I noticed that it doesn't work very well with expression messages CC#11 from a MIDI accordion due to the fact that the bellows of an accordion have to change directions so often. It is not the same as using an expression pedal.

In a similar vein, about 20 years ago Cakewalk had a PC app that would allow interactive control over speed and volume when playing a midi file. Once cay that the Roland Dicover 5m would be a hardware version of it.

I might add that all these features are designed to give more control and "expression" but does this get in the way of live performance?

I use it all the time exactly for expression when I think it is required. accordion is one good example.
Also, sometimes the volume I have set may not be appropriate for the situation and it needs to be adjusted up or down on the fly !!

Ray

Are you saying that you are controlling your arranger from a MIDI/digital accordion, or playing the accordion patch in the arranger with an expression pedal?

If you don’t use an expression pedal (Or some form of expression control) then your sound will be flat, (You cannot use the effects as a substitute) and very unnatural, the art is choosing the amount of expression for each voice/style and setting it up in a pre-set. (DAWs normally use the modulation wheel for expression as they make multiple runs so that modulation can be added later)

Bill

What Bill said.
When you hear an accordion player, he uses the bellows for effect, which is what I do with the pedal.

Ray

Personally I never use a volume pedal with an arranger.
Last time I did was on my Hammond B3..back in the 1960's.....

after that I always used a Morley vol Pedal on a few keyboards until arranger Kbs were introduced..

http://www.morleypedals.com/tag/volume-pedals/

Altough the question was not about main voices expression, but about midi-style volume, this still holds true... you don’t want to just comtroll the volume of the style parts, you also want to comtroll the expression of your main sounds..

Thats why you could use 2 expression pedals.. (if your keyboard only supports 1, you could use a midified expression pedal as the 2nd one) one pedal for the style part volume, orthe ballance between main voices and style parts... and the other for thos instruments in your performance that need direct volume comtroll (organ) or expressio or other form of modulation comtroll(brass/winds/strings)etc) ....

Also keep in mind that many sounds like piano/percusion don’t work well with expression.. mostly the choice is using a damper or an expression pedal with your left foot..

There is a huge difference however betwwen what many keyboards allow you to assign, some keyboards only allow you to assign a single parameter to a pedal, where others allow you to assign as many as you want...

I use the FCB1010. It has 2 Expression type of pedals and 10 additional foot switches. Each can be programmed independently. Awesome pedal for arranger keyboards and more.

That's what I thought; I noticed that many arranger players do not use expression on the auto accompaniment parts. Why is that? Why do you not use expression yourself?

The FCB1010 has a lot going for it at a low price point. I have one myself, but I replaced the factory eprom with an uNo chip, which allows more functions and easier editing. However, it is still limited for my needs in that it allows only 5 CC messages or something like that for each switch/patch.