Using sustain pedal in midi piano recording.

[HenriettaAtkin]

Hi Pianists,

I'm trying to create that beautiful legato sound while recording piano in Logic X.

I'm not unhappy with what I'm getting so far -- it's improving -- but sometimes the sustain pedal can sound kind of muddy.

I will manually add and remove pedal markings in the score view in the edit window, and that can improve the sound.

Sometimes I will lengthen or shorten notes in the piano roll mode, tweaking here and there, to improve the overall sound.

In general, one should pedal every beat OR every other beat OR when the harmony changes OR whatever produces a beautiful sound.

Just looking for some tips from you other piano-lovers out there! Thank you

[Len911]

https://youtu.be/QTvwrd6Zb5I

midi cc 64

draw in the automation for sustain pedal, (it's either off or on)

legato:

Gate Time: The term gate time stems from analog synthesizers, and refers to the time between pressing and releasing a key. This parameter affects the absolute note duration or length, which can be different from the musical note value. The practical effect is to make notes in the region more staccato or legato. The parameter range is related to the original note lengths. Fix produces extreme staccato. Values below 100% shorten the notes. Values above 100% lengthen the notes. The “legato” setting produces a completely legato effect for all notes, no matter what their original lengths, eliminating all space between notes in the affected region.

https://youtu.be/UABU0j00VDs
force legato-select-shift-hyphen

[HenriettaAtkin]

Len,

Thanks! Those were some very helpful videos, especially the one about selecting groups of notes and making them all legato by using Shift Hyphen.

[Len911]

yvw

[edmondredd]

Generally, being aware of phrases and when the harmony changes is key to playing the sustain pedal well.
And most of the time, you should change pedal where the phrase or harmony ends.
That's a very broad general rule of the pedal use.
But as a golden rule, and that also applies to music in general, use and trust your ears. If it sounds good, it doesn't really matter what you are doing specifically.

I do also work with Logic, and I find that the piano roll is your main area of focus, from note velocities, note lengths and sustain pedal.
There are also other kind of pedals that can affect the timbre of the piano, like the dampening pedal ( I love that one). You could also check it out.

[artturner]

Most of the the time I'm happy with what gets recorded from the sustain pedal, BUT...

When I do need to tweak the pedal, I usually find that the pedal release should be just a few ticks past the attack of the new notes or chord, and then I try to put a decent amount of space before the new pedal on (up to right before the release of the new notes). That little bit of space with the pedal off helps clear up muddiness sometimes. I hope that makes sense.

Art

[HenriettaAtkin]

Edmond and Art,

Very helpful. Thank you, gentlemen!

Edmond -- you mentioned working mainly in piano roll mode. How do you edit pedal from there? (I usually do it in score mode).

Art -- very helpful about the few ticks worth of pedal attack! How do you ascertain your ticks in score mode, or can you at all? Also, what's with the weird crooked line in score mode that attaches the pedal to the notes? Why not just straight down?

[Len911]

https://youtu.be/rKPpX9M6hpI?list=RDQTvwrd6Zb5I

[edmondredd]

The video Len911 says it all,
In the roll editor, there's a small landscape mixer. Make it active and choose from the drop down menu the sustain.
This drop down menu comes in handy especially if you're working with strings, brass or any other instrument, where you want to control breath, modulation, sustain or any other midi control,

[HenriettaAtkin]

Thank you.

I did go through the midi draw with my teacher, and it is very handy for tweaking pedal.