Pedal range for Jazz/Gospel Players

[Steven Anderson]

Hi everyone,

Forgive me if this is in the wrong place, I feel like this query could have been relevant in 3 different forums. Happy to move it if need be.

My question is for Jazz and gospel players:

When you are playing on a console with a full 25-note pedal board, realistically how many notes do you actually use? (for those players who kick pedals, I understand many jazzers gig without pedals.)

I am looking to invest in a clonewheel rig I can fit into a smaller space when I move, probably a Nord C2D. I like that the Nord Midi Pedal board 27 has the expression pedal built in, but 27 notes seems really excessive for a jazz or gospel player.

I am early in my jazz studies, so I am still learning for myself, but my sense is that most jazz and gospel players only use the lowest octave to 10th of the keyboard.

I don't want to "shortchange" myself if I am mistaken on that, I want to get a rig that I can grow into fully, but also don't want to purchase a 27 note board I will use 16 notes of.

Thanks!

[muckelroy]

The story goes that when Laurens Hammond was planning the pedalboard on the Model A, he visited many pipe organs around town, and saw the visible wear and tear mostly localized to the bottom 25 notes. He never saw any wear and tear on the top 7 or so notes of most 32 note pedalboards, and so he settled on a 25 note pedalboard.

In reality, few play the top 7 or 8 notes of the 25 note pedalboard, but those who do would miss it if it wasn't there. A bigger component of this topic is muscle memory. If you learn to play on a Hammond 25 note pedalboard, you'd feel out of place if any of those notes went missing, but to ease the pain of a shorter (perhaps 16 note) board, make sure they are in the same position as before.

[enor]

C thru E (17 pedals) would be perfectly adequate for me.

[Sweet Pete]

I need the second F.18 will do.The Nord sticks were an adventure.No I'm not chopping a 25.

[bourniplus]

20 would be plenty for a jazz trio gig. 17 would still be OK. I've done jazz trio gigs with my very-modified M100, with its 13 pedals and dropped lower manual.

[muckelroy]

20! Why not 21?

Why stop there? Let's have 25!

good luck either way ;)

[lcid]

When I played gospel organ (Hammond RT3 + Leslie) for an integrated church, I mostly used the lowest 13 pedals. SO the rest of the 32 pedals were only used when I was working on classical music. YMMV

[delaware dave]

If 13 pedals work for you try these. You can plug an expression pedal directly into the pedal board and attach the expression pedal to the pedal board

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/det...SABEgIdg_D_BwE

[David Anderson]

Based on wear and tear I've seen on organs that have been used in churches, they rarely if ever play above the lowest octave.

[Silken Path]

Delaware Dave and Steven, here's an alternative to the Crumar. I've heard the Crumars are not for "fat footing."

http://www.jg3tech.com

I plan to do a mini-review of that pedal set for the forum, but for now I'm still communicating with the owner. He's a jazz keyboardist himself.

Steven, I play mostly hymns and have a Juno DS61 synthesizer sitting on a Gator table with the jg3 pedals under it. I'm using a Thomas organ J-leg bench with it, but you need a wide bench - an organ bench, in other words - to straddle it. So far I'm well pleased with the purchase and product support. The spacing is about the same as a traditional Hammond, and the pedals are back-hinged, too. I have a size 12 foot.

When I'm playing hymns, I try to play the low note on the pedals. With Gospel music, I just try to keep up with the chord changes, but what I call Gospel is not what some churches are playing. I like the 50s to 70s stuff. I'm getting by with the two octaves fine so far.

I originally planned to MIDI-fy a 13-note Hammond spinet to use with the Juno, but the parts to do it and the cost of making a nice case for it was about the same as getting the jg3. (The Hammond unit would get the nod for durability. It's already 50 years old.)

And you know what opinions are like, but I have the equivalent of a Roland PK-27 under my little Rodgers, and it's not as easy to play on as a real Hammond either.