Best Sustain Pedals For Digital Pianos/MIDI Keyboards 2022
- marshallsoundz
- May 22, 2018
- 6 min read
Today we are going to be looking at the best sustain pedals for digital pianos & MIDI keyboards. I believe that sustain pedals are often overlooked & having one that works properly is important for serious musicians.
I spent 5 years touring & testing out different sustain pedals in order to reach a conclusion that highlights the most reliable sustain pedals.
Table of Contents
Best Sustain Pedals – A Quick Glance
IMAGE PRODUCT DETAILS Editor’s Pick
Non-Slip Rubber Plate
Durable
Extended Cable
Feels Like Real Sustain Pedal
Check Latest Price Runner Up
Open Polarity
Works Great With MIDI Controllers
Great For Gigging
Check Latest Price Budget Pick
Universal
Inexpensive
Works With All Brands
Non-Slip
When I first started touring, my sustain kept sticking during shows and holding notes down. I ended up realizing that it was because it was a problem with having cracked software and a laptop wasn’t properly updated.
What Is A Sustain Pedal?
The sustain pedal is the most common in music and especially in the piano world. This allows you to play a note or chord and have the note right out even though your hands aren’t still pressing the notes down.
It is essential for any serious musician as you will need to sustain notes out during different parts of songs. Having the right product for MIDI keyboards is necessary for all musicians.
MIDI keyboards are my favorite on the market today. I recently spent 2 weeks testing out different MIDI controllers and you can check out what I learned about my favorites here.
No matter what kind of keyboard you are using, you will find yourself desiring this tool. I think it’s kind of an overlooked product as so many companies make them. I hope you find what you need in this post and find it helpful.
How Much Money Should I Spend On A Sustain Pedal?
This depends on how often you want to replace it. Something that will increase the lifetime of your product is to not stomp as hard as you can on it. This sounds like common sense, but when you perform live it’s easier said than done. This tip will increase the life of your product by a lot.
Let’s take a look below at the best sustain pedals currently available.
1) KORG PS-1
The Korg PS-1 is the best sustain pedal for touring musicians. With its steel frame construction and reliability, it’s currently my favorite selection.
A lot of sustain pedals are currently built poorly and break after a few weeks, this has lasted me years at a time.
I like this because technology has made it great for MIDI controllers.
A lot of sustain pedals are put together poorly and the rubber falls off after a couple shows making them slide around. This is put together a lot better than most and won’t fall apart on you right away.
Having something that is made of metal also helps because cheap products can fall apart fairly quickly if not tightened weekly.
2) M-Audio SP-2
The M-Audio SP-2 is the best sustain pedal on a budget. While it’s extremely inexpensive, it also comes with a break it and replace it type of deal. I’ve broken a few of these in my day, but they still last you a decent amount of time and work well.
There is a polarity switch so you can switch from having positive and negative polarity.
This just means that you can have it so when you hit a note it automatically sustains, rather than having to use your foot to sustain. I typically don’t like this function on any pedal, but some people like to have it.
3) Yamaha FC-5
The Yamaha FC5 is a fantastic sustain pedal. I like this because the spring-action feels really good with your foot. I’ve played on quite a few sustain pedals in which the spring action just doesn’t cut it.
This isn’t your traditional sustain pedal as it is rectangle-shaped, but for live use, I prefer these.
These aren’t going to break as fast as M-Audio products.
You can change the polarity on this and it works with products other than just Yamaha keyboards.
4) Roland DP-10
The Roland DP-10 is a built extremely solid and is your traditional style sustain pedal.
This is overall the best traditional style sustain pedal that I have used on the market. The only thing that I didn’t like was that the cord could be a little bit longer for when you need extra length.
5) Casio SP-20
The Casio SP-20 surprised me when playing on it the other day. I do like Casio, but in the past, I have run across some of their products that I just found to be super entry-level.
This is not the case in any way with this product. As you can see, it is a traditional style that has a sleek design.
Something to note with this is that it is rather slim compared to other products. The cable is really nice and doesn’t rip easily and I think this is something I look for in products as it’s frustrating replacing them.
Things To Consider When Buying A Sustain Pedal
Live Or Studio?
Are you using your sustain pedal for live music or for studio sessions? This is important because some of them have rubber stoppers on the bottom and keep them from moving.
Traditional Or Foot Pedal?
The difference between these is that the traditional resembles a piano sustain pedal.
The foot-switch products are little square box-shaped sustain pedals that can be preferred. I only use the foot style because I find the traditional is a pain to try and hit with my foot when performing live. The square products are lower on the ground and my foot doesn’t kick it as much.
How Much Use Do You Want To Get?
You can find ones for very cheap, the problem is that some of them break easily. The difference between using a sustain pedal with a normal keyboard and with a MIDI keyboard is that you want to make sure everything is working properly if using with a MIDI controller.
If yours has problems sticking then it will send MIDI messages to your laptop and your synthesizers will stick too. This is frustrating when performing live.
How To Use Sustain Pedals?
This may sound like a silly question, but some people might not have a ton of experience playing the piano yet. I believe this is personally of the more important techniques in playing the piano. Having proper technique with sustaining notes is going to take you a long way.
You will notice that songs with have pedaling patterns for you to follow and if you don’t properly follow these, the songs really won’t sound the way they should. Now, this is an easier technique to learn, but don’t take it for granted.
How To Keep It Feeling Brand New
A big tip here is to make sure that the screws are always tightened on the sides of your products. These screws are what is going to keep your device from falling apart on you from heavy use. I have run through dozens of these just from being lazy and not wanting to tighten them.
It is really easy to do and it is one of those things that will put life into your device if you just take the time.
Protect Your Sustain Pedal On Stage
Be sure that when you’re playing shows you don’t leave your cord hanging out of your keyboard in open range. I like to gaff tape mine to the back of my instruments and make sure the cord can’t be stepped on. The cords are very cheap and they can get ruined pretty easily. Make sure that you try and just baby them so you’re not going through a bunch of products.
Conclusion
When picking a sustain pedal for your MIDI keyboard or digital piano, there is a lot to consider. We hope this guide broke down exactly what you want to look for and helped you decide which is right for your needs. If you found this helpful, leave us a comment below!
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