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Saturday, December 27, 2014

Moog EP-3 Universal Pedal

This pedal came today and I like it a lot. The only problem is it has no documentation.

The pedal has smooth output throughout the pedal's travel. I tried an FC-7 (Yamaha) before this pedal and it didn't have linear output throughout the pedal's travel. It was difficult to make smooth volume/expression changes.

The EP-3 has a "scalable output knob." I thought that would be a way to require less pedal travel to go from 0-127. Not so. I'm not sure what good this knob will do.

I ran some tests. FWIW.

Setting the knob all the way counterclockwise, my keyboard reflects that setting is data equal to zero. Moving the pedal results in no data. It's zero no matter where the pedal is set.

The position of the pedal is somewhat important to the results you'll see below. I set the knob with the pedal all the way up (heel all the way down). This is the low value position.

Most of the time, the knob changed the setting by two's, but it would also sometimes jump by one -- sometimes even numbered, sometimes odd. I moved the knob clockwise until there was a change in data.

Knob value  Low High
002              002  004
004              004  010
006              006  012
008              008  019
012              012  027
013              013  028
014              014  030                      
017              017  039                      
018              018  039
019              019  045                      
022              022  054                        
024              024  057                        
026              028  081                       
Here's where things get strange. The low number starts decreasing while the high number increases. And I'm still turning the knob clockwise.
024              024  095
021              021  102
020              020  104
018              018  107
017              017  110
014              014  113
013              013  115
011              011  118
010              010  117
008              008  121
006              006  122
005              005  123
003              003  127
002              002  125
000              000  127

Does anyone know the logic behind this?

As for the pedal, it feels expensive. There is a pneumatic kind of feel to pedal movement. That will probably change over time, but it's nice now. The base is metal. The working parts look like they're metal. The upper case/pedal is plastic, but it seems to be tough. It's heavy enough not to slide when you're trying to use it. It's comfortable when used seated or standing up. The pedal travel is sufficient to enable accuracy in volume/expression changes.

I hope this helps someone out there.

5 comments:

  1. Hello,
    I think I can see the logic for that knob. (But only after staring at two graphs I made out of your data)
    it appears that knob controls minimum for low value (corresponds well to its label with range being 0-26) and at the same time controls maximum of high value (4-127), so from this it looks like it controls what range output will have. (Thought it is done in a bit strange way)

    BTW: Found manufacture website with this product:
    http://www.moogmusic.com/products/accessories/ep-3-expression-pedal#info-tab
    Contains this bit: "scalable output knob for specifying musical range". (Fits observations, but lack of manual explaining it is bit unfortunate)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks for taking the time to do the extra research. I went to the moog website and after watching the demo of the pedal, I'm of a mind that the scalable output knob is set up to work with some/all of the moog analog instruments. I'm happy with it set at the 0-127 position and cannot think of a reason not to use it that way. It being this way certainly opens up the market for sales to more than Moog device owners :-)

    ReplyDelete
  3. I found this post searching for a manual for the EP-3, which I use with the MF Delay for guitar (no midi or other devices to figure out these values). Thank you, thank you for doing this research. It's really silly to me that they don't have a short manual for this thing. I had forgotten about the knob, it somehow got turned when moving it around, and I was wondering why the pedal wasn't doing much.

    I can't really imagine why you would want to reduce the expression range, but I suppose tuned pitch shifts could require it.

    Thanks again!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm happy to hear it was helpful! That makes it much more worth the time I spent experimenting :-)

      Delete
  4. hello Bobby
    can I contact you via email, regarding a music project
    thanks, amir
    ayatziv@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete