Using a keyboard/piano sustain pedal with MAME?

[shponglefan]

Anyone tried this?  I have a Yamaha sustain pedal I don't use, so I was thinking of trying to rig it up for use with MAME.  I figured rigging up a 1/4" input jack would make for easy swapping in/out.

I was also wondering if expression/control pedals might also be used...

[eds1275]

Yeah it's basically a pushbutton. I have thought about the same thing.

An expression pedal would also work, you'd just need to connect it to an analogue input and configure it. Maybe put a stiff spring under the expression pedal to push it back up; instant gas pedal.

[Gray_Area]

There might be a 1/2" to usb adapter of some kind, but I can't find it.

[molton]

There's no such thing but you can make one, I use a rockband drum kit pedal on my computer, i had the encoder board of an x-arcade lying around from when i replaced it with an i-pac for my arcade machine.  It uses an 1/8th inch plug but works basically the same as a sustain pedal.  I got one of those project enclosure plastic boxes from Radioshack and threw the encoder board as well as the led indicator light, program switch, and an extra button to trigger the program mode.  The x-arcade is programmable, but you have to have the program mode selection switch available as the default mode 1 is not programmable, and you need a button or switch of some kind to change it from the default mode 1 to the program you specify every time it is powered up, and the light is there like it is on the original x-arcade to help with the actual programming, done by connecting a ps/2 keyboard to that ps/2 female connector hanging out of the enclosure.



I imagine the cheapest, simplest keyboard encoder available, or possibly one of them game controller encoders will meet your needs for one input

[shponglefan]

*bump*

Just tried this today.  I use a female 1/4" to 1/4" male TRS cable and cut the male end off to get the wires.  I wired up the ground and +5V wires to an IPAC2.  Then I plugged in the sustain pedal... and the key was stuck "on".

Turns out the Yamaha FC-5 pedal is an always on switch, unless you press it.  Only then is the contact broken.  I assume other sustain pedals must work in the same way?

Fortunately, someone else had made a video on how to reverse this: .  After doing that, it now works the way I want.

[eds1275]

Different companies use different pedal types, and they are usually reversible on the keyboard. For example, my Korg Triton is always off by default, but you can change that by going deeeeeeeeeep into the menus.

[Gray_Area]

Different companies use different pedal types, and they are usually reversible on the keyboard. For example, my Korg Triton is always off by default, but you can change that by going deeeeeeeeeep into the menus.

On a Korg. Roland is easier.

I wouldn't really bother with a momentary switch pedal for such games. It's way easier to just use a button on the panel, and not really any different except your foot ain't on it.

[eds1275]

No what I meant was different pedal companies wire them differently. I don't think I have a single Korg-branded pedal. I have a roland, an Apex, a Peavey and a yamaha pedal and they aren't all the same - some are nc some are no.

[Well Fed Games]

Now I am curious if a wah or volume pedal housing could be used as a pedal controller...