Expression Pedal is inactive until B3 note is played "LOUD"

Lab AstroLab
#1

During a live performance, I switch to a B3 patch during the transition between songs. I move the expression pedal all the way down so that I can ease into the song quietly. As soon as I hit my first B3 sounds, IT’S LOUD!!! Ooops. After playing those first notes, now the expression pedal works. My undesirable workaround is to turn down the volumn of the AstroLab, hit a few notes, then turn the volume back up. Now the expression pedal works.

Any other way to make it work immediately after switching to a B3 patch?

#2

HI @EnjoyRC
Ouch, that’s a strange one for sure!
I’m guessing you’ve already tried ‘wiggling’ your expression pedal back and forth a few times to see if it latches correctly?
Maybe save the offending patch with the pedal set to the lowest value and use that instead of the current B3 patch?

HTH!

#3

Yes, I’ve wiggled it up a down a few times. I believe the patch is not “Active” until you actually hit a note. Part of the smooth transitioning feature. (I feel the smooth transitioning is not so smooth on the AstroLab. I always experience an Abrupt cutoff when hitting the first note of the new patch).
I like your idea of saving a copy of the B3 patch with the expression all the way down. Thanx!!

#4

Yeah, it seems a little odd that it needs a midi note to become active, compared to synths i’ve owned over the years, but it kind of makes sense from what you say.
Sometimes you have to think outside the box a little with these things, i hope the suggestion works for you, please keep us updated as it may be helpful for someone else at some point. :sunglasses:

#5

I’ve had those issues as well as the multi-second delays when switching to some patches containing samples. This creates a big opportunity for problems during live performances which I’ve encountered and found unacceptable.

For that reason as well as the lack of true system volume pedal support and two voice limit, I’ve given up on the Astrolab for now and switched back to a similarly sized, Yamaha arranger that has a much wider range of excellent voices without any of the playability issues of the Astrolab.

I can see the use of the Astrolab in a multi-keyboard setup but not for single keyboard performances.

#6

Yes, that’s the explanation. When you switch presets on AstroLab, the new preset is loaded in the background, but only becomes active when the first note is played after switching presets. This way, the last notes played on previous preset can still be held/sustained while the new preset is loaded, until a new note is played.

Unfortunately, I don’t think that would help at the moment, but I’ll check if that can be changed in future updates.

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