WORKAROUND for Sustain Pedal Issues on Keylab Mk3 devices

Lab KeyLab
#1

Hi all,

After a lot of testing, I have found a workaround that has completely eliminated the sustain pedal issues for me.

This write up will specifically address set up in DAW mode using the AUX input, as DAW integration is one of the main reasons most of us bought this controller, and we are all familiar with the sustain pedal input on the Arturia trying to emulate a continous pedal by sending all the values between 0 and 127 to the DAW on each pedal use.

The same settings I cover below can be applied to the pedal settings in user mode. I am using a KEYLAB MK3 on Firmware 1.1.1 and Logic Pro 10.7.9.

Some background:

Aside from the obvious sustain issues (missing notes, weird, laggy note behaviour), I noticed that when using a sustain pedal via the AUX input and configuring it as such, my DAW was treating it as a ‘Damper’ pedal, and notes were playing softer and couldn’t reach full velocity while the pedal was depressed. This lead me to dive deeper.

Using a MIDI monitoring tool, I have found that when the following conditions are met in DAW mode with the pedal plugged in via the AUX input:

AUX PEDAL IS SET TO USE MIDI CHANNEL ‘ACTIVE’
AUX PEDAL IS SET TO USE MIDI CHANNEL ‘2’
AUX PEDAL IS SET TO USE THE SAME MIDI CHANNEL AS SET GLOBALLY ON THE KEYBOARD, AKA the ‘ACTIVE’ MIDI Channel (Set when pressing and holding the ‘MIDI Ch’ button and pressing a key that corresponds to a MIDI channel number.)

That the keyboard sends an extra ‘OFF’ signal on Channel 2 when the pedal is pressed and released.
I have concluded through extensive testing in different scenarios that this is the cause of the issue for me.

The workaround:

My workaround is as follows and you can make the changes you see fit depending on how you use MIDI in your own environment:

In this case, we will use Midi Channel 1. Make sure your keyboard is set to use this by pressing and holding the ‘MIDI Ch’ button and then pressing the first C key ‘labelled 1’ on the keyboard to change the active channel.

Plug your sustain pedal into the AUX input
Press the Settings button
Press the Global button
Select AUX PEDAL
Set TYPE to ‘Switched Control’
Set MIDI CHANNEL to 3
Set OPTION to ‘Gate’
Set CC NUMBER to ‘64’
Set OFF VALUE to ‘0’
Set ON Value to ‘127’

Now play around and see if the issue is gone for you.

I will share my findings with Arturia via my support ticket but please let me know if this works for you as well.

As long as you’re not using Channel 2 or the Active channel for the pedal, the above should work.

Best of luck, and I look forward to hearing your experiences with this workaround.

2 Likes
#2

Hi,
your analysis is absolutely correct!
With your solution I end up with

  • playing a piano (I am using Cubase Pro, so I play a piano let’s say with HALion 7) on Midi Channel 1
  • and I send CC ‘64’ on Midi Channel 3
    So it is not recognized by the piano.

If I reconfigure HALion to Midi Channel 3 and set Midi Channel 3 also on Keylab 88 mk3, then I am back to the original problem with the extra channel 2 message and the delayed signal.

So basically no delay happens, when you set your keyboard and AUX Pedal input to different MIDI channels (avoiding channel 2).

I have just not figured out, how to use the 2 different channel-inputs together on the same intrument.

But maybe this is me, not having found the necessary settings :slight_smile:

P.S.: I also sent a support request, asking them to study the discussions in the forum regarding this issue. At least they asked my for a link to the discussion :upside_down_face:

2 Likes
#3

Update - yes it works -
I have to accept MIDI messages from all MIDI-Channels and route them (in this example) to Channel 1 for HALion. With this the pedal gets converted to Channel 1:

grafik

grafik

So this workaround WORKS!

The downside is, that you have to do every MIDI configuration from your DAW.
→ You CANNOT change the MIDI channel on Keylab expecting, the sustain pedal information goes with another channel to a different instrument (e.g. if you have a sampler with different instruments on different channels)

SO - it is a WORKAROUND and we expect a SOLUTION from Arturia

3 Likes
#4

Thanks for sharing your experience and the steps you had to take to get it working with your DAW!

Glad that it’s ended up being a viable temporary work around for you while we wait for a permanent fix!

1 Like
#5

Thank you leanderpants and may I add one more comment to the issue of having 2 different MIDI-channels (one sending the sustain information, and another for all the rest (note on/off, etc.).
My routing example above is absolutely dependent on the setup, DAW settings, etc. and you only need to be aware that you have to deal with 2 MIDI channels, you need for your instrument.

E.g. if you use Arturias Analog V (as standalone application), it takes everything it gets from every MIDI channel. So in this case no specific routing configuration is needed for playing e.g. a piano with sustain information. :slight_smile:

1 Like
[BUG] Yet another bug... stuck notes on Keylab 61 mk3
#6

Thank you for pointing that out @RolandKirst. I recently experienced having to remap some MIDI routes in some software instruments I use and now I get exactly what you mean and what you had to do in Cubase!

Also, support got back to me and said that they are aware of and actively working to address the issue, which I see you’ve echoed in the other forum post. They also mentioned that another user brought their attention to that thread, and I’m guessing that was a nod to you.

Fingers crossed that the fix comes around sooner rather than later, but at least our sustain pedals kind of work in the meanwhile! Having this workaround has meant that I’m going to hang onto my Keylab instead of sending it back.

1 Like
#7

Yes @leanderpants, I sent them the links to both threads. I just wonder, that Arturia is not following the discussions automatically - I thought this is a precious input source from their community and real world experience. Anyway I am happy, this issue is now in focus and that we have a workaround in the meantime :grinning:

1 Like
#8

So after relentless hounding Arturia tech support and sales, whom I directly purchased it from, I got a response today that may be promising. I had a brief moment this afternoon to try it out with a Roland DP-10 pedal and it appears to work. However, I’ll have more time later today to dive deeper. I’d be interested in hearing if any of you end users have to some success with this workaround.

Hello Mark
Thank you for your detailed follow-up and for sending the videos. I completely understand your frustration—especially with an important performance coming up—and I want to clarify that this is not an isolated case or an issue on your end.

We have been able to reproduce similar sustain pedal behavior on the KeyLab mk3 with certain pedal models, including the Yamaha FC4A and Roland DP-10. This has already been logged with our development team and is under active investigation for a firmware fix. The problem occurs when the unit processes the HOLD function in parallel with MIDI note events, which can cause dropped or delayed sustain messages during fast playing.

Temporary workaround:
In the MIDI Control Center, set the sustain pedal’s Max Value to around 120–126instead of 127. This prevents the HOLD LED from triggering and avoids the timing issues. The downside is reduced half-pedaling range, but it will restore stable sustain behavior until the firmware update is released.

I have linked your ticket directly to the ongoing bug report so your case is included in the priority review. Once the firmware update containing the fix is available, I will reach out to you immediately.

I understand the timing here is critical for your upcoming show, so please let me know if you’d like me to guide you through applying the workaround right away.

Best regards,

Andrés - Arturia Support

#9

Has anybody implemented this “official” workaround yet? I use Gig Performer and so far I’ve experienced no issues using the sustain pedal input. I’ve run a few MIDI Monitor tests and I’m getting 0-125, which is where I’ve set the highest value. I’ll probably bump up the higher value a digit or more later on, but for now, I’m feeling confident I can use my mk3 for this Saturday’s gig with complete confidence.

#10

??? Bueller?

#11

Hey @musicbysterling, sorry I’ve been MIA for a bit.

That was one of the original fixes (alongside playing with some other value ranges) I tried and it works in part. My issue with this work around was that some software instruments were looking for 127 specifically, which broke sustain for them completely. I experienced this in Logic Pro and I use an On/Off pedal - so no in-between values generated by the pedal itself.

At the moment, I’m running sustain through another MIDI controller altogether so haven’t been actively affected by the issue. It’s been a year since the last 1.1.1 firmware was released, so not sure what’s taking Arturia this long to release another fix.

Glad to hear you have a functioning workaround, though.