How many pedals are necessary when I buy digital piano? I am about to buy Kawai L1. Please, could anybody answer?

nunu , unless they have some EXTRA pedals used as spin wheels, I would hold out for 3, Soft Sustain, and Sostonuto (Left Right Middle). In digital, these aren't a major technological challenge and shouldn't run the price up much in theory.
my 2 cents
Bob

Nunu, you'll find that the soft pedal (left) you will get use out of. However I have only used the sostenuto pedal (middle) a handful of times in my life. In fact, most vertical pianos don't have a sostenuto. They either have a "practice pedal" or a bass sustain. I wouldn't sweat over not having the middle pedal on my digital.

I do suggest however that you look at some other digitals with at least two pedals. Most of the time, digitals with one pedal don't have a true pedal. They have an on/off switch. When you press the sustain pedal, you are turning the sustain on. On a true pedal however, there should be varying degrees of sustain available depending on how far you pressed the pedal. This will become important in the future.

I don't know of any digitals that have the ability to sustain in increments. As far as I'm aware they're all on/off switches.

Thank you all for your soon replies! )

Finally, I have decided to buy the Kawai L1. I am not an expert but, in comparison with others like casio or yamaha, I preferred its sound. Another aspect was its portability because I will move home (Slovakia) next year. Now I am in Germany.

My age is 27 and tomorrow I will take my first piano lesson. I really look forward to it.

Sorry, I wanted to use this one

Hi all -

I'm new here, so please forgive my pertinaciousness! But it seems there's some confusion about the naming/function of the pedals. The right pedal is usually called the "damper" pedal, and literally raises the dampers on all strings, permitting them to ring. This is the pedal that would most often be found on a DP or EP.

The left pedal is usually called the "soft" pedal, or the "una corda" pedal, as on a grand it physically shifts the entire action sideways so that the hammers don't strike all three strings, but theoretically just one. The result is not only a softer sound, but a big difference in tone color - something to keep in mind when you see the indication "una corda." (rare) Uprights don't have true "una corda" pedals, rather this pedal brings the hammers closer to the strings, in theory not allowing it to develop as much momentum.

The middle pedal, properly called the "sostenuto" pedal, on a grand piano will keep the dampers raised on whatever notes are being played at the time it is depressed. You can then go ahead and play the following passage without sustain, while those held by the pedal continue to ring - often reinforced by the succeeding notes in the work of a composer who knows what he's doing. Debussy springs to mind. Much of his music is unperformable without a sostenuto, but he never notates it. I don't recall seeing it called out by a composer until the 20th Century, but I could be wrong. As William88 pointed out, uprights again don't have a true sostenuto pedal.

>>I don't know of any digitals that have the >>ability to sustain in increments. As far as I'm >>aware they're all on/off switches.

My Roland KR1077 has a variable sustain pedal - it can be set to on/off, 8 levels or continuously variable (which is where I keep it set.) I've seen the feature on others as well, including General Music keyboards. Not sure about Yamaha.
jim

Jim, congratulations on the 1077! I only have the KR577 myself. Did you get the 1077M? The M means that it has a player mechanism built into the keyboard.

>>Jim, congratulations on the 1077! I only have >>the KR577 myself. Did you get the 1077M? The M >>means that it has a player mechanism built into >>the keyboard.

Bill, I have the standard model, not the M. I bought it used (in like-new shape other than needing a firmware update, which I did myself). I would not have wanted the M even if it had been available - more moving parts to break. I don't understand the concept of a player piano mechanism with a midi instrument anyway - it sounds the same whether they keys are moving or not (unlike the Disklavier where there's an acoustic piano under the cover.) Probably it's mostly for entertainment value in hotel lounges.

What I really like about the 1077 is its sound system - 240 watts and 12 speakers. When I close my eyes I can easily fool myself into thinking I'm playing an acoustic grand, particularly when I've got one of the Gigastudio grands loaded.

I've hardly used any of the built-in features of the piano - just trying to get some technique back after 50 years of absence!
jim