Why is my sustain pedal not working?
Usually for one of three reasons: the pedal is in the wrong jack, it is the wrong polarity for the keyboard, or the instrument you are playing ignores sustain. The quickest way to tell which is to see whether the pedal's message, CC 64, reaches the computer. If it does, the pedal and the keyboard are fine and the fix is in the music app. If it does not, the fix is at the keyboard.
The test below uses the free MIDI tester on this site, and takes about a minute.
On this page: 9 sections
Steps
- Open the MIDI tester in Chrome, Edge or Firefox and press Start listening.
- Press and release the pedal, and look for CC 64.
- If nothing appears, check the jack, the plug and the keyboard's pedal setting.
- If CC 64 appears, try a piano sound in the music app and check the track is selected.
Find out which side the fault is on
- You: Open the MIDI tester in Chrome, Edge or Firefox, press Start listening, and press and release the pedal a few times.
- The page: Shows CC 64 Sustain with its value each time the pedal moves.
- Check: A high value with your foot down and a low one with it up means the pedal and the keyboard are working.
If CC 64 arrives, stop looking at the pedal and look at the music app.
InputConfig is free on the Mac App Store. macOS 14 or later, no account, no tracking, open source.
If no CC 64 arrives
Climb this ladder, smallest step first:
- Check the jack. The pedal belongs in the one marked Sustain or Damper, not Expression or Volume.
- Push the plug all the way in. A plug that is half in reads as no pedal.
- Look for a pedal setting on the keyboard. A jack that can be assigned to several jobs may be set to something other than sustain.
- Try the pedal on another keyboard, or another pedal on this one, to see which of the two is at fault.
The pedal has to plug into the MIDI keyboard itself. Plugged into an audio interface or a guitar amp, it sends nothing a music app can use. The keyboard turns the pedal into MIDI, so the keyboard is where a silent pedal gets fixed.
If it works backwards
Notes that ring on until you step on the pedal mean the pedal's polarity does not match what the keyboard expects. Many pedals have a polarity switch on the base, and many keyboards have a pedal polarity setting. A backwards pedal is a mismatch, and one switch or one setting puts it right. The MIDI sustain pedal goes through it.
If CC 64 arrives and the app ignores it
- Try a piano. Some sounds do not respond to sustain: many drum kits and organs ignore it. Load a piano and try again.
- Select the right track. The pedal acts on the track that is receiving the keyboard, the same one your notes play.
- Look for a MIDI filter. Some music apps can filter out controller messages on input. If the app has such a setting, make sure controllers are let through.
- Check the channel. If the track listens to one MIDI channel, the pedal's message must arrive on that channel, as the notes do.
If the notes play and the pedal does not, the instrument or a filter is ignoring CC 64. GarageBand and Logic Pro follow a sustain pedal with nothing to switch on, so there the instrument is the first thing to check.
If notes stay on after you lift your foot
The pedal down message arrived and the pedal up message did not, often because a cable was moved or the keyboard was switched off while the pedal was down. Press and release the pedal once more, which sends a fresh pedal up. If that fails, a MIDI panic silences everything. Pressing and releasing the pedal again clears most stuck sustain. The MIDI panic button explains it, and there is one on this site.
Give a working pedal a second job
A sustain pedal is a foot switch, and on a Mac it can do more than sustain. InputConfig, the free Mac app I make, reads CC 64 as a button: one pedal can click the mouse, turn a page, start a recording or hold a push-to-talk key, in any app. A pedal that works for sustain also works as a shortcut for your foot. MIDI to mouse on a Mac and MIDI to keystroke on a Mac have the steps.
The short version
- Test. A MIDI tester shows whether CC 64 arrives.
- No CC 64. The jack, the plug, or the keyboard's pedal setting.
- CC 64 arrives. The instrument, the track or a filter in the music app.
One minute with a MIDI tester tells you which half of the setup to fix.
Questions
Why is my sustain pedal not working in GarageBand?
First see whether the pedal's message arrives, with a MIDI tester. If CC 64 arrives, select a software instrument track with a piano on it and try again, since some sounds ignore sustain. If it does not arrive, check the jack and the plug on the keyboard.
Which jack does a sustain pedal plug into?
The one on the MIDI keyboard marked Sustain or Damper. An Expression jack is for a different kind of pedal.
Why does my sustain pedal work backwards?
Its polarity is the opposite of what the keyboard expects. Flip the polarity switch on the pedal, or change the pedal polarity setting on the keyboard.
Does a sustain pedal need a driver on a Mac?
No. The pedal plugs into the keyboard, and the keyboard sends its state as a MIDI message, CC 64.
Why do my notes keep sustaining?
The instrument received pedal down and never received pedal up. Press and release the pedal again, or use a MIDI panic.
Can I test a sustain pedal without a music app?
Yes. A browser MIDI tester shows CC 64 change as you press and release the pedal, in Chrome, Edge or Firefox.
Related
Free. macOS 14 or later. No account, nothing leaves your Mac. Open source on GitHub.
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