Types of Foot Pedals

Foot pedals are commonly used by musicians to add effects (dynamics) to the music they are playing. There’s also a different kind of foot pedal that is commonly used for transcription work.

Foot Pedals in the Music world

In the music world, an effects unit or pedal is a device that alters the sound produced from a musical instrument or other audio sources.

Here are foot pedals commonly used by musicians:

• Piano players commonly use accessories known as sustain pedal
• Keyboard players also have access to expressions pedals that allows players to change several sound related parameters
• Guitar players have access to a range of effects pedals

Useful Links

• Guitar Effects Pedals
• Piano Sustain Pedals
• Keyboard Expression Pedals

These are quite popular accessories and allows yu to use your feet, while your hands are busy playing the instrument. Even in pedals (especially for guitars), you get different kids of foot pedals — each can manipulate the sound in one way or the other.

Foot Pedals in Other Industries

Foot pedals are also used in transcription work, along with dictation software. Most popular foot pedal models can transcribe commonly used file formats such as mp3 and .wav files.

Here are the more common types of foot pedals used for transcription:

• USB Foot pedals: Most common type of foot pedal used by transcriptionists. These have controls for rewinding, playing/stopping and fast-forwarding audio files. These USB foot pedals can be linked directly to your laptop or PC.
• Wireless Transcription Foot Pedals: Most advanced equipment nowadays are wireless. So you can opt for wireless foot pedals as well, gives you the flexibility to work in different parts of your house. The wireless foot pedals usually have a range of up to 3 meters and can work on AA batteries as well.
• Waterproof Foot Pedals: Why waterproof? So that it can be used in place like hospitals, laboratories and other places where the equipment can come in contact with water/liquids. These ones are also available as USB pedals for easy connection to PC/laptop.