How to think about the OnePSG
”Fly-By-Wire”

At first thought, it might seem that a good analogy is: the OnePSG is to the traditional pedal steel (TPSG) as an electric car is to a traditional car. An electric car’s purpose is the same (get from A to B). Its “user interface” is the same (steering wheel, accelerator, brake pedal), etc. The only real difference is how the machine is powered: electricity instead of gasoline.

However, a better way to approach the concept of the OnePSG is the design of modern high-tech aircraft. The OnePSG is to a TPSG as a “fly-by-wire” aircraft is to one with manual flight controls. Instead of mechanical linkages connecting the pilot’s physical movements to the aircraft’s control surfaces (ailerons, rudder, etc.), the connections are electronic. See the Wikipedia entry for “fly-by-wire.”

For example, the pilot moves the yoke or the pedals, sensors convert those movements to electrical signals which are then used by a computer to determine how to move the aircraft’s ailerons, rudder, etc.

In the OnePSG, pedal and lever movements are converted to electronic signals which are used by a microprocessor running patented software to calculate what’s needed and command other microprocessors exactly how to change the pitches of individual strings’ audio signals.

That’s it. Same “user interface”: pedals, knee levers, metal strings, magnetic pickups, tone bar, etc. Same outcome: the NIghthawk files, the pedal steel plays.