Finally, a detailed review of the VMeter, complete with demo video

The explanation for the video is at the end of this post. Just so you can better understand it, I recommend reading the whole article (something of a daunting task for the internet attention span, I know – but you can always bookmark it and read it over a period of time. I’d be honoured.)

*Okay, so I’m posting this the day after tomorrow instead of tomorrow, but at least I worked hard on it.

I got the VMeter quite a while ago, and I’ve already made it a permanent part of my live setup, but only recently did I have the chance to play with it a little more and get to know the full extent of its capabilities. A more concise version of what I’m about to write about it is that although it does have its glitches (I don’t think there’s an open source project in the world that doesn’t), I believe it has the potential to become an unbelievably powerful tool in the hands of someone with enough imagination and time on their hands.

A little background info

From the VMeter Website: “The VMeter is a USB MIDI touchstrip that provides nuanced musical control and visualization for DJs and other laptop musicians”.  It outputs touch position, pressure and on/off messages (as in when you touch it it’s “on” and when you take your finger away it’s “off”), so the real expression comes from combining the three. There’s an added advantage in the fact that you can use it both as a fader – sliding your finger between values – and to instantly jump between them. This is not the first LED touchstrip made and sold by the guys over at Curious Inventor (they used to sell a DIY kit for something similar called the Stribe), but it has now apparently become their main concern and source of income.

 Setting Up

I’ll take this chance to clear up a little misconception about the VMeter and Max: You do not need Max/MSP to use the VMeter, nor do you need it do run the editor. You’ll only need to download the free Max Runtime engine (it takes up about as much space as WinRAR), which is needed in order for your computer to be able to read Max patches (the editor is written in Max).  So there are actually no strings attached and the whole process of preparing for the editor is really the equivalent of installing a couple of drivers.

I’ll go ahead with the only negative thing I have to say about the VMeter: Although the website offers detailed and comprehensive instructions and the editor is very simple to comprehend and use, if you plan on using the VMeter for more than Windows volume control (in which case everything is as easy as pie – just watch this guy), setting up and mapping is a total drag. I’m used to the accessibility of non-open-source projects and the million little things that you need to do to set things up (like having to press a “connect to VMeter” button every time you fire up the editor, or having to constantly close and reopen Live for mappings as both programs can’t have access to the VMeter as the same time) sometimes got on my nerves, especially after having to set the thing up a few times over. It’s actually not as frustrating as I just made it out to be, but when comparing the VMeter editor to something like the KONTROLEditor from Korg for the nanoKONTROL (yeah, I know it may be a bit too much, but they do have similar functions), it’s something like having a hedge trimmer versus a pair of garden scissors: you can do the exact same thing with both, but it’s more laborious with the garden scissors.

I had some glitches with the editor myself, but I guess that’s down to my own computer and stuff that might have pretty much been my own fault, so I’m not going to describe them here. Clearly, the best way to use the VMeter is to assign it a function within a setup, set it up for that and forget all about the setting up.

 Capabilities and Use

This is where the negativity ends and the praise begins.

The VMeter is surprisingly powerful for its size and can fulfil multiple functions at the same time: the LEDs are dimmable and can be used as a VU meter, and the modes you can set from the editor are delightful:

In Note Out mode, the VMeter sends note messages instead of  CC messages and you can actually use it to play any software synth or other virtual instrument. You can set the output note pitch to be either the same regardless of touch position or to change depending on it. You can also set the velocity. There’s a Pitch Wheel mode you can use with this setting (or for something else entirely, it’s up to the user), where the lights draw from the center outwards and snap back to the center when you’ve released the VMeter.

In Crossfade Mode, the lights also draw from the center but don’t snap back. There’s even a small dead zone in the center.

My experience with the VMeter really took off when I started to use it more to play effects and settings rather than just control them (at which point a voice in the back of my head went “DUH! That’s what they’re using to promote it, aren’t they?”): as I’ve already said somewhere else, the sensitivity on the thing is absolutely amazing and I was pleasantly surprised at how fast it is. There was absolutely no lag that I could feel (maybe just a bit of lag with the lights – but not with the audio response) and I instantly got why they used “nuanced musical control” to describe it: you really can play a frequency filter or a virtual volume slider like an instrument. Having the touchstrip means you can instantly jump between values as well as slide between them and having the LEDs really adds to the experience and control capabilities as you see exactly what you’re doing. The LED feedback is really a master touch with this controller.

The pressure sensor and output is an added advantage: you can control two parameters with the same hand (same finger, even), independently of one another and it gives you that much expressive control over whatever you’re using the VMeter for – it’s beautiful. Combine this with the on/off messages whenever you want and it turns from beautiful to mind-blowing. I really never thought that I could do so much damage (mix-wise) and have so much fun with a something just a bit smaller than a box of incense sticks.

So whether you just want to use it as a toy or as a permanent tool in a laptop DJ/controllerist setup, the VMeter is one of the most versatile controllers you’ll ever come across. I wholeheartedly recommend it.

The Video

First off, I’ll repeat that there’s no Max4Live involved, and no external plugins.  It’s all native Ableton devices.  Secondly, in case you haven’t read the review yet, I’d recommend that you do. It might help make the explanations I’m about to give a little clearer. Here’s how I did it:

Vinyl Scratch Emulation: I made an Operator patch generating white noise, with a Redux effect on it. I enabled Note Out on the editor and I mapped the touch position to a band pass filter.

Beat Repeat Control: I applied a Beat Repeater to a track, then mapped the On/Off messages on the VMeter to the Repeat button and the touch position to the rate.

AB Effect Sends: The pressure output is mapped to the A send (reverb on the return) and the touch position to the B send (delay on the return).

Crossfade: This is actually really easy. I chose ‘crossfader’ mode in the editor and then mapped it to Live’s crossfader.

Tape Stop and Fast Forward: I enabled Note Out and Pitch Bend mode on the editor and loaded an Amen Break sample into Simpler on a track. I mapped the touch position to sample transpose and that’s it.

Chain Selector: This one’s obvious. I mapped touch position to chain selection. If you don’t know what that is, you’d better watch this.

Bass Filter and Tremolo: I mapped touch position to a a low pass filter on a track playing a bass clip and the pressure output to an Auto Pan amount knob.

Bass Filter LFO Rate: Also obviosu. The touch position is mapped to the LFO rate on an Auto Filter, synced to the beat.

Instrument: I enabled Note Out and Pitch Bend mode on the editor and mapped touch position to the transpose knob on an Operator patch.

Keyboard Volume and Vibrato: I mapped the pressure output to channel volume and touch position to the LFO amount on another Operator patch.

I hope you found the article helpful, and if you had the patience to read it all in one sitting, then kudos to you. Have an excellent day.