Editor

User Guide

Manual Version 1.0

 Table of Contents

Introduction ..................................................... 3 Editing the Controls ..................................... 7

Pads ........................................................... 8
System Requirements & Product Support 3 Keybed ..................................................... 11
Knobs ....................................................... 12

Installation ................................................... 3 Mod/Pitch/Sustain ................................... 14

Operation ......................................................... 4 Software Menus ......................................... 16

File............................................................ 16

Getting Started ............................................ 4 Help .......................................................... 16

Window .................................................... 17

Managing Your Presets .............................. 5

About Presets ............................................ 5 Trademarks & Licenses................................. 18

Retrieving/Opening Presets ...................... 5

Saving Presets .......................................... 6
Sending Presets ........................................ 6

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Introduction

The V Mini Editor software gives you a visual and intuitive way to edit the various MIDI messages
that your V Mini keyboard’s controls send to your computer.

System Requirements & Product Support

For complete system requirements, compatibility information, and product registration, visit the
Alesis website: alesis.com.
For additional support, visit alesis.com/support.

Installation

Windows: Double-click the installer file (.exe) you downloaded, and follow the on-screen instructions.

® ®
Mac OS X : Double-click the disk image file (.dmg) you downloaded, and copy the application to
your Applications folder.

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Operation
Getting Started

To open the V Mini Editor:

1. Optional: Connect your V Mini keyboard to your computer using a standard USB cable. (If you
are connecting your keyboard to a USB hub, make sure it is a powered hub.) You can still use
the editor without connecting a V Mini, but you will not be able to send presets to it or load (get)
presets from it.
2. Open the V Mini Editor.
Windows: [your hard drive]\Program Files\Alesis\V Mini Preset Editor
Mac OS X: Applications
The window will show a graphical representation of your V Mini with all of its editable controls at
the bottom of the window in tabs.

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Managing Your Presets

About Presets

A preset is a file (.VMiniEditor) containing all of the MIDI assignments you make in the Editor. Using
presets lets you maintain several different control configurations to use in different situations. For
instance, you may use different presets with different kinds of software, or you may some presets for
production and others for performance.
Your V Mini keyboard can store one preset at a time. You can store additional presets on your
computer to load onto your V Mini keyboard with this editor.
This chapter explains how to load presets into the editor (Retrieving/Opening Presets), save
presets onto your computer (Saving Presets), and send presets to your connected V Mini keyboard
(Sending Presets).

Retrieving/Opening Presets

To edit a preset, you first have to open it in the V Mini Editor.

After opening it in the Editor, editing it will not affect the preset stored on your V Mini. To transfer the
preset from the Editor to your V Mini, see Sending Presets below.

To retrieve a preset from your connected V Mini, do either of the following:

• Click the File menu, and click Retrieve Preset.
• Press Ctrl+Shift+R (Windows) or Control+Shift+R (Mac OS X) on your computer.

To open a preset stored on your computer, do either of the following:

• Click the File menu, and click Load Preset. Locate the desired preset file (.VMiniEditor), and
click Open.
• Press Ctrl+O (Windows) or Control+O (Mac OS X) on your computer. Locate the desired
preset file (.VMiniEditor), and click Open.
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Saving Presets

Saving a preset on your computer lets you edit it or send it to your V Mini in the future. All MIDI
assignments that you see in the editor will be saved in the preset file (.VMiniEditor).

To save the preset to your computer, do either of the following:

• Click the File menu, and click Save Preset. Select the desired location, enter a file name, and
click Save.
• Press Ctrl+S (Windows) or Control+S (Mac OS X). Select the desired location, enter a file
name, and click Save.

Sending Presets

Sending a preset lets you transfer all MIDI assignments currently in the editor to the internal memory
of your connected V Mini.
Important: Sending a preset will overwrite the current preset on your V Mini.

To send a preset to your connected V Mini, do either of the following:

• Click the File menu, and click Send Preset.
• Press Ctrl+Shift+S (Windows) or Control+Shift+S (Mac OS X) on your computer.

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Editing the Controls

To edit the parameters for a type of control on your V Mini, do one of the following:
• Click the tab with the name of the desired control.
• Click the desired control in the graphic of the V Mini in the software window.

Click one of the types of controls below to jump to that section of this User Guide:
Pads Knobs
Keybed Mod/Pitch/Sustain

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Pads

Click the Pads tab to set the MIDI assignments of V Mini’s pads (P1–P4).

For a menu that displays a number, you can change it by doing any of the following:
• Double-click the number, enter a number with your computer keyboard, and press Enter.
• Click the up () or down () arrows on the right.
• Click the menu, and use the up () or down () arrows on your computer keyboard.

Type: This menu determines how what kind of MIDI message the pad sends and how it functions.
Click this menu and select an option. The other parameters below it will depend on your selection.
• Note: The pad will send a MIDI Note On message when you press and hold it and a MIDI Note
Off message when you release it.
• CC Toggle: The pad will send a CC message with one value when you press it to turn it on and
another value when you press it to turn it off. The values will alternate with each press.
• CC Momentary: The pad will send a CC message with one value when you press and hold it
and another value when you release it.
• Program: The pad will send Program Change messages when you press it.

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Chan: The pad will send its MIDI messages over this channel. Click this menu and select one of
Channels 1–16.

When Type is set to Note:

• Note: The pad will send this MIDI note number (0–127) when
you press it (the note and octave number always appear to its
right).
• Fixed: When this is set to a non-zero number (1–127), the pad
will send a MIDI Note On message with this velocity regardless
of how hard you press it. When this is set to 0, the pad will
send its MIDI Note On message with a velocity based on how
hard you hit it and the Curve setting.
• Curve: The pad will use this velocity curve number (1–8) to
determine what velocity to use depending on how hard you
press it.

When Type is set to CC Toggle:

• CC: The pad will send its MIDI messages using this CC number
(0–127).
• Value 1: The pad will send this value (0–127) when you press it
to turn it on.
• Value 2: The pad will send this value (0–127) when you press it
to turn it off.

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When Type is set to CC Momentary:
• CC: The pad will send its MIDI messages using this CC number
(0–127).
• Down: The pad will send this value (0–127) when you press and
hold it.
• Up: The pad will send this value (0–127) when you release it.

When Type is set to Program:

• LSB: The pad will send this Bank LSB (Least Significant Byte)
number (0–127) when you press it.
• MSB: The pad will send this Bank MSB (Most Significant Byte)
number (0–127) when you press it.
• Program: The pad will send this Program Change number (0–
127) when you press it.

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Keybed

Click the Keybed tab to set the MIDI assignments of V Mini’s keys.

For a menu that displays a number, you can change it by doing any of the following:
• Double-click the number, enter a number with your computer keyboard, and press Enter.
• Click the up () or down () arrows on the right.
• Click the menu, and use the up () or down () arrows on your computer keyboard.

Chan: The keys will send their MIDI notes over this channel. Click this menu and select one of
Channels 1–16.

Trans: The keybed will be transposed up or down by this many semitones (-12 to 12). 0 indicates no
transposition. 12 semitones is a full octave.

Octave: This value indicates the current octave of the keybed (-5 to 5). 0 is the center octave.

Curve: The keys will use this velocity curve number (1–8) to determine what velocity to use
depending on how hard you press them.

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Knobs

Click the Knobs tab to set the MIDI assignments of V Mini’s assignable knobs (K1–K4).

For a menu that displays a number, you can change it by doing any of the following:
• Double-click the number, enter a number with your computer keyboard, and press Enter.
• Click the up () or down () arrows on the right.
• Click the menu, and use the up () or down () arrows on your computer keyboard.

Type: This menu determines what kind of MIDI message the knob sends. Click this menu and select
an option. The other parameters below it will depend on your selection.
• CC: The knob will send CC messages.
• Aftertouch: The knob will send channel aftertouch messages.

Chan: The knob will send its MIDI messages over this channel. Click this menu and select one of
Channels 1–16.

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When Type is set to CC:
• CC: The knob will send its MIDI messages using this CC
number (0–127).
• Min: The knob’s minimum position will correspond with this
value (0–127). You can reverse the knob’s polarity by making
this value larger than the Max value.
• Max: The knob’s maximum position will correspond with this
value (0–127). You can reverse the knob’s polarity by making
this value smaller than the Min value.

When Type is set to Aftertouch:

• Min: The knob’s minimum position will correspond with this
value (0–127). You can reverse the knob’s polarity by making
this value larger than the Max value.
• Max: The knob’s maximum position will correspond with this
value (0–127). You can reverse the knob’s polarity by making
this value smaller than the Min value.

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Mod/Pitch/Sustain

Click the Mod/Pitch/Sustain tab to set the MIDI assignments for V Mini’s modulation (Mod) button,
pitch-bend (PB) buttons, and sustain (Sus) button.

For a menu that displays a number, you can change it by doing any of the following:
• Double-click the number, enter a number with your computer keyboard, and press Enter.
• Click the up () or down () arrows on the right.
• Click the menu, and use the up () or down () arrows on your computer keyboard.

Mod:
• Chan: The modulation button will send its MIDI messages over
this channel. Click this menu and select one of Channels 1–16.
• CC: The modulation button will send its MIDI messages using
this CC number. Click it and enter a number (0–127).
• Min: This is the modulation button’s minimum value (0–127).
• Max: This is the modulation button’s maximum value (0–127).
• Rate: This is the rate at which the pitch will bend when you
press the modulation button (0–127).

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Pitch Bend:
• Chan: The pitch-bend buttons will send their pitch-bend
messages over this channel. Click this menu and select one of
Channels 1–16.
• Rate: This is the rate at which the pitch will bend when you
press the pitch-bend buttons (0–127).

Sustain:
• Type: This menu determines how the sustain button functions.
Click this menu and select an option.
o Switch: The sustain button will send a CC message with
one value when you press it to turn it on and another value
when you press it to turn it off. The values will alternate
with each press.
o Momentary: The sustain button will send a CC message
with one value when you press and hold it and another
value when you release it.
• Chan: The sustain button will send its MIDI messages over this
channel. Click this menu and select one of Channels 1–16.
• CC: The sustain button will send its MIDI messages using this CC
number (0–127). By default, this is set to CC 64 (Sustain Pedal).
• Down: The sustain button will send this value (0–127) when you
press and hold it.
• Up: The sustain button will send this value (0–127) when you
release it.

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Software Menus

File

Send Preset: Select this to transfer the current settings from the V Mini Editor to your connected V
Mini keyboard. Alternatively, press Ctrl+Shift+S (Windows) or Control+Shift+S (Mac OS X).

Retrieve Preset: Select this to transfer the current settings from your connected V Mini keyboard to
the V Mini Editor. Alternatively, press Ctrl+Shift+R (Windows) or Control+Shift+R (Mac OS X).

Load Preset: Select this to open a preset stored on your computer in the V Mini Editor. Alternatively,
press Ctrl+O (Windows) or Control+O (Mac OS X).

Save Preset: Select this to save the V Mini Editor’s current settings as a preset file (.VMiniEditor) on
your computer. Alternatively, press Ctrl+S (Windows) or Control+S (Mac OS X).

Exit: Select this to close the V Mini Editor. Alternatively, click the X (Windows) or red circle (Mac OS
X) in the upper-right corner of the window.
Mac OS X users: Select the Quit option in the Alesis V Mini Preset Editor menu or press or
Control+Q.

Help

Open User Guide: Select this to open this user guide.

About VMini Editor: Select this to view information about this version of the V Mini Editor.

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Window

This menu is shown only in Mac OS X.

Minimize: Select this to minimize the V Mini Editor window. Alternatively, press Control+M (Mac OS X).

Bring All to Front: Select this to place the V Mini Editor above all other open application windows.

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Trademarks & Licenses

Alesis is a trademark of inMusic Brands, Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries.
Mac and OS X are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries.
Windows is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and other
countries.
All other product or company names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective
owners.

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