About a week ago a shiny new Vermona DRM MKIII analog drum synthesizer arrived in the mail. After bringing it into the studio and introducing it to all it’s new friends, I plugged it in and have spent every extra moment with this thing since. It sounds absolutely fantastic. There are 8 little synthesizers baked into this thing each specializing in a specific drum sound. You have Kick, Drum 1, Drum 2, Multi, Snare, Hi Hat 1, Hi Hat 2, and Clap. But of course, with every sound parameter having a knob, the range of sounds that are possible are not limited to these generic names.
Kick, Drum 1, Drum 2 all can substitute for fabulous Tom, or bongo sounds. Drum 1 & 2 also have extensive analogue FM bell or sizzle capabilities. The Multi channel is great for claves, cowbells, and other tonal percussion. The Snare sounds incredibly rich and it’s unique character really stands out with fast rolls or flams. Both Hi Hats sound distinctly different and have quite a range allowing you to go from snappy tings to buzzy vintage electronic cymbals. The Clap on the machine also is very useful for supplying a fast breaking impulse noise, and it notably also has a warm sound parameter that simulates reverb.
Sound aside, what impressed me the most was the build quality and the several additional touches that allow this tool to really shine in the studio. You can tell that this product was designed by the talented engineers at Vermona from the ground up; a great deal of thought was clearly put into how to make the machine as useful as possible within a modern studio. For instance, my favorite feature on the whole machine is it’s ability to take an insert effect in it’s individual channel output jacks. These outputs are more than just 1/4″ mono output jacks to send the individual drum out to a mixer. Depending on what type of cable you feed them, they will perform different tasks. A mono cable will disconnect the sound from the main outs. A stereo to mono cable will leave the sound at the main outs and route it out the individual output. Finally to my joy, a stereo Y cable to 2 mono leads will allow you to send the audio out to an effect & then accept a return signal on that channel. This insert ability in addition to the optional CV/Gate inserts on the back panel allow this drum synthesizer to roam free in the untamed world of modular synthesis. Experimenting with this has returned very rewarding results.
I have read some articles on the web that moan about the lack of extensive midi implementation on the machine. It’s true, it is very basic; but midi is not what this machine is all about at all. This Drum Synthesizer is about getting your hands dirty. It’s about turning knobs, taking full control of each sound and where the sound goes. It’s about how the sounds are triggered, or how it it interacts with your other gear. You get to define it’s relationship with your other equipment and it’s place in your music. If you have an adventurous spirit, you might even become a better sound designer with this thing. Already it’s given me many ideas to try with other gear. If you are only looking for a device to control every parameter and presets via your DAW, you’re better off choosing a drum rompler, or soft synth like Waldorf’s excellent Attack virtual drum synthesizer.
To sum it up, the Vermona DRM MKIII has renewed my faith in drum synthesis. I have often preferred to making drum sounds on my other more feature rich synthesizers, or using samples via Native Instruments Battery than to using some of the off the shelf drum modules, but I was pleased to find that a dedicated box like this one brings so much new creativity to the table when it comes to drums. You should not underestimate the sheer fun factor of this machine, it’s totally a hands on experience that can easily become an addiction.
If reading this made you at all curious about what it sounds like, here’s my first track using the Vermona DRM MKIII. Made in honor of the machine itself. Viva la good design!
Hi Ethan, Was the only instrument on the track the DRM1? Was the bass also created by the DRM?
H Peter, the bass was made with a Vermona MonoLancet run through a Moog 104Z analog delay. The DRM1 doesn’t have any sounds that you can track pitch with, like for a bass melody; but they all can be used to create weird sound effects that can be triggered at specific pitches. This can be especially fun, if you use the send/return on each channel to process these type of sounds through an effects unit or modular synth.
Hello
I have the vermona drm mkiii and the yamaha qy 100 sequencer
I want to synchronize them via midi I tried but nothing happens Please can you help me??
Many thanks
Hi Sotiris,
Unfortunately, I don’t own a Yamaha QY 100, however; it’s very easy to assign midi channels & note numbers to the DRM1 MKIII. After pluging in the midi out to the midi in of the DRM1 MKIII, you can hold down any 2 drum channel trigs and then power on the DRM1 MKIII in order to put it into midi learn mode. You can then trigger any 8 notes from your Yamaha QY 100 and the Drum Channels will automatically be assigned to the midi channel and midi note in order of the notes sent. So the first channel will be set to the first note sent, the second to the second note sent and so on. If this is not successful, I would recommend testing your midi out from your Yamaha QY 100 with another device to see if there is a problem with the QY 100 sending midi. If it works with other devices, I would test the DRM1 MKIII with another device to see if there is a problem with the midi in on the DRM1 MKII.
Below are two links where you can download the manual for both devices, they may be of some use:
Yamaha QY 100: http://download.yamaha.com/search/product/?category_id1=16244&product_id=106926
Vermona DRM1 MKIII: http://vermona.com/index.php/en_drm1mk3.html
Best Regards,
Ethan
Hi Ethan, what kind of external step sequencer do you suggest for the Vermona? Arturia Beatstep for instance?I have a NI Maschine. Do you think I can use it as controller for it?
Thank you!
NI Machine would work really great, and so would the Beatstep. The latter would probably give you more immediate traditional drum sequencing results without much programming, where as the NI Machine could be used to sequence in more creative applications. Any device with drum trigger pads are nice to trigger/sequence it, because the DRM1 is velocity sensitive. When recording, I usually use Ableton Live to sequence it, but for more ‘live’ applications, I’ve used everything from Ipad apps to Modular LFOs in the cv/gate inputs. In terms of using NI Maschine as a controller, there’s not a lot of midi controllers for the DRM1, so you’re really just looking for something to trigger the sounds. The drum sound parameters won’t be midi controllable, but editing the sounds with the analog pots are what’s fun about the DRM1. Hope that helps!
Thank you Ethan for your reply! Very helpful!
Greetings! Excellent overview of this awesome machine.
I actually used the VERMONA on nearly every track of this album:
https://reeno.bandcamp.com/album/the-cyclon-world-tour
Keep it funky!
Hi Ethan, thank you for sharing this. I’m really excited about getting one myself but i’m not very clear about two things: A) can i use it easily with my Ableton Push? and B) i’m not sure which model to get – the standard one or the one with triggers – how exactly can the latter be used and what can it add to workflow/music possibilities? Thank you!
Hi Daniel, the midi implementation is very simple and straightforward. It allows the DRM1 to be used with any sequencer. With Ableton I use it no problem with an Ext. instrument, I also set up drum rack that is mapped to all the different drum channels on the DRM1, so I can just load it into a set when I want analog drums. I don’t have Ableton Push, but I assume it can control a Drum Rack instance, thus control your DRM1. In my opinion the triggers are worth the extra money because it opens doors and adds fun factor being able to use the instrument with analog voltages. If you have a modular rig or a synth/controller with cv/gate, you can do some fun triggering stuff. For instance, with my Vermona MonoLancet, I can trigger a nice base drum sound from the DRM1 and feed it back into through the MonoLancet filter, which can add a unique punch to a baseline with the right levels in place. Hope that helps!