Attention analog freaks!! The Vermona DRM-1 is a true analog drum synthesizer. You can synthesize up to eight drum sounds and they can be triggered by MIDI and by an optional set of 10 Trigger Inputs. Each sound has about 9 knobs for shaping the sound. And since it really is analog (and not some virtual emulation) the sounds are more unique and unpredictable than any other electronic drum synths currently available.

With eight drum sounds and nine knobs per sound, the face of the DRM-1 is covered with over 72 knobs! The drum synthesis theory is based around five predetermined percussive sound types. There are three DRUM channels for creating bass drums, toms and numerous effect sounds. One MULTI channel for creating typical analog Cowbell sounds and effect sounds. One SNARE channel, which can generate numerous analog snare drums as well as wacky sonar pings. Two HI HAT channels (open or closed), and one analog CLAP channel. There are seven real-time sound controls plus panning and volume on each channel.

It has a stereo output but each channel also has its own audio output which doubles as an insert patch for externally processing each channel before reaching its main stereo mix outputs. A big unfortunate over-sight is the lack of program patch memory. With all those knobs it sure would be nice for some sort of instant recall of your favorite drum sound settings. The front panel tilts so the DRM-1 is at home rack-mounted or as a tabletop module. Anyone interested in creating their own unique ANALOG drum sounds should check out the DRM-1! It makes a great companion to the Vermona Perfourmer Analog Synthesizer module. The original DRM-1 is gold and was released by Touched By Sound while the DRM-1 mkII from Vermona was blue or silver and the DRM-1 mkIII (pictured) has colored knobs.

noleian

October 22, 2012 @ 2:06 pm

You can do complete tracks using only the sounds from this machine. Its an eight channel analog synth! A little patience is required to find the sweet spots for each instrument but the flexibility is great and it looks very sexy in the rack :-)

eraser

June 14, 2012 @ 5:53 am

@ ideovideov. I had the MK2 too and it's a known fault/bug/'feature':

http://www.gearslutz.com/board/electronic-music-instruments-electronic-music-pro duction/460156-vermona-drm-noise-weirdness.html

And yes - I was obviously doing something wrong and the kick sounds are actually truly amazing, aaaahm, 'homie'...

*facepalm*

ideovideov

June 6, 2012 @ 8:49 pm

@ eraser i donno whats wrong with your unit.. mines never done that. i have mkiii however. homies mkii is just fine tho. and although the mkiii had some tweaks done to beef the kick; you're doing something wrong if you can't end up on a good low-end punchy kick on any of these. Or maybe the "kick" you are looking for requires a different form of synthesis and/or low-bit sampling..

eraser

May 9, 2012 @ 4:22 am

Inspired by the PerFourMer 1 & 2, I thought this would be a no brainer for an analog drum box. Wrong.

Lifeless kicks, awful snares (which let's face it are probably the most important parts of a drum synth). The real killer? The noise source is shared! This means that when you add hats with a noise source, the snare drum freaks out and does some kind of weird phasing shiz. No thanks.

Sorry - I like Vermona, what they stand for and what they do (PerFourMers are just amazing) but this one was a complete dog.

Korg ER-1 (though not analog) sounded better to me, esp in the kick dept.

jason

January 20, 2012 @ 10:41 am

I've had it for over a year now, mk3 bought new, triggering it with a Europa. A great overall drum machine, but I think it has one big limitation. The kick drum has almost zero low end, no punch. You will hear this on other forums and I think it is true. Other than that, it has a cold brittle sound. The cymbals really sizzle and each cymbal track can be played open or closed as a separately. I often find myself often overplaying it because you can get so many sounds. As a last note, it is no where comparable to an 808 or a 909. It is very much it's own unique machine.

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