Vermona ’14

Instruments Category: 
Synthesizer
Company : 
Vermona

The Vermona ’14 Analogsynthesizer is a bard of modern times. A true individualist on the electronic music scene. This bard doesn’t just sound, it sings! Mind you, synthesizers in the singing category are rare. Oberheim OB-1 (“exact VCO tuning”) and the Moog Prodigy (“sync sounds”) are among the few vintage synths in this field. Vermona Mono Lancet (and Mono Lancet ’15) do sing a little. And that’s about it. The rest of the synths just – sound.

Which isn’t to say that the rest are mediocre instruments. But only rarely – very rarely – does a synth appear with lyrical and poetic qualities as well. The Vermona ’14, for instance. (This is also a perfect arpeggio-synth, by the way.)

A few quick words about design: The instrument’s blue is very noble (not always apparent in the photos) – shimmering silver, appealing. Switches, sockets, knobs: Everything harmoniously solid. The panel topped with white and black knobs. White for tone generation (VCO-MIXER-VCF-VCA), black for modulation (ENV-VCF MOD-LFO-VIBRATO) and performance (BENDER-VEL-ARP-EDIT). A logical and user-friendly layout.

Paradoxically, the ’14 isn’t a synth you can just pick up at your local dealer. Of course, you can ask, but you’re bound to hear “sorry, sold out!” … A mere 222 units of this very refined synth are scheduled to be built. So be quick, should you want to call one of these modern bards your own.

Vermona’s ’14 Analogsynthesizer stands in a tradition going back 350 years to the days when Vogtland (at the border to the Czech Republic) was a global player in musical instrument making. Going from bowed string instruments to plucked instruments and all kinds of wind instruments, Vogtland has recently (meaning the 70s) arrived in the field of musical electronics.

Take the superb craftsmanship inherent in the beautiful parcel itself when the Vermona ’14 is delivered at your doorstep. The package includes not only the synth and its power cord, but also a really well-written user’s manual in German and English (linen-bound), … as well as a certificate of origin with the instrument’s serial number (17 of 222, whatever), that customary Vermona dust cover, a microfiber dust cloth and a good old-fashioned foot switch for sustain and for arpeggio recording-mode.

This synthesizer is very well made, a solid and real instrument in the good tradition of hand-made instrument making, a rarity these days.

Features

Short and to the point. The ’14 Analogsynthesizer features:

  • 2 VCOs
  • 2 sub-oscillators
  • Audio-in, noise
  • Cross-modulation and oscillator-synchronization
  • 12/18/24db LowPass VCF
  • VCO1-to-VCF modulation
  • 2 ADSR envelopes
  • 2 LFOs (vibrato-LFO and a powerful main-LFO, incl. random)
  • Arpeggiator with „sequencer“ mode / 16 memories
  • 44-note keyboard with velocity and aftertouch
  • Pitchbend- and modulation-wheel
  • Glide and a special legato-mode
  • CV/Gate-out (6,3mm and 3,6mm)
  • Pitchbend- and modulation-wheel-CV-out (!)
  • Audio-out (balanced, unbalanced)
  • Headphones-out (again, 6,3mm and 3,6mm)
  • MIDI in/out/thru
  • USB