The Birotron (pronounced By-ro-tron) is a tape replay keyboard conceived by Dave Biro of Yalesville, Connecticut, USA, and funded by Rick Wakeman of the progressive-rock group Yes, and Campbell Soup Company-Pepperidge Farm Foods in the mid-late 1970s.
A Mellotron-like instrument in the prototype stage, and intended for mass production - it was featured on a hit single and used on several albums and tours. It appeared in advertisements and received press in several newspapers as the next 'latest and greatest' keyboard instrument. It also received over 1000 advance orders from many prominent musicians worldwide including members of the Beatles and Led Zeppelin.
Despite this success, it is now generally considered the world's rarest keyboard instrument in the genres of pop/rock music. It also retains the highest selling price for any Mellotron related keyboard, and since its inception, has been one of the most difficult to find, seldom seen, and least recorded instruments in the entire world.
The Birotron is a keyboard instrument that uses 8-track cartridge tapes to play sounds whenever a key is pressed on the keyboard. It is similar in concept to the Chamberlin and Mellotron, and was a forerunner of digital sampling. Keyboards like the Mellotron, Chamberlin, and Birotron were mainly used for strings, choirs, brass, and flutes; sounds not easily reproduced on the synthesizers of that era.
The major innovation of the Birotron is that it stores its sounds using 8-track tape loops, which allows it to play the sounds indefinitely, a great improvement from the 8-second limit of the Mellotron and Chamberlin. This also allows for dynamic and gradual changes in sound tones over time. A 10 minute tape loop could start off as a violin sound and gradually thicken into a viola or cello. A single repeating drum sound could gradually morph into several drum tones. Sound effects could change over time from the sounds of a stream to birds chirping. Sound collages could be made by combining tapes of various flutes, cellos, choirs, sound effects etc. This use of tape loops from 8 track cartridges also allows a Birotron owner to record his own tapes, and have a series of multiple instruments across the keyboard in the register they wished.
Another improvement is a separate attack and decay envelope for each note (like a VCA on analogue synthesizers) that allowed each note on the keyboard to independently begin and sustain. Notes could come in instantly or gradually over time - swelling in volume over a minute. Notes could decay quickly or slowly fade out, or infinite sustain could be achieved - giving the illusion that the instrument is playing itself. A ten turn pitch knob allows the sounds to be vastly speeded up or slowed down. The drawback was that the actual attack of a note had been lost in this system, and the electronic attack and decay were essential to recreate it.
The attack, sustain and 10 turn pitch features allow for effortless creation of ominous stacked sound swells and pitch bends reminiscent of Mike Pinder's Mellotron work on Have You Heard, and Rick Wakeman's Mellotron work on I Get Up, I Get Down from Close To The Edge. By varying the attack and decay controls while playing - sounds, notes and chords could be stacked upon, blended, sustained, and then suddenly morphed by changing the 4 position track selector. The keyboard action also allows the user to play as fast as they want to, having a very light touch. This allowed the player to create both a dynamic sound, and do fast runs the way a symphony might actually play. This was not always easy to do with the Mellotron or Chamberlin. These combined features plus a lighter weight and small size attracted huge interest from most major musicians of that time.
Unable to afford a Mellotron, Dave Biro invented this instrument for personal use in early 1974 and showed it to Rick Wakeman in October 1974 after a concert performance in Connecticut. Wakeman played it backstage noting it sounded "more mellow than a Mellotron", and realizing it allowed for more variety in playing styles because there was no worry about the tape running out. Wakeman was so impressed by the indefinite tape loop idea that he asked Biro if he'd like to "make some money with this thing" and offered to fund its manufacture. It was developed in 1975 by Birotronics, Ltd which was one of Wakeman's Complex 7 businesses. The Packhorse Road Case company was also part of Complex 7.
The Birotron was introduced in advertisements to the music world in 1976. Costing an estimated 1500-3000 dollars along with the promise of tapes available cheaply at music stores, it was offered as an alternative to the more expensive (and occasionally unreliable) Mellotron and Chamberlin. Interest and customer orders flooded in from musicians worldwide. These included Keith Emerson (Emerson Lake and Palmer), Elton John, Rod Argent's music store, Roger Whittaker, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Linda McCartney, The Beach Boys, Rod Stewart, The Faces, Led Zeppelin, Captain & Tennille, Gary Wright, Dudley Moore, Patrick Moraz, Chicago, Ian McLagan, Synergy, Tangerine Dream, Klaus Schulze and Yes. Over 1000 orders were eventually received for the proposed B-90 model.
Various famous musicians visited the factory to see and hear the Birotron. Among these were Dudley Moore, Linda McCartney, and Paul 'Doc' Randall. Christopher Franke of Tangerine Dream ordered one after trying it at the Frankfurt Music Exhibition, and many musicians such as John Lennon, Captain and Tennille, and John Paul Jones sought out Dave Biro or his management to be among the first to obtain one when they realized the demand was high. Many other music business executives such as Guy Barris and Derek Green of A & M Records also came to see it, some travelling thousands of miles.
The market for the Birotron was in some part due to negative experiences musicians had working with the Mellotron and the Chamberlin in a live concert setting. It was thought that having tapes protected inside the 8 track cartridge casings rendered them immune from the effects of humidity, smoke, fog machine residue, and temperature changes. In conversations with Dave Biro and his management, Toni Tennille is alleged to have said: "Finally someone has perfected the Mellotron and Chamberlin designs".
Despite the skilled talents of the manufacturing team, (such as Emerson/McCartney Moog technician Phil Pierce who worked on the attack / decay electronics), and a man by the name of 'Roger Rogers' who worked on design development, delays in actual production arose due to issues that became time consuming to solve properly. These included international voltage considerations, tape head alignment, and fitting 8 track tapes into a smaller and extremely robust case. The vertical mount of the tape cartridges initially made tapes prone to problems like jamming and wandering. Smaller tape loop lengths helped surmount this. Although the problems were solved it meant that essentially the B-90 Birotron was not made to a price and expensive metals and components were used in its manufacture. Wakeman stated in a 1978 interview with Keyboard magazine that the Birotron would have an extremely low profit margin because of it.
The use of expensive components, combined with fees for legal patents (to cover at least 2 versions of it, and a loop recording process which eliminated thumps in loop points), plus hiring musicians and locations to record sounds for the tapes, made the Birotron project an increasingly expensive venture.
An entire orchestral sound library was recorded for the Birotron. These sounds included violin and viola sections, brass, cellos, various flutes, organs, recorders, choirs etc. The London Symphony Orchestra, and Nottingham Town Choirs were involved in making these recordings. Rick Wakeman himself recorded the organ sounds from a church organ both the Rolling Stones and The Who had used. Despite the years of work from 1975 through 1977 and over 1000 orders from musicians worldwide - no Birotron was ever commercially offered for sale. In the end, less than a handful of musicians actually received a Birotron. Among this number were Klaus Schulze with (Earthstar), Tangerine Dream, Rick Wakeman and Dave Biro (who lost one unit after Birotronics went bust and his house was repossessed).
It's unknown for certain how many sounds were actually made onto 8 track tapes for use in the machine. Some of the found ones are: 'mixed choir', 'violin', 'organ', 'cello', 'flute', 'viola section', 'mixed strings', and 'mixed brass'. There are probably more as 3 different versions of the instrument were produced.
These sounds (when played from unmagnetized tapes) resemble a cross between the sound of the Mellotron and Chamberlin, having both brightness or warm mid-range depending on the instrument sound and the analogue recording itself.
There is evidence to suggest that today there may be no Birotron left at all with a complete and working tape set. Many found tapes and tape cartridges themselves are so damaged and delicate that they are now almost analagous to the rarity of metals like thulium and promethium - existing only as remnants or trace quantities.
In total, Birotronics made an extremely limited number of these instruments. There were 2 British made "model A" versions of Biro's original prototype, along with 2 prototype versions of the B-90. The B-90 model itself was the "pre-production prototype" and it's estimated that 12 were made. A mockup - prototype "C" version funded by Rudkin-Wiley Co. (investors / owners in Pepperidge Farm Foods / Air Shield manufacturing for trucks) came after the Birotronics business bust in 1979. This model (using some parts from the original prototype and a missing B-90) was never completed due to the 1981 recession in the USA and only one unfinished and incomplete version of this exists.
No one actually knows for certain how many Birotrons were made. David Biro says only 17 were made, including the original and the 4 aforementioned prototypes. Rick Wakeman claims there could be no more than 35 (27 unassembled and partially assembled units and only 8 complete and assembled working B-90 models). Another ex-Birotronics source believes only 13 B-90 machines were ever assembled. It is unlikely that the mystery of how many were actually made, will ever be solved.
Only 5 Birotrons are thought to exist today, and of that number only 2 are known to be complete machines. A possible 6th machine may or may not exist. As of 2010, it has not been seen or accounted for in 16 years.
Discrepancies are somewhat explained by the fact that parts did exist in Birotronics inventory to make at least 20 machines, and that being in the betatest phase, the serial numbers on the assembled B90's may not have been in sequential order. For example, it's quite possible that the first two B90 pre-production prototypes were considered as #001 and #002 without ever being labelled as such because they were just cabinetless test models. Dave Biro also claims that he received Birotron #008 in 1977, after asking for #007, and then later again received another #008 as a gift in the '90s after the first #008 had been disposed of during foreclosure of his home. One of the #008 Birotrons may have been intended as #006.
What is known for certain is that no serial number higher than #015 has ever been found.
The Birotron had renewed interest in the early 1990s because of its relation to the Mellotron and Chamberlin. Although analogue tape instruments had experienced a rebirth through painstaking restorations, sample library creation, and then widespread use again on records, the whereabouts of Birotrons remained a complete mystery. Fervent searches by musicians and collectors turned up nothing. Only those connected with the deep past of Mellotronics or Birotronics could offer a tenuous-at-best lead on where to locate a Birotron, one person stating having not even heard the word 'Birotron' in almost 2 decades.
In the 1970s two units were destroyed during durability tests. An estimated five were damaged and thrown away, but it is unknown if the two destroyed units were included in this number. Later in the early 1990s, ex-Birotronics Director Peter Robinson disposed of the surviving unbuilt Birotrons saying regretfully in 2007: "At the time I couldn't see them making a comeback...I never thought there would be any future interest.....if only I knew.."
Rick Wakeman also laments the passing of the Birotron [1] saying: "I don't have any of them!... I don't have one. I would like to have one, I must admit, I'd love to have one." A total of four Birotrons were owned by Rick Wakeman, who used them successfully on the Yes Going For The One and Tormato tours to replace his double Mellotron last used on the Going For The One album. Wakeman recalls in a 1999 interview that two Birotrons were stolen, two were left damaged beyond repair, and one Birotron was sold privately for an astonishing $35,000. This is the highest recorded price ever paid for a Mellotron-type instrument. It's estimated that only 5 or 6 Birotrons are now left in existence and of this number, only 2, possibly 3 (if the third one still exists) are known to be complete machines.
Two major factors led to the Birotron's demise. The most direct cause was a lack of necessary and consistent funding. The Birotron also suffered from poor timing - originally intended for release in the mid-'70s but delayed until much later and very shortly before the arrival of the digital sampling technology (such as the Fairlight CMI) which would render it immediately obsolete in the eyes of the general consumer-musician.
The Birotron's conception in 1974 and association with art and progressive rock, (as opposed to disco, punk, or new wave), plus its use of 8 track tapes at the end of the '70s, would also position it as a relic of a by-gone era. In addition, Wakeman's resources were also being drained by an on-going divorce, worsening health problems, and growing dissent within his band Yes.
In the late '70s, and into the '80s, Les Bradley (Managing Director of the Mellotron company) offered to help save the Birotron through a mutual hybrid manufacturing operation but the offer came too late. Birotronics had abandoned the idea of any commercial production as funds had ran too short and it was estimated the Birotron could now never compete in the marketplace against digital synth technology.
Not wanting to give up, David Biro returned to the USA and attempted to sustain the Birotron project by designing another model that overcame the lengthy manufacturing challenges in earlier versions and might be more viable. This 'model C' version - invested in by Rudkin-Wiley (Pepperidge Farm Foods and Air Shield products), used fewer 8 track tapes, had new sounds, and would have included digital technology, and a remote keyboard that connected to the machine, but sustained funding was not available due to the 1981 recession. Throughout 1981, the recession worsened and funds for the project had completely drained.
By Christmas 1982, Biro was homeless, living on the streets and all Birotron projects had ceased.
Both Rick Wakeman and David Biro were financially ruined during the project as an estimated £50,000 (upwards of £322,500 today) disappeared into it. Today the Birotron is considered most likely the "world's rarest musical instrument" - being intended for factory mass production, having been used successfully on records and tours, but now - so extremely few in number and impossible to find as noted in a 2007 Believer Magazine article.
Birotronics USA Director of Sales and Marketing, Ed Cohen states that even back in the '70s he never even saw any B-90 Birotrons himself, and that he used flyers and descriptions of the machine when making sales presentations in America.
By 1979, some American keyboardists and music industry professionals - still enticed by the 1976 / 77 ads for the Birotron, had begun quests looking for it through business management and sales agents, and in music stores around the country - only to be told nothing had come in or had ever been seen. Concerned about what was happening, A & M Records business executive Derek Green journeyed to the Birotron factory to personally ask Rick Wakeman "What's happened to the Birotron?"
In a 1979 issue of Keyboard magazine, the constant frustrated question of when and where can musicians get a Birotron? was listed as the most 'Frequently Asked Question' to editors of the magazine.
Rick Wakeman also comments on the Birotron in a 2010 interview with Metal Discovery saying "They are unbelievably collectable; they really are."
"It was a different sound to the Mellotron, and it was a great sound. It was a very, very unique sound. If I’d have known what I know now I’d have mothballed it and brought it out ten to fifteen years later. It’s the ten year rule again. We make this huge mistake that when someone brings out a new instrument that means everything before it has got to be crap. That’s why some of the young bands are going back and finding all the gear from the seventies and eighties. They’re not buying new stuff anymore."
EarthStar's keyboardist Craig Wuest also comments on the sound in a 2010 Hartford Courant interview saying "I was taken by the Birotron because it doesn't sound like anything else, it just doesn't."
The Birotron's designation as the "world's rarest musical instrument" would not be only for the 5 or 6 surviving units (of which only 2 are known completed instruments), but also because its rarity was caused by natural circumstances and not artificial low production as an intended collectable. The Birotron also likely remains the only instrument in the world with an entire sound library that's never been digitally salvaged. Four sounds have emerged as digital samples from a surviving Birotron, but all are of extremely poor quality, being taken from partially erased and magnetized 8 track tapes playing at the wrong speed. With only four sound samples from faulty tapes playing at incorrect motor speeds (due to improper settings of the 10 turn pitch knob), accurate software-based Birotron sounds continue to remain unobtainable for musicians. Only the surviving original Birotrons are considered representative.
Streetly Electronics has a tape set available that features the Birotron Choir which is substantially better than any digital samples offered so far.
Dave Biro and Rick Wakeman are the only known musicians to use the instrument live. Dave Biro used the original prototype with his band Blackwood from 1974 - 1976. Rick Wakeman used 3 or 4 B-90 models throughout 1977 and 1978 for the Yes Going For The One and Tormato tours. It has not been seen in a live concert since 1979.
The Birotron B90 model was only ever known to be used on record by two bands in its heyday. The first musician to use it in a commercial recording was Rick Wakeman. The Birotron appeared on the Yes albums Tormato (deep and compressed in the mix), the live Yesshows, and Wakeman's solo album Criminal Record. It also appeared on 3 albums by the band Earthstar: French Skyline, Atomkraft? Nein, Danke!, and Humans Only in the late '70s and early '80s. These were the only known appearances of Birotron on record during its era.
The Birotron re-appeared once again 11 years later on the track "Lift" by Dave Kean on the obscure 1993 Mellotron tribute: The Rime of the Ancient Sampler. The exact same Birotron unit (#007) also appeared once more 7 years later on the song "Nickel Plated Man" by Eleni Mandell on the 1999 album Wishbone.
Recordings of Biro's original prototype and the later model C version remain unreleased, or are now non-existent, and no further appearances of any Birotron have appeared since. Essentially, the Birotron has made only 2 known reappearances in almost 35 years.
Serial numbers of just 2 units have been historically traced to recordings - #007 (formerly owned by Wakeman), and #011 (Earthstar). It is also highly possible (but unconfirmed) that the Earthstar Birotron appears on Klaus Schulze' 1977 Mirage album, doing the endless choir sounds in Velvet Voyage and Crystal Lake. The Birotron is not credited on the record but Earthstar's Craig Wuest claims the rich choir sounds are indeed an undocumented Birotron recording.
It is unknown for certain if Tangerine Dream - "Loop Mellotron" (credited to Christopher Franke) is a reference to Birotron #005 or to their Mellotron T550 model which contained looped tapes they made themselves.
The Birotron's looped sounds can be described as somewhat similar to the sounds of the Orchestron and keyboard section of the Optigan but have a far cleaner Mellotron or Chamberlin - like timbre because of the tapes.
The unique attack and decay systems for each indidividual note and the 10 turn pitch knob (for changing tape speed) make Birotron sounds shimmering, haunting, and occasionally unrecognizable in the very few recordings that feature it. Because of this ability to morph and change the tonal qualities of the taped instruments, and the fact it's impossibly rare, most people would not usually recognize the sound of a Birotron when they heard it.
No audio demonstration of each Birotron sound was ever known to exist.
Despite the Birotron's reputation for being enigmatic and elusive, the instrument and its history continues to fascinate and intrigue musicians, historians and writers - appearing as a feature in major magazine and newspaper articles as well as a recent documentary on the Mellotron and Chamberlin.