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The Birotron was an electro-mechanical musical instrument based as a successor to the similar Mellotron, and financed by Rick Wakeman.

Features

The Birotron was named after its inventor, Dave Biro, with investment from regular Mellotron player Rick Wakeman. Like the Mellotron, the instrument produced sounds from magnetic tape, but used eight-track tape in a loop. As they never need rewinding, this avoided the problem that the Mellotron had, where a sound would stop playing after around eight seconds.

The instrument has 37 keys and features 19 eight-track cartridges. Tapes could be easily exchanged or replaced, and it was intended that musicians could add their own recordings to the instrument.

Production

Biro first started designing a tape-replay instrument in 1974 having heard Wakeman play the Double Mellotron on Tales from Topographic Oceans by Yes. He used the keyboard from an old piano and parts from a local hardware store, plus a set of automotive eight-track decks from a junkyard. Biro built the prototype in his father's garage with "no plans, no drawings, nothing. All I remember is that absolutely no one thought it could work". Despite several faults, Biro's friend and band manager Ed Cohen persuaded Rick Wakeman to hear it backstage in October 1974 in the hopes of getting an endorsement. Rick Wakeman was so impressed with the prototype that he asked them if they wanted to 'make some money with this thing' and offered to financially invest in the instrument. As part of the deal, Wakeman retained full rights with an offer of compensation to Biro should the instrument become successful. Development progressed in 1975, when Rick Wakeman and business partner Peter Robinson and his team at Birotronics produced a more sophisticated working prototype model with help from specialized technicians at his Birotronics factory in High Wycombe, England.

The Birotron was announced in September 1975 while being lengthily developed and beta-tested by Birotronics Limited - a company under Complex 7, which was a group of 7 companies that Wakeman and Robinson owned and directed. Birotronics specifically was in charge of building and marketing the Birotron instrument. As Wakeman was on tours for both his solo career and for his band Yes and Biro was restricted by American citizenship legalities regarding employment in the U.K., Peter Robinson was put in charge of all operations for Birotronics and all of Complex 7. Over 1000 advance orders totalling over a million dollars in sales came in from musicians, bands, and celebrities worldwide. These included John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Keith Emerson of Emerson Lake and Palmer, The Beach Boys, Chicago, Captain and Tennille, Gary Wright, Patrick Moraz, John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin, Vangelis, Tangerine Dream, Klaus Schulze, Rod Stewart, The Faces, Larry Fast of Synergy, Uriah Heep, Rod Argent of The Zombies, Roger Whittaker, Berkley music professor Tom Rhea, Dudley Moore and Elton John. Wakeman used the instrument on his solo album Criminal Record and on Yes's Tormato which contained 'Don't Kill The Whale'- the only hit single to feature a Birotron.

In late 1978, in an issue of Keyboard Magazine Wakeman guessed that between 30 and 35 models existed (or parts existed to build this number) as they were 'not really finished models', and while the instrument performed to his satisfaction in a studio setting, problems arose when it was used on tour with Yes a year prior. Its precise voltage requirements made it difficult for use in countries with varying voltages, and a decision had yet to be made to either produce several models to work on different voltages, or add a built-in transformer. In a 1979 issue of Keyboard Magazine, the question of 'Where and When Can Musicians Get a Birotron?' was listed as the Most Frequently Asked Question of the year, according to the magazine editors. Wakeman said a key problem was that the instrument had "teething problems" that didn't bother him, but would be unacceptable to the general public. A further problem was the increasing popularity of string synthesizers which could reproduce a similar sound without any mechanical issues, and the emergence of digital instruments like the Fairlight CMI which would render both tape based instruments and analog synthesizers obsolete. Ultimately, very few models were manufactured and the Birotron never entered regular production with no one at Birotronics actually knowing for certain how many Birotrons were made. Dave Biro and a junior ex-Birotronics employee named Nic Lewis believe only 12 to 17 could ever have been assembled, all of which are now unaccounted for. Wakeman later said he lost around £50,000 (equal to £311,317.19 or $396,040.61 as of 2023) in the investment. In 1980 the instrument was subsequently redeveloped again as the Birotron Polyvox in the United States by Rudkin-Wiley (a subsidiary of Air Shield and Pepperidge Farm Foods under Campbells Soup Company but by 1982 the decision was made to abandon production of a half built prototype with demonstration cartridge sounds due to the Early 1980's recession.

The only musicians other than Wakeman to have received and used a Birotron on studio recordings, and tours are Tangerine Dream (who possibly bought two), and Klaus Schulze who used it with the band Earthstar. As of 2019, only two working models are now known to exist, neither of which have an accurate representative sound due to severe degradation of incomplete 8 track tape sets.

References

1. ^ Vail 2000, p. 97.
2. Awde 2008, p. 232.
3. ^ Lenhoff & Robertson 2019, p. 276.
4. ^ Collins, Paul (June–July 2007). "Ker-Chunk!". Essays: The Believer. Retrieved 28 December 2023.
5. Lenhoff & Robertson 2019, p. 277.
6. "Rick Wakeman". International Musician & Recording World. September 1975. Retrieved 28 December 2023 – via Muzines.
7. "Music News - Birotron". International Musician & Recording World. September 1975. Retrieved 28 December 2023 – via Muzines.
8. "Music News - Wakeman goes into business". International Musician & Recording World. October 1975. Retrieved 28 December 2023 – via Muzines.
9. ^ Milano, Dominic (February 1979). "Rick Wakeman: On the Road and Beyond with Yes". Contemporary Keyboard. Retrieved 27 December 2023.
10. ^ Lenhoff & Robertson 2019, p. 278.

• Awde, Nick (2008). Mellotron: The Machines and the Musicians that Revolutionised Rock. Bennett & Bloom. ISBN 978-1-898948-02-5.
• Vail, Mark (2000). Keyboard Magazine Presents Vintage Synthesizers: Pioneering Designers, Groundbreaking Instruments, Collecting Tips,Mutants of Technology. Backbeat Books. ISBN 978-0-87930-603-8.
• Lenhoff, Alan; Robertson, David (2019). Classic Keys: Keyboard sounds that launched rock music. University of North Texas Press. ISBN 978-1-57441-776-0.

External links

• Eight Track Heaven - Birotron page featuring an interview with Rick Wakeman
• Dave Biro Interview NAMM Oral History Library (2013)

• Electric and electronic keyboard instruments
• Analogue samplers