Birotron
Encyclopedia
The Birotron 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.
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 loop
s, 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.
(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".
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.
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).
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.
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.
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 http://yesmuseum.org/WakeView3.html 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.
) 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.
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.
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.
It has not been seen in a live concert since 1979.
(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.
Tape replay keyboard
A tape replay keyboard is a musical instrument that uses pre-recorded analog tapes to produce sound when a key is pressed. Examples of tape replay keyboards include the Chamberlin, the Mellotron, and the Birotron....
conceived by Dave Biro of Yalesville, Connecticut, USA, and funded by Rick Wakeman
Rick Wakeman
Richard Christopher Wakeman is an English keyboard player, composer and songwriter best known for being the former keyboardist in the progressive rock band Yes...
of the progressive-rock group Yes
Yes (band)
Yes are an English rock band who achieved worldwide success with their progressive, art, and symphonic style of rock music. Regarded as one of the pioneers of the progressive genre, Yes are known for their lengthy songs, mystical lyrics, elaborate album art, and live stage sets...
, and Campbell Soup Company-Pepperidge Farm Foods
Pepperidge Farm
Pepperidge Farm is a commercial bakery in the U.S. founded in 1937 by Margaret Rudkin, who named the brand after her family's property in Fairfield, Connecticut, which in turn was named for the pepperidge tree, Nyssa sylvatica. Since 1961, the company has been owned by the Campbell Soup Company...
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
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin were an English rock band, active in the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s. Formed in 1968, they consisted of guitarist Jimmy Page, singer Robert Plant, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham...
.
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.
Technology
The Birotron is a keyboard instrument that uses 8-track cartridge8-track cartridge
Stereo 8, commonly known as the eight-track cartridge, eight-track tape, or simply eight-track, is a magnetic tape sound recording technology. It was popular in the United States from the mid-1960s through the late 1970s, but was relatively unknown in many European countries...
tapes to play sounds whenever a key is pressed on the keyboard. It is similar in concept to the Chamberlin
Chamberlin
The Chamberlin is an electro-mechanical keyboard instrument that was a precursor to the Mellotron. It was developed and patented by Iowa, Wisconsin inventor Harry Chamberlin from 1949 to 1956, when the first model was introduced. Various models and versions of these Chamberlin music instruments...
and Mellotron
Mellotron
The Mellotron is an electro-mechanical, polyphonic tape replay keyboard originally developed and built in Birmingham, England in the early 1960s. It superseded the Chamberlin Music Master, which was the world's first sample-playback keyboard intended for music...
, 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 loop
Tape loop
In music, tape loops are loops of prerecorded magnetic tape used to create repetitive, rhythmic musical patterns or dense layers of sound. Contemporary composers such as Steve Reich and Karlheinz Stockhausen used tape loops to create phase patterns and rhythms...
s, 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
Mike Pinder
Michael Thomas "Mike" Pinder is an English rock musician, and is a founding member or the British rock group, the Moody Blues. He left the group following the recording of the band's album, Octave, in 1978...
's Mellotron work on Have You Heard
Have You Heard (The Moody Blues song)
"Have You Heard" is a 1969 song by the progressive rock band The Moody Blues. Written by the band's keyboardist Mike Pinder, "Have You Heard" is actually a two-part song, and both parts were recorded and released in 1969 on the Moody Blues Album On the Threshold of a Dream.Both parts of "Have You...
, 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.
Beginnings
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.Demand
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 EmersonKeith Emerson
Keith Noel Emerson is an English keyboard player and composer. Formerly a member of the Keith Emerson Trio, John Brown's Bodies, The T-Bones, V.I.P.s, P.P. Arnold's backing band, and The Nice , he was a founder of Emerson, Lake & Palmer , one of the early supergroups, in 1970...
(Emerson Lake and Palmer), Elton John
Elton John
Sir Elton Hercules John, CBE, Hon DMus is an English rock singer-songwriter, composer, pianist and occasional actor...
, Rod Argent
Rod Argent
Rod Argent is an English rock musician and a founding member of the 1960s English pop group The Zombies and the 1970s band Argent....
's music store, Roger Whittaker
Roger Whittaker
Roger Whittaker is an Anglo-Kenyan singer-songwriter and musician with worldwide record sales of over 55 million. His music can be described as easy listening. He is best known for his baritone singing voice and trademark whistling ability...
, John Lennon
John Lennon
John Winston Lennon, MBE was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music...
, Paul McCartney
Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE, Hon RAM, FRCM is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Formerly of The Beatles and Wings , McCartney is listed in Guinness World Records as the "most successful musician and composer in popular music history", with 60 gold discs and sales of 100...
, Linda McCartney
Linda McCartney
Linda Louise McCartney, Lady McCartney was an American photographer, musician and animal rights activist. Her father and mother were Lee Eastman and Louise Sara Lindner Eastman....
, The Beach Boys
The Beach Boys
The Beach Boys are an American rock band, formed in 1961 in Hawthorne, California. The group was initially composed of brothers Brian, Dennis and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and friend Al Jardine. Managed by the Wilsons' father Murry, The Beach Boys signed to Capitol Records in 1962...
, Rod Stewart
Rod Stewart
Roderick David "Rod" Stewart, CBE is a British singer-songwriter and musician, born and raised in North London, England and currently residing in Epping. He is of Scottish and English ancestry....
, The Faces
Faces (band)
Faces are an English rock band formed in 1969 by members of the Small Faces after Steve Marriott left that group to form Humble Pie...
, Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin were an English rock band, active in the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s. Formed in 1968, they consisted of guitarist Jimmy Page, singer Robert Plant, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham...
, Captain & Tennille
Captain & Tennille
Captain & Tennille are American pop music recording artists who achieved chart success from 1975 to 1980. The duo consists of husband and wife duo "Captain" Daryl Dragon , and Cathryn Antoinette "Toni" Tennille . They are best known for their singles "Love Will Keep Us Together" and "Do That to Me...
, Gary Wright
Gary Wright
Gary Malcolm Wright is an American musician, best known for his song, "Dream Weaver". He was the piano player on Harry Nilsson's version of "Without You".-Early life:...
, Dudley Moore
Dudley Moore
Dudley Stuart John Moore, CBE was an English actor, comedian, composer and musician.Moore first came to prominence as one of the four writer-performers in the ground-breaking comedy revue Beyond the Fringe in the early 1960s, and then became famous as half of the highly popular television...
, Patrick Moraz
Patrick Moraz
Patrick Philippe Moraz is a progressive rock keyboard player. He is best known as the keyboardist for the progressive rock band Yes, from 1974 to 1976, and the Moody Blues from 1978 to 1991...
, Chicago
Chicago (band)
Chicago is an American rock band formed in 1967 in Chicago, Illinois. The self-described "rock and roll band with horns" began as a politically charged, sometimes experimental, rock band and later moved to a predominantly softer sound, becoming famous for producing a number of hit ballads. They had...
, Ian McLagan
Ian McLagan
Ian McLagan is an English keyboard instrumentalist, best known as a member of the English rock bands Small Faces and Faces.-Small Faces and Faces:...
, Synergy
Synergy
Synergy may be defined as two or more things functioning together to produce a result not independently obtainable.The term synergy comes from the Greek word from , , meaning "working together".-Definitions and usages:...
, Tangerine Dream
Tangerine Dream
Tangerine Dream is a German electronic music group founded in 1967 by Edgar Froese. The band has undergone many personnel changes over the years, with Froese being the only continuous member...
, Klaus Schulze
Klaus Schulze
Klaus Schulze is a German electronic music composer and musician. He also used the alias Richard Wahnfried. He was briefly a member of the electronic bands Tangerine Dream and Ash Ra Tempel before launching a solo career consisting of more than 60 albums released across five decades.-1970s:In...
and Yes
Yes (band)
Yes are an English rock band who achieved worldwide success with their progressive, art, and symphonic style of rock music. Regarded as one of the pioneers of the progressive genre, Yes are known for their lengthy songs, mystical lyrics, elaborate album art, and live stage sets...
. 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
Dudley Moore
Dudley Stuart John Moore, CBE was an English actor, comedian, composer and musician.Moore first came to prominence as one of the four writer-performers in the ground-breaking comedy revue Beyond the Fringe in the early 1960s, and then became famous as half of the highly popular television...
, Linda McCartney
Linda McCartney
Linda Louise McCartney, Lady McCartney was an American photographer, musician and animal rights activist. Her father and mother were Lee Eastman and Louise Sara Lindner Eastman....
, and Paul 'Doc' Randall. Christopher Franke
Christopher Franke
Christopher Franke is a German musician and composer. From 1971 to 1988 he was a member of the electronic group Tangerine Dream. Initially a drummer with The Agitation, later renamed Agitation Free, his primary focus eventually shifted to keyboards and synthesizers as the group moved away from its...
of Tangerine Dream
Tangerine Dream
Tangerine Dream is a German electronic music group founded in 1967 by Edgar Froese. The band has undergone many personnel changes over the years, with Froese being the only continuous member...
ordered one after trying it at the Frankfurt Music Exhibition, and many musicians such as John Lennon
John Lennon
John Winston Lennon, MBE was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music...
, Captain and Tennille, and John Paul Jones
John Paul Jones (musician)
John Paul Jones is an English multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, composer, arranger and record producer. Best known as the bassist, mandolinist, and keyboardist for English rock band Led Zeppelin, Jones has since developed a solo career and has gained even more respect as both a musician and a...
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".
Production
Despite the skilled talents of the manufacturing team, (such as Emerson/McCartney MoogMoog synthesizer
Moog synthesizer may refer to any number of analog synthesizers designed by Dr. Robert Moog or manufactured by Moog Music, and is commonly used as a generic term for older-generation analog music synthesizers. The Moog company pioneered the commercial manufacture of modular voltage-controlled...
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.
Sound library recordings
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 WhoThe Who
The Who are an English rock band formed in 1964 by Roger Daltrey , Pete Townshend , John Entwistle and Keith Moon . They became known for energetic live performances which often included instrument destruction...
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
Klaus Schulze
Klaus Schulze is a German electronic music composer and musician. He also used the alias Richard Wahnfried. He was briefly a member of the electronic bands Tangerine Dream and Ash Ra Tempel before launching a solo career consisting of more than 60 albums released across five decades.-1970s:In...
with (Earthstar
Earthstar (band)
Earthstar was an electronic music group originally from Utica, New York, in the United States. Earthstar was encouraged by Krautrock/Kosmische Musik/electronic music artist, composer, and producer Klaus Schulze to relocate to Germany where they were signed by Sky Records. Schulze produced their...
), Tangerine Dream
Tangerine Dream
Tangerine Dream is a German electronic music group founded in 1967 by Edgar Froese. The band has undergone many personnel changes over the years, with Froese being the only continuous member...
, Rick Wakeman and Dave Biro (who lost one unit after Birotronics went bust and his house was repossessed).
Sounds
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
Thulium
Thulium is a chemical element that has the symbol Tm and atomic number 69. Thulium is the second least abundant of the lanthanides . It is an easily workable metal with a bright silvery-gray luster...
and promethium
Promethium
Promethium is a chemical element with the symbol Pm and atomic number 61. It is notable for being the only exclusively radioactive element besides technetium that is followed by chemical elements with stable isotopes.- Prediction :...
- existing only as remnants or trace quantities.
Models
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.Number manufactured
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.
Renewed interest in 1990s and 2000s
The Birotron had renewed interest in the early 1990s because of its relation to the MellotronMellotron
The Mellotron is an electro-mechanical, polyphonic tape replay keyboard originally developed and built in Birmingham, England in the early 1960s. It superseded the Chamberlin Music Master, which was the world's first sample-playback keyboard intended for music...
and Chamberlin
Chamberlin
The Chamberlin is an electro-mechanical keyboard instrument that was a precursor to the Mellotron. It was developed and patented by Iowa, Wisconsin inventor Harry Chamberlin from 1949 to 1956, when the first model was introduced. Various models and versions of these Chamberlin music instruments...
. 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 http://yesmuseum.org/WakeView3.html 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
Going for the One
Going for the One is the eighth studio album from the English progressive rock band Yes, released in 1977 on Atlantic Records. It was produced after an extended break for solo activity from the group, and marks the return of keyboardist Rick Wakeman, who had departed in 1974 after the Tales from...
and Tormato
Tormato
Tormato is the ninth studio album by British progressive rock group Yes. Issued as the follow-up to 1977's acclaimed Going for the One, Tormato received less than charitable reviews upon release and its virtues are still a matter of debate for Yes fans and critics...
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.
Downfall
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 CMIFairlight CMI
The Fairlight CMI is a digital sampling synthesizer. It was designed in 1979 by the founders of Fairlight, Peter Vogel and Kim Ryrie, and based on a dual-6800 microprocessor computer designed by Tony Furse in Sydney, Australia...
) 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.
Attempts To Save and Rescue Birotron
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
Pepperidge Farm
Pepperidge Farm is a commercial bakery in the U.S. founded in 1937 by Margaret Rudkin, who named the brand after her family's property in Fairfield, Connecticut, which in turn was named for the pepperidge tree, Nyssa sylvatica. Since 1961, the company has been owned by the Campbell Soup Company...
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.
Worlds rarest musical instrument
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.
Birotron Use In Concerts
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.
Birotron Recordings
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 TormatoTormato
Tormato is the ninth studio album by British progressive rock group Yes. Issued as the follow-up to 1977's acclaimed Going for the One, Tormato received less than charitable reviews upon release and its virtues are still a matter of debate for Yes fans and critics...
(deep and compressed in the mix), the live Yesshows
Yesshows
Yesshows is the second live album by British progressive rock group Yes. Released shortly after the appearance of Drama, Yesshows comprises live performances ranging from the summer of 1976 to the supporting tour for Tormato in 1978...
, and Wakeman's solo album Criminal Record
Rick Wakeman's Criminal Record
-Personnel:* Rick Wakeman – keyboard, producer* Chris Squire – bass* Alan White – drums* Frank Ricotti – percussion* Bill Oddie – vocals* Ars Laeta Choir of Lausanne, Switzerland* Robert Mernoud – Conductor* John Timperley – engineer* Dave Richards - engineer...
. It also appeared on 3 albums by the band Earthstar
Earthstar (band)
Earthstar was an electronic music group originally from Utica, New York, in the United States. Earthstar was encouraged by Krautrock/Kosmische Musik/electronic music artist, composer, and producer Klaus Schulze to relocate to Germany where they were signed by Sky Records. Schulze produced their...
: French Skyline
French Skyline
French Skyline is the second full-length album by the American electronic band Earthstar. It was their first release for Hamburg, Germany–based Sky Records....
, Atomkraft? Nein, Danke!
Atomkraft? Nein, Danke!
Atomkraft? Nein, Danke! is the third full-length album by the American electronic band Earthstar. It was their second release for the Hamburg, Germany-based Sky Records on February 1, 1981. Atomkraft? Nein, Danke! was recorded during 1979 and 1980 at Deponté la Rue Studio in Paris, France, and IC...
, and Humans Only
Humans Only
Humans Only is the fourth full-length album by the American electronic band Earthstar. It was their third and final release for Hamburg-based Sky Records ....
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
Eleni Mandell
Eleni Mandell is an American singer-songwriter. She currently publishes albums through Zedtone in Toronto, Ontario...
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
Klaus Schulze
Klaus Schulze is a German electronic music composer and musician. He also used the alias Richard Wahnfried. He was briefly a member of the electronic bands Tangerine Dream and Ash Ra Tempel before launching a solo career consisting of more than 60 albums released across five decades.-1970s:In...
' 1977 Mirage
Mirage (Klaus Schulze album)
Mirage is the eighth album by Klaus Schulze. It was originally released in 1977, and in 2005 was the first Schulze album reissued by Revisited Records. A slightly different version of "Velvet Voyage" is included on the reissue...
album, doing the endless choir sounds in Velvet Voyage and Crystal Lake. The Birotron is not credited on the record but Earthstar
Earthstar (band)
Earthstar was an electronic music group originally from Utica, New York, in the United States. Earthstar was encouraged by Krautrock/Kosmische Musik/electronic music artist, composer, and producer Klaus Schulze to relocate to Germany where they were signed by Sky Records. Schulze produced their...
's Craig Wuest
Craig Wuest
Craig Wuest is an American keyboardist currently based in Atlanta, Georgia. He is best known as the founder and leader of the electronic music group Earthstar during the 1970s and 1980s. Earthstar was only American band who participated in Germany's Kosmische Musik/electronic music scene while...
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
Orchestron
The Vako Orchestron is a keyboard instrument, which produces its sound through electronic amplification of sound pre-recorded on an optical disc...
and keyboard section of the Optigan
Optigan
The Optigan was an electronic keyboard instrument designed for the consumer market. The name stems from the instrument's reliance on pre-recorded optical soundtracks to reproduce sound...
but have a far cleaner Mellotron
Mellotron
The Mellotron is an electro-mechanical, polyphonic tape replay keyboard originally developed and built in Birmingham, England in the early 1960s. It superseded the Chamberlin Music Master, which was the world's first sample-playback keyboard intended for music...
or Chamberlin
Chamberlin
The Chamberlin is an electro-mechanical keyboard instrument that was a precursor to the Mellotron. It was developed and patented by Iowa, Wisconsin inventor Harry Chamberlin from 1949 to 1956, when the first model was introduced. Various models and versions of these Chamberlin music instruments...
- 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.