Birotron

The Birotron is a musical instrument which was invented, developed, and manufactured in the 1970s. However, it never entered commercial production or release for sale. It's related to the Mellotron and Chamberlin tape replay keyboards. But, it is different because it uses endless tape loops in an 8 track tape format, unlike the pulley tape strips in a Mellotron or Chamberlin. It was invented by Dave Biro and financed by Rick Wakeman (from the band Yes) and Rudkin -Wiley Corp (under Pepperidge Farm Foods / Campbell Soup and Air Shield Ltd).

The Birotron was advertised in trade magazines and discussed in newspaper articles and over 1000 pre-orders (totalling over a million dollars in sales) flooded in from most of the popular bands and charting musicians of that time. John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Elton John, Vangelis, The Beach Boys, Led Zeppelin, Tangerine Dream, Klaus Schulze, Chicago, Uriah Heep, Roger Whittaker, The Faces, Yes, Larry Fast (Synergy), Rod Stewart, Emerson Lake and Palmer, Gary Wright, Captain and Tennille, Dudley Moore, and Patrick Moraz were some of the musicians who placed orders, but only 3 bands ever received a Birotron through an in-person visit to Peter Robinson, the owner and CEO of the manufacturing company 'Birotronics Ltd'. These were Yes (with Rick Wakeman), Tangerine Dream, and Klaus Schulze (with Earthstar).

Manufacturing difficulties arose during the pre-production phase which became time consuming and expensive to solve properly. As a result, the Birotron was held back and delayed until all the problems were solved. The drawback from this delay was that Birotronics' proposed release of the Birotron in the late 1970's would coincide with the release of newer digital keyboards like the Fairlight CMI system. It was thought that digital keyboard technology would render the Birotron and its dependence on 8 track tape technology immediately obsolete. Manufacturing expenses and competition from string synthesizers would also result in a low profit margin. Consequently, funding and manufacture ceased with Birotronics disposing of all of the Birotron B-90 prototype instruments and the parts to make them. The parts were produced by companies which were the only companies in the world able to make such specific customized parts.

The copies sold to Rick Wakeman, Tangerine Dream, and Klaus Schulze became the only proof the instrument was ever actually manufactured. Rudkin-Wiley Corporation attempted to manufacture a 1980's version of the Birotron called the Birotron Polyvox that included digital technology and 8 track tape technology but the venture never got passed the design mockup stage.

Today the Birotron is classed by musicologists as the world's rarest manufactured instrument because of its brief appearance on albums, tours, and a hit single, and then its sudden total disappearance from the music industry. Both Rick Wakeman and the Times of London reported a Birotron being privately sold for somewhere between 35,000 and 45,000 pounds in the 1990's at a time when related keyboards like it sold for mere hundreds of dollars.

Because the bands that used the Birotron recorded it into soundscapes, it is not known for certain what its actual isolated sound, sounds like. No representative Birotron sounds have ever existed in sample software because replacement 8 track tapes for the instrument were never issued to the few bands that used one.

Today only two working Birotrons (with non-playable, incomplete tape sets) have been proven to exist.