Birotron Recordings
The Birotron B90 model was only ever known to be used on record by three 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 appears on 3 albums by the band Earthstar: French Skyline, Atomkraft? Nein, Danke!, and Humans Only in the late '70s and early '80s.
The Birotron also appears on two Tangerine Dream albums: Force Majeure (featuring the male choir and violin sounds throughout the album), and Hyperborea showcasing the male choir sound again. This is likely the most audible recording of the Birotron male choir and would also be historically notable for being the very last recorded appearance of this sound.
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 just 2 known reappearances in almost 35 years.
Serial numbers of 3 units have been historically traced to recordings - #005 (formerly owned by Christopher Franke of Tangerine Dream), #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.
Other possible (though unconfirmed) recordings include Kurt Memo's single Piano Bar which was recorded in Germany around the same time.
It is unknown for certain if Tangerine Dream - "Loop Mellotron" (credited to Christopher Franke) on the late 1970s Cyclone and Stratosfear albums is a reference to Birotron #005 or to their Mellotron T550 model which contained looped tapes they made themselves. The Mellotron T550 model was apparently manufactured from 1981-1983. If the manufacturing dates are accurate then the Birotron is the 'Loop Mellotron'.
Lastly the Birotron appears on the Mellodrama movie documentary soundtrack with two well-worn but worthwhile 1970's progressive rock era recordings made by inventor Dave Biro.
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.
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“All radio is dead. Which means that these tape recordings I’m making are for the sake of future history. If any.”
—Barré Lyndon (1896–1972)