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The Birotron was an electro-mechanical musical instrument designed as a successor to the similar Mellotron, and financed by Rick Wakeman.
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.
The Birotron was announced in September 1975 and marketed by Complex 7, a group of companies that Wakeman directed to help build and market the instrument. Pete Robinson was in charge of operations. Advance orders came from John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Keith Emerson, John Paul Jones and Elton John. Wakeman used the instrument on his solo album Criminal Record and on Yes's Tormato.
In late 1978, Wakeman said that between 30 and 35 unfinished models had been built, and the instrument performed to his satisfaction in a studio setting, but problems arose when it was used on tour with Yes a year prior. Its precise voltage requirements made it unsuitable for use in countries outside the UK, and a decision had yet to be made to either produce several models to work on different voltages, or add a built-in transformer. Wakeman said a key problem was that the instrument had "teething problems" that did not 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. Ultimately, few models were manufactured and the instrument never entered regular production. Wakeman later said he lost around £50,000 in the investment.
The only musicians other than Wakeman to have bought a Birotron are Tangerine Dream (who bought two), Klaus Schulze and Tom Rhea. , only two working models are known to exist.
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