BIROTRON B90 Handmade Miniature 1/6 scale

Ronaldo Lopes Teixeira ROLT

Incredibly Detailed Miniature Synth Models by ROLT

Ronaldo Lopes Teixeira ROLT
Published on Aug 6, 2017

"Evento no dia 24/06/2017 Teatro UMC, show Rick Wakeman Project por Renato Moog.
Exhibition at the Rick Wakeman Project by Renato Moog at the UMC Theater - Sao Paulo, 24/06/2017."

The Birotron B90 - Video

Uploaded on Jul 1, 2010 tapediskmagic·2 videos

"The rarest manufactured instrument - the extinct and impossible to find Birotron playing worn out mixed tapes of string section, brass, violas, choir, and flutes across the keyboard.
The musician is Chris Dale who very kindly let me do the video.
So what did this instrument sound like with a decent set of unworn tapes???? That is a mystery.....Sadly we may never know."

The is the first and only Birotron post unless you count this flickr pic.

Update via synthlab in the comments:

"If you want to know how the Birotron sounds with unworn tapes, just listen to ' Tormato' by Yes.
Rick Wakeman, who commissioned the Birotron, uses
it all over the album. You won't be able to hear it in isolationn though.... "

NAMM 2013 Pics by Atomic Shadow

Full gallery on Atomic Shadow.

Pictured here:

Eurorack modular
Buchla's The Electric Music Box
Birotron B 90

Return of the Birotron

"David Biro developed the BiroTron in the 70's as a musical instrument that could emulate other instruments and be played like a keyboard. This is one of the origional BiroTrons at Biro's home in Youngstown, Fla. (MARI DARR~WELCH / AP / November 28, 2009)

Paul McCartney wanted one, the story goes; so did Led Zeppelin. Promoted in the 1970s as the "orchestra at your fingertips," it was an unlikely combination of a piano keyboard and a series of 8-track tape players cobbled together in a Wallingford garage by an unemployed musician with no mechanical experience."

Read the full article on courant.com. This one in via Dave.

The Birotron

"Rick Wakeman of the band "Yes" invented and developed this instrument along with help from David Biro. Wakeman formed the company Birotronics, Ltd. which made just 35 Birotrons. Like the Mellotron, the Birotron "sampled" instruments and uses 8-track tapes for the various sounds. This was necessary before digital sampling became available. They were mainly used for strings, choirs, brass, and flutes; sounds not easily reproduced on the synthesizers of that era."

via 8-Track Heaven where you will find more info.

via John Van Eaton

Updates via the comments:
via Darren Landrum:
I seem to recall this one used tape loops, which contained continuous sounds. Shaping could then be added via an envelope generator. Great for sustaining sounds like strings, organ, and choir, but not so good for transient sounds like tubular bells. Of course, the Mellotron was most famous for the sustaining sounds, so maybe the Biro fellow was on to something. The only artist I can recall using the tubular bell tape for the Mellotron is Isao Tomita.

via Milo Johnson:
"The Birotron used 37 8-track tapes, one per key (with all of the attendant problems of 8-tracks) instead of strips of tape like the Mellotron and Chamberlin. Mellotron sounds last about eight seconds and then the tape has to rewind to play the note again. The Birotron used hand-crossfaded recordings to give "infinite" sustain, or at least until the 8-track clicked and changed direction. Rick was the money man and contributed some ideas for improving the instrument, but Dave had already developed it when he approached Rick for financing. It looks like fewer than 20 were ultimately produced and about half of them are accounted for. Dave didn't have one of his own instruments for many years until David Kean of Mellotron.com found and restored one and gave it to him. There is a Yahoo! Birotron Group moderated by Dave Biro, open membership so you can get the story straight from the horse's mouth."

Roland TB-303 Vintage Analog Synthesizer w/ Box & Bag

This one not up for auction.

Click the image and note the background.

via John Van Eaton
jhve.com
http://www.myspace.com/nocturnelament

"Anybody want to rent a Birotron?


Gotta pay the !@#$%^&*ing rent some how..............................."