DESCRIPTION:
One of only two functional units left, this instrument appeared on just a handful of recordings before it vanished in 1979. This brief demo is of what musicologists now consider to be the world's 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. ( This video is for music education purposes only)

Educational Facts:

-The Birotron is rarest commercially produced, factory made
instrument to appear on albums, tours, and a hit single.

- It's the only manufactured instrument in it's own class of
technology - an endless tape loop keyboard.

- In 1976 it received over 1000 advance orders from John Lennon,
Paul McCartney, Led Zeppelin, Chicago, The Beach Boys, Elton
John, Roger Whittaker, Gary Wright, etc. (totaling over a million
dollars in sales)

- Sadly, none of them received a Birotron. Production was abruptly
cancelled and the remaining instruments destroyed.

- Yes, Tangerine Dream, and Earthstar became the only bands to
use a Birotron in both albums and concerts.

- To enlarge their soundscapes, these bands used it 'in the mix'
unaware that what they had, had suddenly become very special
and impossibly rare.

- Sadly, none of these bands recorded it in isolation.

- With only 100 hours of use and no tech support, the 8 track
cartridges in their Birotrons soon wore out. Not even Rick
Wakeman, (the Birotron's principal financier) could get
replacement tapes.

The impossibility to get replacement tapes rendered all Birotron
cartridge tapes worn out from original
overuse by 1983. The surviving mixed, random tapes in this video
only offer a tiny glimmer of what it sounded like. It's actual
'true' sound remains unknown.

- Currently an arduous 'Save The Birotron From Extinction'
project is underway. If the master tapes can be salvaged, new
cartridges featuring the original sounds can be made. If this
happens, Birotron sounds won't just be from 1970's music, but
also heard in new music by today's musicians and recording
artists.
Unheard sounds from yesterday in the music of tomorrow? It's an
interesting possibility. (To boldly go where no one has gone
before!)

- Not even the Birotronics USA sales manager ever saw or heard a
Birotron (except from this video 45 years later).

Thanks for watching. / Please wish them luck.

For more info: https://www.facebook.com/birotron/