Rick Wakeman - Instruments

Instruments

Although Wakeman is a noted player of the grand piano, electric piano, Hammond organ, Minimoog and many later models of synthesiser, he is well known as a proponent (for a time) of the Mellotron – an analogue electronic musical instrument that uses a bank of pre-recorded magnetic tape strips, each of which is activated by a separate key on its keyboard and lasts approximately 8 seconds. Wakeman featured playing this instrument, to varying degrees, on the David Bowie track "Space Oddity", the Yes albums Fragile, Close to the Edge and Tales From Topographic Oceans, as well as the solo albums The Six Wives of Henry VIII and White Rock. It proved too unwieldy and unreliable for regular touring, and he eventually doused the last Mellotron that he owned in petrol and set fire to it in a field. Undeterred, he worked with David Biro to develop the Birotron, which used the then popular 8-track cassette format rather than tape strips. Because of the advent of digital keyboards at that time, and expensive components used in the instruments' manufacture, the Birotron was never a commercial or technical success. Only 35 Birotrons were produced, and Wakeman eventually threw his across the stage after it broke down mid-concert, an action he now regrets as there are only six remaining examples. These days, he can be found with more modern instruments such as the Roland Fantom, Korg M3, and the Korg Oasys.