Allen Organ Company Museum Tour
The Digital Revolution: 1971...
Digital Organ Prototype: the original "Rockwell" engineering model used by Allen to develop the first Digital Computer
Organ-the first application of digital technology to produce music!
The Digital Revolution in music started with Allen Organ Company. In 1969, Allen entered into a joint-venture
with North American Rockwell for digital sound research and development. Utilizing technology developed for the Apollo Space
Program, the Digital Computer Organ employed LSI (Large Scale Integration) circuits. With this revolutionary technology,
circuits containing thousands of transistors could be photo-etched onto a piece of silicon measuring less than 1/4" x 1/4".
With LSI, huge amounts of information could be stored in the organ's computer memory. This led to a new
technology, which the world would later know as "sampling".
Allen was the pioneer of digital music. Using the technical knowledge co-developed with Rockwell International,
in 1971 Allen presented to the world digital organs fully capable of reproducing authentic pipe organ sound. That
same year, Sharp introduced its hand-held calculator. Together, these were the world's first two digital consumer products.
Both of these products would revolutionize their respective industries in the years to come.
