The origins of RMI date to 1959, when Allen started using transistors in their organs instead of vacuum tubes. A separate division was set up to see if this technology could be used for portable musical instruments. A patent was filed in 1963 on the group's electronic keyboard design. Most models were designed at the company headquarters in Pennsylvania and manufactured in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, which led to the sub-division's name, Rocky Mount Instruments. Production started off in part of a former tobacco warehouse, before moving to a factory employing 100 staff.