The Bob Moog Foundation has acquired the Rensitron, a small electronic organ built by Bob Moog at age 16, along with the original payment cheque and Moog's hand-drawn schematic.
Built in 1951 by a 16-year-old Robert Moog for his high school music teacher, the Rensitron is a remarkable early glimpse into the mind of one of the most influential figures in the history of electronic music. The Bob Moog Foundation has announced its addition to the Bob Moog Foundation Archives, where it joins a growing collection of over 15,000 pieces of historical material.
Catch up on all the latest news here.
The instrument itself is a vacuum tube-based, two-octave electronic organ. Hand-carved wooden mini-keys, a built-in 5-inch speaker with a hand-made stylised “R” speaker grille, and a slanted wooden cabinet give it a distinctly handcrafted character. The front panel features controls for output volume, tone and pitch using the classic R.A. Moog chicken head knobs that would later become a signature of his early modular systems. A Dymo Labeler tape on top reads “Rensitron,” with a second label identifying it as “Electronic Organ Made For Mr. Rensin By Robert Moog May 1951.”
The Rensitron was commissioned by Moog’s music teacher at Bronx High School of Science, Hymen Rensin, who taught there from 1939 to 1974 and chaired the music department for most of that time. Rensin also played violin and viola with various symphonies and taught music and mathematics at the City University of New York. The commission is documented by a cheque dated May 21, 1951, made out to Robert Moog for $10.00 – around $120 adjusted for inflation – endorsed on the back by Moog himself. His hand-drawn schematic of the instrument has also been added to the archives.
“The Rensitron offers a glimpse into some early ideas that would later shape Bob’s approach to electronic instrument design,” said Michelle Moog-Koussa, Executive Director of the Bob Moog Foundation. “It’s remarkable to see that level of creativity and technical aptitude already present at sixteen years old. We are grateful to Hy Rensin and his family for stewarding this 75-year old instrument with such care.”
Moog had been building electronic projects since the age of 10, working alongside his father George Conrad Moog, an electrical engineer and amateur woodworker who is believed to have been responsible for the Rensitron’s keyboard and cabinetry.
The Rensitron joins a significant collection of rare instruments in the archives, including a 1954 R.A. Moog Co. Model 201 theremin, two 1967 Moog modular synthesizers, the Moog Apollo prototype and the first Minimoog Voyager ever sold, among many others.
More information is available at moogfoundation.org.
