Electronic music is created primarily with electronic instruments, computers, and digital processing rather than traditional acoustic instruments. The sounds may be generated from scratch by oscillators and synthesizers or derived from recorded material that is then transformed.

Early experiments in the mid-twentieth century used tape studios and primitive synthesizers. Later developments brought voltage-controlled synthesizers, digital sampling, MIDI, and powerful software that runs on ordinary computers. Genres range from experimental art music to techno, house, ambient, and countless hybrid forms.

Composers and producers work with timbre, spatialization, and time in ways that acoustic instruments cannot easily match. Live performance may involve laptops, controllers, or hybrid setups that combine electronics with acoustic players. The field continues to evolve rapidly as new tools appear.

Listening to electronic music often focuses as much on sound design as on melody or harmony.