The use of electronic music technology in rock music coincided with the practical availability of electronic musical instruments and the genre's emergence as a distinct style. Rock music has been highly dependent on technological developments, particularly the invention and refinement of the synthesizer, the development of the MIDI digital format and computer technology.

In the late 1960s, rock musicians began to use electronic instruments, like the theremin and Mellotron, to supplement and define their sound; by the end of the decade the Moog synthesizer took a leading place in the sound of emerging progressive rock bands who would dominate rock in the early 1970s. In the 1980s, more commercially oriented synthpop dominated electronic rock. In the new millennium the spread of recording software led to the development of new distinct genres including electroclash, dance-punk and new rave.

Technology

Experiments in tape manipulation or musique concrète, early computer music and early sampling and sound manipulation technologies paved the way for both manipulating and creating new sounds through technology. The world's first computer to play music was CSIRAC in 1950–1, designed and built by Trevor Pearcey and Maston Beard and programmed by mathematician Geoff Hill.D. Demant, "Why the real thing is essential for telling out stories", in A. Tatnall, ed., History of Computing: Learning from the Past: IFIP WG 9. 7 International Conference, HC 2010, Held as Part of WCC 2010, Brisbane, Australia, September 20–23, 2010, Proceedings, Volume 325 of IFIP Advances in Information and Communication Technology (Melbourne VIC: Springer, 2010), , p. 14. Early electronic instruments included the theremin, which uses two metal antennas that sense the position of a player's hands and control oscillators for frequency with one hand, and amplitude (volume) to produce an eerie but difficult to manipulate sound. It was used by avant garde and classical musicians in the early twentieth century and was used on a large number of 1940s and 50s science fiction films and suspense.P. Theberge, "Therimin" in J. Shepherd, ed., Continuum Encyclopedia of Popular Music of the World: Volume II: Performance and production (New York, NY: Continuum, 2003), , p. 267.

Electronic musical synthesizers that could be used practically in a recording studio became available in the mid-1960s, around the same time as rock music began to emerge as a distinct musical genre.J. Stuessy and S. D. Lipscomb, Rock and Roll: its History and Stylistic Development (London: Pearson Prentice Hall, 6th edn., 2008), , p. 21. The Mellotron, an electro-mechanical, polyphonic sample-playback keyboard, which used a bank of parallel linear magnetic audio tape strips to produce a variety of sounds enjoyed popularity from the mid-1960s.R. Brice, Music Engineering (Oxford: Newnes, 2nd edn., 2001), , pp. 108-9. The initial popularity of the Mellotron would be overtaken by the Moog synthesizer, created by Robert Moog in 1964, which produced completely electronically generated sounds which could be manipulated by pitch and frequency, allowing the "bending" of notes and considerable variety and musical virtuosity to be expressed. The early commercial Moog synthesiser was large and difficult to manipulate, but in 1970 Moog responded to its use in rock and pop music by releasing the portable Mini-moog, which was much simpler, easier to use, and proved more practical for live performance.T. Pinch and F. Trocco, Analog Days: The Invention and Impact of the Moog Synthesizer (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2004), , pp. 214-36. Early synthesisers were monophonic (only able to play one note at a time), but polyphonic versions began to be produced from the mid-1970s, among the first being the Prophet-5.Barry R. Parker, Good Vibrations: the Physics of Music (Boston MD: JHU Press, 2009), , p. 213.

MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) was created in 1982, as an industry-standard protocol that enables electronic musical instruments (synthesizers, drum machines), computers and other electronic equipment (MIDI controllers, sound cards, samplers) to communicate and synchronize with each other. Unlike previous analog devices, MIDI does not transmit an audio signal, but sends event messages about pitch and intensity, control signals for parameters such as volume, vibrato and panning, cues, and clock signals to set the tempo, allowing the building of more complex music and the integration of different devices.J. Rothstein, MIDI: a Comprehensive Introduction (Madison, MI: A-R Editions, 2nd edn., 1995), , pp. 9 and 93.

In the new millennium, as computer technology become more accessible and music software has advanced, interacting with music production technology is now possible using means that bear no relationship to traditional musical performance practices:S. Emmerson, Living Electronic Music (Aldershot: Ashgate, 2007), , pp. 111-13. for instance, laptop performance (laptronica) and live coding.S. Emmerson, Living Electronic Music (Aldershot: Ashgate, 2007), , p. 115. In the last decade a number of software-based virtual studio environments have emerged, with products such as Propellerhead's Reason, Ableton Live and Native Instruments Reaktor finding widespread appeal.K. Collins, From Pac-Man to Pop Music: Interactive Audio in Games and New Media (Aldershot: Ashgate, 2008), , p. 140. Such tools provide viable and cost-effective alternatives to typical hardware-based production studios, and thanks to advances in microprocessor technology, it is now possible to create high quality music using little more than a single laptop computer. Such advances have been seen as democratizing music creation,T. D. Rossing, Springer Handbook of Acoustics (New York, NY: Springer, 2007), , p. 740. leading to a massive increase in the amount of home-produced electronic music available to the general public via the internet.S. Emmerson, Living Electronic Music (Aldershot: Ashgate, 2007), , pp. 80–1.

History

1960s

Among the earliest composers to use electronic instruments in a popular music context were Tom Dissevelt and Kid Baltan (the pseudonym of Dick Raaijmakers), who worked at Philips’ NatLab in Eindhoven in the late 1950s. Their albums The Fascinating World of Electronic Music (1958) and Song of the Second Moon (1959) combined melody and rhythm with tape-based experimentation, marking some of the first attempts to merge electronic sound with accessible, popular forms.Holmes, Thom (2015). Electronic and Experimental Music: Technology, Music, and Culture (5th ed.). New York: Routledge. ."The Fascinating World of Electronic Music – Tom Dissevelt & Kid Baltan." Discogs. Retrieved 23 October 2025 from discogs.com."Song of the Second Moon – Tom Dissevelt & Kid Baltan." Philips Records liner notes, 1959; reissued by Boomkat, 2013. On the other hand, one of the earliest composers to use electronic instruments in a rock context was Joe Meek with the album I Hear A New World (recorded in 1959, but not fully released until 1991),R. Unterberger, Joe Meek / "Overview, Joe Meek & the Blue Men, 'I Hear a New World: An Outer Space Music Fantasy'" , Allmusic, retrieved 12 June 2014. and the 1962 song "Telstar", originally recorded by The Tornados.S. Mason, "Song review: Joe Meek / The Tornados: 'Telstar'", Allmusic, retrieved 12 June 2014.

The 1960s saw the utilization of studio techniques and new technologies to achieve unusual and new sounds. Small guitar stomp boxes and various guitar effects are developed which distort or alter the sound quality of the electric guitar in various ways.J. Shepherd, Continuum Encyclopedia of Popular Music of the World: Volume II: Performance and Production (New York, NY: Continuum, 2003), , p. 286. The Mellotron was used by multi-instrumentalist Graham Bond from 1965T. Rawlings, Then, Now and Rare British Beat 1960-1969 (London: Omnibus Press, 2002), , p. 33. and soon adopted by Mike Pinder of The Moody Blues from 1966 on songs including "Nights In White Satin" and by The Beatles from "Strawberry Fields Forever" (1967).W. Everett, The Foundations of Rock: from "Blue suede shoes" to "Suite: Judy blue eyes" (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009), , p. 81. Ian McDonald of King Crimson, Rick Wakeman of Yes and Tony Banks of Genesis also became major Mellotron users at this time, infusing the violin, cello, brass, flute and choir sounds as a major texture in the music of their respective bands.T. Pinch and F. Trocco, Analog Days: The Invention and Impact of the Moog Synthesizer (Harvard University Press, 2004), , p. 207.

The integration of electronic sound into rock music developed further during the mid-1960s. A notable example is the Beatles’ 1966 track "Tomorrow Never Knows", which features multiple tape loops, reversed guitars, a tambura drone and distorted vocal processing through a Leslie speaker. Combining psychedelic textures with electronic studio techniques, the song marked a major step toward the fusion of rock and electronic sound.Everett, Walter (1999). The Beatles as Musicians: Revolver Through the Anthology. Oxford University Press. .MacDonald, Ian (1994). Revolution in the Head: The Beatles' Records and the Sixties. London: Fourth Estate. .Reising, Russell (2002). Every Sound There Is: The Beatles’ Revolver and the Transformation of Rock and Roll. Aldershot: Ashgate Publishing. .

The Beach Boys' track "I Just Wasn't Made for These Times" from Pet Sounds (1966) was the first recorded use of an Electro-Theremin on a rock album, and the first rock album to incorporate a Theremin-like instrument.T. Holmes, Electronic and Experimental Music: Technology, Music, and Culture (London: Taylor & Francis, 3rd edn., 2008), , p. 415. The late '60s also saw the popularization of the Moog synthesizer. The Doors' 1967 album Strange Days would also feature a Moog on several tracks, played by Paul Beaver.T. Pinch and F. Trocco, Analog Days: The Invention and Impact of the Moog Synthesizer (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2004), , p. 120. Micky Dolenz of The Monkees bought one of the first Moog synthesizers and the band was 3rd to feature it on an album (behind The Zodiac: Cosmic Sounds and Strange Days) with Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Ltd. in 1967, which reached number 1 on the US charts.E. Lefcowitz, The Monkees Tale (San Francisco CA: Last Gasp, 1989), , p. 48. Wendy Carlos's Switched-On Bach (1968), recorded using a Moog influenced numerous musicians of that era and is one of the most popular recordings of classical music ever made. The sound of the Moog also reached the mass market with Simon and Garfunkel's Bookends in 1968T. Pinch and F. Trocco, Analog Days: The Invention and Impact of the Moog Synthesizer (Harvard University Press, 2004), , p. 66. and The Beatles' Abbey Road (1969).

1970s