Electronic musical instrument

An electronic musical instrument generates or shapes sound through electronic circuitry. Its controls let performers create, select, and modify musical tones.

Oscillator: A circuit or system that produces a repeating electrical signal, often used as a source of musical tones. Oscillators generate the periodic signals that many electronic instruments shape into pitches.
Sound synthesis: The creation of sound by combining or transforming signals through electronic or computational methods. It is the broad practice that many electronic instruments embody.
Telharmonium: An early electromechanical instrument, built by Thaddeus Cahill, that generated tones using rotating tone wheels. Its large-scale design was an early attempt to distribute electronically generated music.
Synthesizer: An electronic instrument that creates or transforms sound through synthesis. It is the most direct example of an instrument built around electronic sound creation.
Acoustic musical instrument: A musical instrument that produces sound through vibrating materials and acoustic resonance, without electronic sound generation. It produces sound acoustically rather than generating or shaping it with circuitry.
Voltage-controlled amplifier: An amplifier whose gain is controlled by an input voltage. It controls a sound's loudness and envelope in many analog synthesizers.
Keyboard instrument: A musical instrument played by pressing keys arranged in a keyboard. Keyboards are a common interface, but electronic instruments can use many other controls.
Theremin: An electronic instrument played without physical contact, by moving the hands near two antennas. It made gesture in an electromagnetic field a direct means of musical control.
Electronic drum: A percussion instrument that triggers electronic sounds from pads or other sensors. It translates striking gestures into controlled electronic percussion.
Electroacoustic instrument: A musical instrument that begins with an acoustic sound and uses electronics to amplify or process it. It differs from instruments that generate their sound electronically.

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