In this article, the authors plot the historical path that has lead composers to digital techniques and the compositional approaches derived from them. Using examples from music of the past few centuries, the authors track the composer's desire for increased control over continuous musical variables, such as pitch, meter, rhythm, dynamics, timbre, etc. They discuss how digital tools are becoming the center of the electroacoustic music composer's attention, particularly in the treatment of timbre, and in allowing for a greater focus on the organisation and composition of sound at the micro-level.