I love electronic music...almost every style! Synth pop, happy hardcore, house - you name it. That's why I wanted to create my own! So, after a whole load of research, I started on my journey to create electronic music.
Sure, you can buy synthesizers, hardware sequencers, and things that will empty your wallet, but in today's age of technology, who needs them? Yes, I did buy a Yamaha TX81z, and I do use it, but you do not need to buy hardware synthesizers. That's where the softsynth (software synthesizer) comes in.
A commonly used format for softsynth plugins is VST (Virtual Studio Technology). These plugins can then be read by a host (perhaps a DAW ? Digital Audio Workstation) and used as if they were hardware synths, maybe be a MIDI-enabled keyboard controller. There are thousands of VSTs for download on the web, all with different sounds. Many are free. Some DAWs with VST functionality include Image Line Software's FL Studio (which I currently use ? it is awesome), Steinberg's Cubase, and Ableton Live. All of these cost money, though!
What if you're cheap or have a tight budget? There area few alternatives. For example, if you have a hardware synthesizer with MIDI-in, and you have a computer midi interface, you can download Jazz++, a free MIDI software sequencer to control your synthesizer. (I currently cannot access the developer's website, but there are many clones all over the web!) It writes and reads MIDI files. However, I have found several glitches in the software when making a long song, and I've also found that when I export the MIDI file into a newer, more developed sequencer, the notes can be off. For example, a 1/16th note is really a 1/14th note, which shouldn't even exist. But if you don't have a hardware synthesizer, then this software is useless. (It is extremely hard to find a good free MIDI-enabled DAW with VST support for Windows, so it might be worth buying a hardware synth and MIDI interface!)
If you have Linux, there are many alternatives, like Ardour, and Rosegarden. Not all VSTs are supported on Linux, though, so be careful.
And now since you know about the free stuff, let me tell you about what you get for the money. I recently got a copy of FL Studio, a popular DAW with VST support, and it is unbelievable. It has everything you could possibly think of: built in samplers, tons of presets, and a pattern-based editor that's extremely simple to use! I figured out how to use the software in thirty minutes. I strongly suggest getting it if you are into making your own electronic music. However, it is not the cheapest thing in the world, so you better start saving up! Good luck!
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I'm in a low-end income (student at Tallahassee Community College), but do like to make music. I do prefer piano roll, where you can enter notes using a mouse. It's pretty slow, but you can copy groups of notes and move it to the next measure, and so on and so forth.