Since 1971 he has worked as a professional musician with his point af departure in worldmusic and free improvisation. Later he also worked with various forms of contemporary music, both as a musician and composer. From 1988 the computer became a crucial tool, and this led to a series of interactive compositions and installations combining robotics, interface building, light, videosyntesis, pyrotechnique, ands scents. From 1995 he worked with soundart for the Danish Radio. In 1999 Morten Carlsen received the National Arts Foundation's three-year grant for further artisic work.