Rainer's work includes an opera and numerous chamber and electronic pieces for concert performance. The Oxford companion to music in Australia (OUP 1999) notes that 'Linz's innovative and entrepreneurial work in Melbourne has been a significant factor in the city's prominence in experimental music'. Under the title,'New Listener', he has devised a series of computer programs, whereby a music or sound composition can be adjusted to the listener's preference. Linz was awarded a New Media Arts Board Fellowship in 2001. This has enabled him to create new work through research and development and has supported a substantial period of experimentation. Specifically, Linz is investigating the 'behaviour of sound in responsive systems', leading to the development of new Internet, installation and performance works.

Rainer has also developed a number of sound interfaces used by the artist Stelarc, created as part of a 10-year collaborative project, as well as a personal live performance instrument using pressure, ultrasound and light sensors to convert gesture to sound. He has been involved in many innovative technological projects and overseas performances in Berlin, Rotterdam and Tokyo. His wide-ranging publishing activities include the magazine NMA and contributions to such interdisciplinary publications as Leonardo. Linz's achievements as an instrument builder and performance-system designer include a range of instruments and performance interfaces for both live and composed works. Linz is also developing a series of live performance pieces, using sensor technologies for gesture and spatial recognition. The work builds on system concepts devised for Movatar and Brainscore, coupling sound with performance gesture, internal body processes, algorithmic and interactive functions.