Between 1962 and 1969 Schmidt conducted numerous orchestras. During this period he also composed music for various film and theatre productions. In the late 1960s he decided to unite contemporary classics music with rock and jazz, thus founding CAN. Between 1969 and 1978 he worked exclusively with the band.

After 1978 Schmidt released several solo albums - Toy Planet (with B. Spoerri), Musk At Dusk, Impossible Holidays - and a 3 CD box-set of his work as a film composer titled Anthology - Soundtrack 1978 - 1993. He also wrote the »Fantasy Opera, Gormenghast« (premiered in 1998), and the ballet, »La Fermosa« (premiered in 2008), plus over 120 film scores. He released two CDs with British composer KUMO, titled Masters of Confusion (2001) and Axolotl Eyes (2008), and a DVD of their sound installation »Flies, Guys and Choirs« (originally commissioned by the Barbican Centre). In 2008 Schmidt released his second Anthology - Soundtracks (1994 - 2008) and the original score to the Wim Wenders film Palermo Shooting, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival that same year.

In 2012 the CAN-founded label Spoon Records released The Lost Tapes, a 3 CD Can Box of previously unreleased CAN material, curated by Irmin Schmidt. The following year he released his double CD compilation, Villa Wunderbar, a selection of his solo work and work for film (curated by Wim Wenders).

In 2015 Irmin Schmidt was knighted by the French Ministry of Culture and received the highly prestigious medal Chevalier De L'Ordre Des Arts Et Des Lettres for his contribution to art and music. The same year Spoon Records released his 12 CD box Electro Violet - a complete set of Schmidts work (6 solo CDs and 6 Soundtrack CDs). The following year - in collaboration with Thurston Moore (Sonic Youth) - he performed a live composition at the Louvre, Paris to the film STREET by English artist/film maker James Nares.

May 2018 saw the release of the CAN book The Story Of Can – All Gates Open, which presents a biography written by Rob Young, and a second section that assembles diary entries and interviews, written by Schmidt. Later that year, Spoon Records released his new piano solo album, 5 Klavierstücke. Schmidt also finished a new composition »Filmmusiken« together with Gregor Schwellenbach. The piece – an orchestration of several of Schmidt’s soundtracks - premiered at the International Film Festival Braunschweig in November 2018, with Schmidt as the conductor. In December 2018 he took the composition to the Volksbühne Berlin, where he conducted the Deutsche Filmorchester Babelsberg.

Irmin Schmidt is currently working on a violin concerto, and organizing more tour dates to perform his works.