DeLio's works are published by Editore Semar (Europe), Silent Editions (United States) and Sonic Art Editions (United States) and are recorded on such labels as Wergo, 3D Classics, Neuma, Centaur, Capstone, and Spectrum.
DeLio has also written books, including one analyzing the work of Morton Feldman (The Music of Morton Feldman) and another offering analysis of several "open form" works (Circumscribing the Open Universe).
DeLio's approach to composition is largely influenced by Morton Feldman, John Cage, and Iannis Xenakis.
Sound, in all its richness and complexity, is the essence of that process for both – not system of method or gesture, as is the case for so many composers.
"Prior to the 20th century", DeLio notes, "the sonic materials of Western music were restricted to a set of twelve pitch classes.
Cage was a pioneer in this area, writing for a wide variety of percussion instruments, electronic devices, and even household objects to produce new sounds.
Another area where the influences of Cage and Feldman are strongly felt is in DeLio's extensive use of silence as a compositional device.
This is different from Cage or Feldman.While this may sound similar to Feldman's use of silence, DeLio's approach is more radical, using large units of silence to not only isolate the events sonically, but also to isolate them mentally, leaving so much space that the memory will often forget one gesture before the next is presented, essentially forcing the listener to evaluate them as separate, unrelated musical entities.
"I argue for wiping the slate clean", DeLio explains, "Rediscovering sound beneath all of the rhetoric and dated mannerisms which have accumulated over so many years and, in the process, really coming to grips with the nature of our own experience."
Within this tempo, however, he uses a wide variety of subdivisions, including division of the beat into 5 or 7, and the pulse is rarely, if ever, clearly defined.
Instead of altering tempo, DeLio uses rhythmic devices to create effect within a constant pulse.