Giorgio Nottoli was born in Cesena in 1945 and pursued his musical education at the Conservatory "G. Rossini" in Pesaro. His studies included composition under Domenico Guaccero and Mario Bertoncini, guitar with Carmen Lenzi Mozzani, and Electronic Music with Walter Branchi. In addition to his formal training, Nottoli is a self-taught hardware designer and researcher, having collaborated with various scientists including Giuseppe di Giugno, Guido Guiducci, and Silvio Santoboni.
From 1968 to 1975, Nottoli performed on the lute and guitar. Since 1975, he has focused on composition and research, particularly in the fields of acoustics and computer music. He currently serves as a professor of Electronic Music at the Conservatory "S. Cecilia" in Rome. His compositions predominantly feature electro-acoustic instruments aimed at making timbre the central parameter through microstructural control.
During the period from 1972 to 1978, Nottoli's works utilized analog and hybrid devices, many of which he designed himself. Notable pieces from this era include "Incontro" (for magnetic tape and live electro-acoustic processing, 1972), "Ground I and II" (for vibrating string and automatic control system, 1973), and "Senza Voci I e II" (for magnetic tape, 1978, in collaboration with Guido Baggiani). Starting in 1980, his compositions began to incorporate digital systems, such as the WS-8 (designed by Nottoli in 1978-79), which can be heard in works like "Figura" (for computer-synthesized soundtracks, 1980) and "Grid" (for digitally synthesized soundtracks, 1986).
From 1992 onward, he employed the ORION microchip (also designed by him, 1988-90) as a generator and DSP in several compositions, including "Tre Microaforismi" (for real-time computer, 1992), "Iki" (for soprano and computer, 1993, dedicated to Michiko Hirayama), "Area" (for real-time computer, 1994), "Ruota del Tempo" (for computer, 1996), and "Improvvisazione VII" (for real-time computer, 1998). Other significant works include "Archeion" (for piano and real-time computer, 1995-2000), "Solve et coagula" (for computer, premiered at Teatro alla Scala in Milan on January 15, 2000), "Seguendo un fila di luce" (for computer, 2002), and "Percorso" (for female voice, electronic sounds, and live electro-acoustic elaborations, 2004, dedicated to Goffredo Petrassi).
Nottoli's compositions have been featured in various national and international festivals, including the Festival di Musica Verticale (Rome), l'Officina Musicale (Milan), Festival di Nuova Consonanza (Rome), Festival Syntese (Bourges), ICMC at the Conservatorio dell'AIA, MIPCM (Malta International Project of Computer Music), Settimane Musicali dell'Accademia Chigiana di Siena, Teatro alla Scala (Milan), Estate Romana (Tor Vergata, Rome), and Teatro Massimo (Palermo).
As a researcher, Nottoli has developed several synthesis and processing systems for sound, utilizing a range of technologies from analog circuits to digital chip design. His notable inventions include the WS-8 (a time-varying waveform synthesizer, 1977), A.S.F. (Audio Synthesis Family: a set of three integrated circuits for additive synthesis and frequency modulation, 1984-87, in collaboration with Francesco Galante and produced by Texas Instruments), and the ORION system (1988-90), an integrated chip with 200,000 transistors designed for sound synthesis and processing. In 1996-97, he created MiXtral for audio applications focusing on mixing and effect processing in collaboration with Charlie Lab in Mantua.
From 1997, Nottoli has coordinated, alongside Prof. Mario Salerno and engineer Giovanni Costantini, the Saiph project at the 'Laboratorio Circuiti' of the Faculty of Engineering at the Second University of Rome, Tor Vergata. He has presented the technical, scientific, and musical aspects of his systems at numerous international conferences, including ICMC, AES Convention, and CIM.
In 1977, he began a research project under C.N.R. to develop a computer system for music composition, which was renewed annually until 1981 at the Environmental Electro-acoustics and Acoustics Institute "O. M. Corbino" in Rome. Nottoli co-founded the Computer Science Music Society (S.i.M. S.J.i.) in Rome in 1983 and served as its president until 1989. Between 1990 and 1992, he coordinated the Laboratory for Research and Development at ORtA S.p.A. in Recanati, advancing the Orion chip's application phase and designing the Rigel operational system for real-time sound synthesis control.
From 1993 to 1995, he worked with the Institute Iris in Paliano, focusing on advanced electronic systems for computer music. His collaborations across various university faculties have involved thesis committees and educational initiatives. In 1996, he conducted a master class in Electronic Music at the Accademia Chigiana in Siena, and in 1998, he facilitated an agreement between the Conservatory of Music "L. Refice" of Frosinone and the Second University of Rome to establish a Chair of History of Music and a Circuits Laboratory. Since 1999, he has taught Electronic Music at the Second University of Rome, in the Faculty of Letters, within the Degree Course in "History, Science and Techniques of Music and the Entertainment."
