Fausto Romitelli

TRASH TV TRANCE
per chitarra elettrica
(2002)

RICORDI
 L’Editore è grato a Tom Pauwels per la sua preziosa collaborazione
The Publisher is grateful to Tom Pauwels for his invaluable collaboration

© Copyright 2005 by CASA RICORDI - Universal Music Publishing RICORDI S.r.l.

Tutti i diritti riservati - All rights reserved
Printed in Italy
139457
ISMN M-041-39457-_
 PERFORMANCE NOTES
(by Tom Pauwels)

One of the main formal characteristics of TTVT is repetition.

Although it is constantly varied, steadily mutated and continually

disrupted, realizing the repetitive aspect of this work requires an unusual
sense of continuity on essentially two levels: sound and body.

Obviously you need to master the score and be able to realize some
complicated passages. For example, measures 70 to 95 involve a developing
bass line using the col-legno part of the cello-bow in the right hand while
the left hand taps the fingerboard, describing a meticulously notated
escalation. This is clearly not only a matter of studying the part and the notes.

One has to find the necessary playing stability on the guitar, place the bow
within arm's reach so that the sound will not be interrupted when picking up
the bow and find a sound that allows enough sustain for the left hand
tapping noises whilst making the bow sound on the sixth string (in this
case an overdrive with a considerable output level, not to much distortion
and enough high-end could do the job and create the desired flowing
polyrhythmic-image).

All these parameters should be studied and developed at the same time in
order to create a more or less comfortable performance situation.

It's probably advisable to explore both the E-bow and the loop-sampler
before working on TTVT. The E-bow requires a sure and steady right hand
technique and in order to be in control of the Loop-sampler you need to get
used to stamping on the right knobs at the right time (for vital functions
such as recording, overdubbing, playing once, stopping and reversing the
loop).

Below you will find a diagram of the set-up and technical details of the
electronic instruments and other devices used in recording and performance.

This piece was prepared, rehearsed and recorded in close collaboration with
the composer. However, that doesn't mean that one needs to stick to the
particular makes of effects listed below. Please consider this introduction
a demystification of instrumental trickery and not a dogmatic statement on
how to play TTVT. In the end it's more important that the piece sounds
"really traaashy" as Fausto might have said.

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GUITAR
Since TTVT is rooted in raw blues and Pink-Floyd psychedelia a Stratocaster would be a good choice (no
telecasters or heavy-metal memorabilia).
You need a guitar which has a whammy bar fixed onto a vibrato bridge as is usually found on a standard
Stratocaster. A double-locking Floyd Rose bridge would also be an option and is common to comparable
makes of guitar. The ideal pick-up situation would consist of one single coil close to the fingerboard and two
humbuckers. The input jack has to be located on top of the soundboard to facilitate unplugging and inserting
the jack.

AMPLIFIER
Choose a fine tube power amp that you are able to turn up loud enough to produce some degree of power-
stage saturation and get more dynamic depth and greater tonal richness. The amp should already sound good
without effects, effects without a good amp sound bad. A 50 watt amplifier will prove loud enough in most
situations.

REQUISITES
1 coin (2 EURO)
1 metal bottleneck
1 e-bow
1 cello-bow
1 sponge (the type which has a layer of abrasive green material)
1 plectrum
1 battery-operated electric razor

EFFECTS
The pedals are listed as they should be arranged on the floor from left to right. The Loop sampler output is
cabled directly into the amplifier's input. For the performance, all the pedals should be powered by batteries
in order to avoid parasitic noise and interference between power adapters.

# 1 Volume-Distortion Pedal
For Example : GEORGE DENNIS / GD 110
This pedal allows the player to combine varying amounts of distortion and volume.
Suggested Settings: distortion (65%), frequency (50%) , level (75%)

# 1 Distortion Pedal
For Example : MXR M-104 DISTORTION
In the middle ranges of the Output and Distortion controls, you'll find soft-clipped distortion tones that sound
quite retro-authentic. Turning the Distortion up higher produces classic fuzz tones
(for Bars 1 up to 46) Suggested Settings for this section: output (95%) / distortion (65%). Diminish the
output level later on (see detailled notes).

# 1 Delay Pedal
For Example: IBANEZ De7 DELAY/ECHO
Suggested settings: Use this pedal in Delay mode and switch to the following Delay time range: 120-650
milliseconds. Adjust the Delay time (=6/7), the numbers of Repeat (=5/6) and the Delay Level (=6).

# Wah-Wah
For Example : CRY BABY
Through rocking your foot back and forth on the pedal you can change the effect. Toe down produces more
treble, heel down produces more bass.

# 1 Loop Sampler
For example: LINE 6 DELAY MODELER (this device includes a programmable delay and a 14 second loop
sampler)
Suggested Settings: First select the Loop Sampler mode of operation. While using this mode, you can
programme a Pre-Loop Echo with the four knobs in the middle (Delay Time, Repeats, Tweak and Tweeze).

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For Trash TV Trance you won't need pre-loop echo so therefore make sure that the Tweeze-knob (which
functions as a volume control for the Pre-Loop Echo) is turned to ZERO.

DETAILLED NOTES

Abbreviations:
+ = Switch on
í = Switch off
RH = Right Hand
LH = Left Hand
LS = Line 6 Loop Sampler
VP = Volume Pedal (same device as the Distortion Pedal)
MXR = Distortion Pedal 1
GD = Distortion Pedal 2
DP = Delay Pedal
WW = Wah-Wah

Preparations before playing

+ MXR (output 100%), Coin in LH, E-bow in RH switched to harmonic position

Bar 1
stamp knob A of the LS on the downbeat to start recording, hit the 6th string with a coin and realise a
diminuendo with the VP
Bar 2
stamp knob B of the LS on the downbeat to stop recording and play the recorded Bar 1
Bar 3
double click knob D of the LS on the downbeat to invert the loop
Bar 4
unplug the guitar jack with the RH (take care not to drop the E-bow) and touch any string in the prescribed
rhythm, this bar is repeated 4 times
Bar 5
put the jack on any string on the second beat, leave it there until bar 7
realise the syncopation on the end of the bar by touching any other string with the LH
[make sure the end of the jack you have in your RH is not made of metal, if so, you have to bind it with some
tape, otherwise the required differentiation of the buzz will be neutralized and hardly audible]
Bar 6 as in Bar 10, 13, 16, 21, 23…
stamp knob B of the LS on the downbeat to stop playing the loop
Bar 7 as in Bar 11, 15, 18, 22, 27…
stamp knob B of the LS on the downbeat to start again playing the loop

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Bar 9
move the guitar jack tremolando-wise between any two strings
Bar 19
insert the guitar jack again
Bar 20 as in Bar 39, 40, 44, and 45
start to scratch with the coin at the prescribed pitch on the 6th string
Bar 21
use the e-bow to modulate the coin scratching
Bar 22
unplug the guitar jack on the second beat
Bar 23 as in Bar 26, 30, 31, 33, 34, 36, 38, 43, and 54
+ WW (+ sign in the score stands for heel down, the - sign stands for toe down)
Bar 38
put aside the e-bow, keep the coin, and insert the jack again on the second 8th note of this bar
Bar 42
coin scratching on two strings on the prescribed pitch
Bar 43-48
on this upper stave the x-sign stands for LH tapping, be sure to play the pitches in the proper octave!
Bar 52
stamp knob A of the LS to start overdubbing and add jack noise and LH buzz to the loop
Bar 53
stamp knob A of the LS to stop overdubbing
during the repetition of this Bar lower the output level of MXR, take a sponge, throw away or put aside the
coin, + WW and í DP, if necessary repeat again to realise this rearrangement
Bar 54
stamp knob B of the LS to stop the new loop on the downbeat and start brushing at the same time the strings
circularly with the sponge whilst making a toe down movement with the WW and back to the heel position
in the prescribed rhythm
Bar 55 as in Bar 58, 59, and 60
continue actions of the previous bar plus LH tapping
Bar 56 as in Bar 61
stamp knob B of the LS on the downbeat to play the new loop recorded in Bar 52
Bar 57 as in Bar 62
stamp knob B of the LS on the downbeat to stop playing the loop,
at the same time resume the actions defined in Bar 54
Bar 63
stamp knob A of the LS on the downbeat to record a new loop consisting of the actions defined in Bar 54
Bar 64
stamp knob B of the LS on the downbeat to stop recording and to reproduce Bar 63,
resume LH tapping on the second beat
During bars 65-70
í WW í DP and take cello bow
Bar 70-95
realise the prescribed melody on the sixth string with the wood of the bow
Bar 72-108
resume LH tapping (x); in this context the ordinary noteheads stand for the open strings plucked with any
available LH finger
Bar 75
stamp knob B of the LS on the downbeat to stop playing the loop
Bar 96
put aside the Bow and take the bottleneck with the RH
Bar 96-108
the lower stave indicates where to attack the strings with the bottleneck
Bar 108
í MXR + GD (on the end of the fermata), put aside the bottleneck and pick up the plectrum

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Bar 109-150
ordinary playing with plectrum, all the x-signs stand for RH tapping except for the chords in bars 140 and
141 (use here LH) and both RH and LH at the same time in bars 148, 149 and 151
Bar 115
+ DP on the downbeat í DP before the RH tap on the 6th string
Bar 117
+ DP on the downbeat í DP on the downbeat of Bar 118
Bar 120
+ DP on the downbeat í DP on the downbeat of Bar 121
Bar 123
+ DP on the second beat íDP on the second beat of Bar 124
Bar 126
+ DP on the downbeat í DP on the downbeat after the harmonic note
Bar 129
+ DP on the downbeat í DP on the downbeat of Bar 130
Bar 132
+ DP on the downbeat í DP on the downbeat of Bar 133
Bar 135
+ DP on second beat í DP on the downbeat of Bar 136
Bar 151
stamp knob A of the LS on the downbeat to record a new loop
Bar 152
stamp knob B of the LS on the downbeat to stop recording and reproduce Bar 151,
unplug the guitar jack with the RH + MXR (change output again to 100% to amplify jack noise)
Bar 153-164
on the lower stave the jack noise rhythm is indicated
Bar 155 as in Bar 158 and 160
stamp knob B of the LS on the downbeat to stop playing the loop
Bar 156 as in Bar 159
stamp knob B of the LS on the downbeat to start playing the loop
Bar 161
stamp knob A of the LS on the downbeat to record a new loop (pure jack noise)
Bar 163
stamp knob B of the LS on the downbeat to stop recording and reproduce the two previous bars, insert again
the guitar jack and take the coin (the loop stays until bar 177), í MXR during Bar 163 and Bar 166
Bar 164 as in Bar 165, 166, 167 and 168
execute the glissando starting at the indicated pitch (g) with the coin
Bar 167 up to 209
resume LH tapping and ordinary open string plucking with any other finger of the LH (see middle stave until
bar 182, see upper stave from bar 163 up to 209)
Bar 169
stamp knob A of the LS to start overdubbing and add coin glissando to the loop
Bar 170
stamp knob A of the LS to stop overdubbing, put the coin aside and take the razor
Bar 172-180
switch on the razor on the 4th eigth note of this bar, move the razor towards the guitar pick-up to obtain the
sforzato on the downbeat of the next bar
Bar 177
stamp knob B of the LS on the downbeat to stop playing the loop
Bar 179
stamp knob B of the LS on the downbeat to start playing the loop
Bar 181
put aside the razor
Bar 183
pick-up the e-bow, switch it on

VII
Bar 184-198
execute the whole bass line on the 6th string with the ebow
Bar 199
put aside the e-bow and only continue tapping
Bar 209
í GD on the end of this bar to obtain a clean sound
Bar 210
stamp knob A of the LS on the downbeat to record a new loop
Bar 211, as in Bar 214, 218, 222, 226, 231, 237, 243 and 248
stamp knob B of the LS on the downbeat to start playing the loop
Bar 212, as in Bar 216, 220, 224, 228, 233, 239, 245 and 260 (end)
stamp knob B of the LS on the downbeat to stop playing the loop
Bar 215 as in Bar 219, 223, 227, 232, 238, 244, and 250
stamp knob A of the LS on the downbeat to activate the overdub mode and add the material of the upper
stave
Bar 223
+ GD, diminish the volume slightly to not lose the balance

VIII