Appendix 9. Research Note for Criterion A and C

Investigation Form

INTRODUCTION

Follow these steps to help you research information for your project. You must do the activity one step at the time.

STEP 1      TASK DEFINITION

1. Defined Problem/Background

Stress is one of the problems that people experienced. Stress has bad effects and sometimes could be dangerous. One of the groups of people who may experience stress is students. Some students could stress out especially because of their school works, just like what I had experienced in my life. But Stress could actually be cured and there are many ways to decrease stress and its effects. One of them is listening to relaxing music. Music is actually quite useful to decrease stress, and works well especially with students who are teenagers and young people who enjoyed music, just like me. It also helped me to do my work.

2. Goal : 

My goal for this project is to use my guitar playing skills/ability which I have practiced for a quite long time, for composing an Audio CD with slow instrumental songs that could help people to relax.

3. What are your inquiry questions?  What kinds of information are you looking for?

Inquiry Question: How to compose an Audio CD that consists of relaxing instrumental songs that I will make with the skills that I have?

1. What kind of skills do I need to compose the music?
• What skills do I currently have?
• How the skills could help me compose and record the music?

2. How to compose the instrumental music?
• What equipment and materials do I need?
• How to write an instrumental music?
• How to record the music into a CD

3. Why are slow and instrumental music relaxing?
• What effects does slow music give to our body and mind?
• How does music from music instruments decrease stress?
• Why would people prefer this genre instead of other genres?

IDENTIFY THE INFORMATION REQUIREMENTS. (What information do I need? i.e facts, examples, diagrams, table, graphs, experts.)    

Step 2.  INFORMATION SEEKING STRATEGIES Consider: accuracy- (complete); related (on the topic); availability (ease of use); appealing, etc.	Step 3  LOCATIONS  &  ACCESS
Consider possible sources. e.g. BOOKS, REFERENCE BOOKS (Encyclopedias, dictionaries,  almanacs, other reference materials); AUDIO VISUAL (CD roms, Videos / VCD’S & DVD’S, cassettes, others), PERSONAL INTERVIEWS; INTERNET (record websites used).  Indicate which maybe the best sources and why.	Locate sources (Where will I find these sources?). List call numbers
Primary Sources: 1.       Experienced musicians or music teachers. 2.       Experienced musicians, music teachers, composers or artists who have worked in recording studios 3.       People who knew Psychology, Biology, or health. (Doctor, Psychology Teacher, Biology Teacher) Secondary Sources: 1.    Internet, Books 2.    Internet, Books, Workers at music stores 3.    Internet, Books	My Guitar Teacher and former band member. Petrus Pangaribuan Phone Number: 081383984729 Mr. Scott Riggenbach Email: scott@sph-sentul.net Teacher of SPH Sentul Dr. Iskandar SPH Sentul’s doctor Email: iskandar@sph-sentul.net Ibu Marina SPH Sentul’s Music Teacher Email: marina@sph-sentul.net

STEP 4. USE OF INFORMATION            NOTE-TAKING SHEET( show  references in a bibliography (MLA)

Criterion A.  Process Journal Students should demonstrate information literacy, thinking and reflection. Research Topic 1/What inquiry question do you try to answer? What kind of skills do I need to compose the music? What skills do I currently have? How the skills could help me compose and record the music?
Sources (MLA) Pangaribuan, Petrus, interview by Christopher Geralno. What Skills Are Required To Compose Music? (August 3, 2012). Novianti, Marina. What skills are required to be able to compose music? Christopher Geralno. 1 October 2012. Kaiwhakatangitangi. Musician - Personal requirements. May 2012. Web. 6 September 2012. <http://www.careers.govt.nz/default.aspx?id0=20103&id1=j22140>. Sloboda, John. What Makes a Musician. 1994. Web. 30 September 2012. <http://www.egta.co.uk/content/sloboda>.	Recording musicians must have the knowledge of basic music theory, able to play music instruments, know some recording methods, know how to tune instruments, and know different techniques of playing music instruments. Other than those skills and knowledge, recording musicians must also be dedicated to practicing, confident when playing instruments, and able to keep time. To be able to play songs, I must know about the music theory, and at least understanding the basic music theory, which are music notes, dynamics, signatures, and expression. I must also have good listening skills and ability, and also interpretation. Musicians must have technical skills to provide more accurate performances and playing fluently, and be more expressive when playing instruments to show deeper techniques, and not playing too simple. Songs must also be made with expressive additions such as slight changes in timing, speed, loudness, pitch, and sound quality of the notes. These help the music to become more interesting. Currently, I have a guitar playing skill that my guitar teacher said is good enough. I’m able to play different genres of songs, improvise on guitar when playing songs, and also create my own melodies and rhythms.  My guitar teacher also said that even though I can’t do all the professional guitarists are able to do, I’m still a good player because I still can enjoy what I played in my guitar. The skills that are required to compose the kind of music that I want (instrumental) are the ability to create music, which means the abilities to play music instruments, being able to decide and choose what keys/chords that will be played, and also being able to create our own rhythms and melodies. It’s also important to understand how to use the equipment, especially the ones for recording. Being able to develop our own style in guitar playing like other professional guitarists isn’t necessary for me, because I still can play  what I wanted to play and can follow other styles. I already have the guitar playing skills which could help me create the music, but I still need to learn how to use the recording equipment. Understanding how to use the equipment is important because it could help me to record easily.
Evaluate your sources!  (The Evaluation should be done per-topic research, not per-resource and draft should be posted on the journal) a.    How the information suited to the project? (Coverage)      Does the information help me respond to the inquiry question? The information helped me by answering the question      Does the information belong to my topic? Yes because it answers the inquiry question      Will the information help me to develop my project product? Yes because the information will also guide me by telling me what I will need and how it will help me make the product      Does the information connect clearly with the area of interaction or aspects of it? B.      Is the information source reliable (Authority)?  Where does the information come from? The information’s source is reliable because it came from my Guitar Teacher who was a former band member, already went to a recording studio and recorded songs. C.      Is the information accurate? Can the information be verified in another source? The information is accurate because it’s what musicians think D.      Is the information up-to-date? (Currency)  Is the information current or still valuable if it is older? It’s still up-to-date E.       Is the information objective/not biased? (Objectivity) Yes F.       What information do I still need? If I still haven’t got all the skills, how can I develop the ones that I still need G.     What new questions does my research bring? How to use the skills on working with the equipment

Criterion A.  Process Journal Students should demonstrate information literacy, thinking and reflection.                 Research Topic 2/What inquiry question do you try to answer? How to compose the music? What equipment and materials do I need? How to write an instrumental music? How to record the music into a CD
Sources (MLA) Music On My PC - How To Record a Guitar on a PC Computer/Recording Guitar. t.thn. http://www.musiconmypc.co.uk/art_record_guitar_on_pc.php (accessed July 26, 2012). Novianti, Marina. How to compose music? Christopher Geralno. 1 October 2012. Frederick, Robin. How to Write a Song. 2006. http://www.robinfrederick.com/write.html (accessed July 26, 2012). Pangaribuan, Petrus, interview by Christopher Geralno. What Skills Are Required To Compose Music? (August 3, 2012). HowStuffWorks.com. How to Burn Music onto a CD. t.thn. Web. 30 September 2012. <http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/how-to-burn-music-onto-cd.htm>. Brower, Chris. How to Make an Audio CD From a Computer. 2012. Web. 1 October 2012. <http://techtips.salon.com/make-audio-cd-computer-11913.html>.		The equipment and materials that I need would be the guitar, recording equipment, amplifier, and effects. Ways to record from Amplifier to Computer: -       Record directly from the Amplifier by connecting an audio jack/cable from the Line Out to the Computer. It will record using the computer’s microphone. This way is cheap and easy -       Use an USB Device that could record the audio from the amplifier also by a jack/cable to the computer, which could be bought in several stores. It’s easy to use and creates good sound, but could be pretty expensive -       Buy a microphone and record it by putting it near the amplifier to record. Could produce good sound, but still may not be always clean. Microphones are expensive. -       Recording software to be able to record the sound and save the audio file. To start writing a song that has the genre that I have chosen which is instrumental, I must have the structures in the song which are the verse, chorus, pre-chorus, and bridge. I don’t need to write any lyrics, and since I decided to only record songs I won’t need to make the title of the songs and album. I will also need to decide what chords/keys that I’m going to use on the songs, and what knowing what are the rhythms and melodies that I want to play. A good relaxing instrumental song must  have Slow tempo beat, has repitition of some parts, and must not have much changes in keys. The song may not be too complicated. To record songs into a CD, I must first have a CD, the songs that I want to burn into the CD, and the program that I could use to burn the songs. To start burning, I must first open the program such as Windows Media Player and iTunes which also could burn the songs into a CD, and convert the CD into an Audi Disc. Then I must locate the songs that I want to burn, and then select them. After the program knows which songs  I want to burn, I can insert my blank disc, and then start burning.
Evaluate your sources!  (The Evaluation should be done per-topic research, not per-resource and draft should be posted on the journal) b.    How the information suited to the project? (Coverage)      Does the information help me respond to the inquiry question? The information helped me to respond because it answers the questions I had made      Does the information belong to my topic? The information belong to the topic because it’s still about how will I make the relaxing songs      Will the information help me to develop my project product? The information will help me by telling what I need to create the product      Does the information connect clearly with the area of interaction or aspects of it? Yes B.      Is the information source reliable (Authority)?  Where does the information come from? The information is reliable, it came from the Internet and my Guitar Teacher C.      Is the information accurate? Can the information be verified in another source? The information is accurate, same information had been found in other websites and my teacher have used those ways to record songs D.      Is the information up-to-date? (Currency)  Is the information current or still valuable if it is older? Yes, because the information is not an old one and are still used by other musicians E.       Is the information objective/not biased? (Objectivity) Yes F.       What information do I still need? Where to buy those equipment G.     What new questions does my research bring? How much money will I need to buy those equipment?
Criterion A.  Process Journal Students should demonstrate information literacy, thinking and reflection. Research Topic 3/What inquiry question do you try to answer? Why are slow and instrumental music relaxing? What effects does slow music give to our body and mind? How does music from music instruments decrease stress? Why would people prefer this genre instead of other genres?
Sources (MLA) Riggenbach, S. (2012, August 3). Why Are Slow Music Relaxing? (C. Geralno, Interviewer) ChangingMinds.org. Causes of Stress. 2002. Web. 24 July 2012. <http://changingminds.org/explanations/stress/stress_causes.htm>. Stress – Just what causes it? 2012. WordPress. Web. 24 July 2012. <http://whatcausesstress.org/>. Webber, Christine. Why do we get stressed? 15 July 2010. Web. 23 July 2012. <http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/diseases/facts/stresswhydowegetit.htm>. Hung, Iskandar. (2012, August 3). How Slow Music Affect Us? (C. Geralno, Interviewer)	Music helps a person the most if the person likes that type of music. A music genre helps a person if his/her brain is used to listen to that genre. There isn’t actually the best and most suitable genre for relaxing even though slow music is the most preferred, because if a person who used to listen to rock music listens to classical music he will feel tense instead of relaxed, but if a person who’s used to listen to slow music, he will feel relaxed if he listens to slow music. Stress can happen because of situations like problems, experiencing difficult times, and worrying too much such as financial problems, problems in workplaces or with jobs, death of family members, relationships, arguments, less received support, bullying, poor communication, change of environment, and also health problems and diseases like hypertension, eyesight, and heart diseases. The main cause of stress is any mental pressures which come from any events, small issues that became bigger issues, which add pressure to people. Stress because of working too long or too hard could cause some health problems. Stress also could cause frustration and depression. All people have an instinctive stress response. Stress hormones are released into our bloodstream in potentially dangerous situations. They cause changes mentally and physically, and also giving more strength, enabling us to run much faster, and will make us feel ready for a fight. The response is called “fight or flight syndrome”. Stress hormones could increase our heart rate, blood pressure, and breathing rate. Listening slow music is the most effective relaxing method, but only for people who prefer to listen to music for relaxing. Slow music is the most effective genre for relaxing, other genres such as rock that is harder music has more beats, louder volume, and also faster, it won’t be the most effective because it will not make us work slower. There are several people that I have interviewed, and they mostly chose those music with slow beats and tempo and not too loud such as Rock and Metal as their relaxing music. The music that they chose could be classical, simple songs, and reggae. There are other methods like looking at paintings and sceneries which are mostly used by people who liked to use their eyes instead of ears to relax. The other methods would be using nose to smell nice scents. The music makes us feel relax by first entering our ears, and then it goes through the nerves to the Hippocampus of the Brain. Then it goes to the Amygdala, and tells the brain to release endorphin hormone. When that happens, blood pressure and heart rate follows the music to relax and work slower. Relaxing is very useful on work, because it can improve our concentration, and we also can work more accurately when relaxed, unlike being stressed that make us work with emotion.
Evaluate your sources!  (The Evaluation should be done per-topic research, not per-resource and draft should be posted on the journal) c.    How the information suited to the project? (Coverage)      Does the information help me respond to the inquiry question? Yes, it helped me by answering the questions      Does the information belong to my topic? Yes      Will the information help me to develop my project product? Yes, because it confirms that my genre of music that I will compose could help relaxing      Does the information connect clearly with the area of interaction or aspects of it? B.      Is the information source reliable (Authority)?  Where does the information come from? The sources are reliable, because they’re from the studies, and also from a Doctor and Psychology expert C.      Is the information accurate? Can the information be verified in another source? It’s accurate and can be also found in many other websites, and confirmed by a doctor and psychology expert D.      Is the information up-to-date? (Currency)  Is the information current or still valuable if it is older? The information is still up-to-date because it’s still new and are the latest E.       Is the information objective/not biased? (Objectivity) Yes F.       What information do I still need? Who can be the audience for the music that I will make. G.     What new questions does my research bring? Will listening to slow music be the best way to feel more relaxed for people who can prefer music, images, scents, therapies, or exercises?

Note:  Please do repeat according to number of your research topics/inquiry questions.  This will be posted on your journal.

STEP 4. USE OF INFORMATION           NOTE-TAKING SHEET( show  references in a bibliography (MLA)

Criterion A.  Process Journal

Students should demonstrate information literacy, thinking and reflection.

Research Topic 1/What inquiry question do you try to answer?

Sources in MLA   (Summary)

Evaluate your sources!  (The Evaluation should be done per-topic research, not per-resource and draft should be posted on the journal)

a.    How the information suited to the project? (Coverage)

     Does the information help me respond to the inquiry question?

     Does the information belong to my topic?

     Will the information help me to develop my project product?

     Does the information connect clearly with the area of interaction or aspects of it?

B.      Is the information source reliable (Authority)?  Where does the information come from?

C.      is the information accurate ? Can the information be verified in another source?

D.      Is the information up-to-date? (Currency)  Is the information current or still valuable if it is older?

E.       Is the information objective/not biased ? (Objectivity)

F.       What information do I still need?

G.     What new questions does my research bring?

Note:  Please do repeat according to number of your research topics/inquiry questions.  This will be posted on your journal.

Appendix 10. Research Notes with Additional Criterion D. Apply Information

Inquiry Question 1:

What kind of skills do I need to compose the music that I want?

• What skills do I currently have?
• How the skills could help me compose and record the music?

How is this information useful throughout the project to achieve the goal for :

1.       Specifications of the product/outcomes:

-     The songs must have a good combination of keys/chords, and rhythms and melodies that could connect to each other (P. Pangaribuan, 2012)

-          The songs must be created by using different playing techniques (Musician - Personal Requirements, 2012)

2.       The techniques chosen in different stages: 

     Design: Different techniques that I have learned will be included in the songs, deciding good combination of keys and chords for the rhythms and melodies to be used for the songs.

     Plan: I will practice my skills to make sure I can play without making much mistakes, and also making sure that my skills are good enough so that I could compose good music. If possible, I will learn some other different techniques that could be good for my songs.

     Create: I will compose the relaxing instrumental music, and when I’m composing those songs I must play some guitar playing techniques that I’m able to play to show my guitar playing skills.

     Evaluate/Testing Method: Show my guitar teacher my guitar playing methods and my songs, and ask him what I can do to find out whether I need any improvements or it’s already good.

Inquiry Question 2:

How to compose the instrumental music?

• What equipment and materials do I need?
• How to write an instrumental music?
• How to record the music into a CD

How is this information useful throughout the project to achieve the goal for :

3.       Specifications of the product/outcomes:

-     Have the verse, pre-chorus, chorus, bridge, different rhythms and melodies (P. Pangaribuan, 2012)

-     Have a sound quality that’s good enough and can be heard that’s recorded through equipment that I am able to use properly (P. Pangaribuan, 2012)

-     The song must have a theme, so the song will flow well (M. Novianti, 2012)

4.       The techniques chosen in different stages: 

     Design: The music that I will write, record, and play will be using the equipment that I will get. When writing the songs, they will include the chorus, bridge, pre-chorus, verse, and rhythms and melodies.

     Plan: First, I will try to get all the equipment that I need, and then I’ll decide what keys, chords, melodies, or rhythms that I will use for the songs. I can do that while playing a guitar so I can listen to the result whether those things are matched perfectly. I will test which recording method is the best by recording songs and then listen to them to know whether the quality is good or bad.

     Create: I will be using the equipment that I can find/get, and I will be using those things to play the songs and also to record the songs. I must also use my guitar playing experience and knowledge to use the equipment and to write the songs.

     Evaluate/Testing Method: I can ask my Guitar Teacher whether my music is good enough after he listens to my music, and whether the sound quality good enough or not. I can also ask some other people who enjoy music. 

Inquiry Question 3:

Why are slow and instrumental music relaxing?

• What effects does slow music give to our body and mind?
• How does music from music instruments decrease stress?
• Why would people prefer this genre instead of other genres?

How is this information useful throughout the project to achieve the goal for :

5.       Specifications of the product/outcomes:

-     The songs may not be too loud (H. Iskandar, 2012)

-     The songs must have slow tempos and beat to be relaxing (M. Novianti, 2012)

-     The songs must be able to make people feel relaxed, mostly for people who prefer music to help them feel relax (H. Iskandar, 2012)

6.       The techniques chosen in different stages: 

     Design: The music will have those things that could make a good slow instrumental music that is relaxing, and the volume will not be loud when being recorded.

     Plan: I will find out what are needed in a good instrumental, slow, and relaxing music, try to listen to some examples, and then after I know what I should make I will start to write the songs and then record the songs.

     Create: I will make the songs that have the things that are needed for a good relaxing music such as not loud sounds produced by the instrument, and slow tempos.

     Evaluate/Testing Method: After I record the songs, I will try to listen to those songs to find out whether it’s relaxing or not, and I will also let other people listen to my songs including doctors or other experts that could decide whether it could help people relax or not.