Gregory Tasik Capstone

Music has been a huge part of my life. Going into the Capstone project, seniors are encouraged to pursue a question of inquiry that “will guide our work.” My original idea was to take broken trumpets and upcycle them into lamps. It was a solid idea but lacked impact. A major part of the Capstone project is how it impacts our communities around us. Why is music so prevalent in society anyways? I broadened my thinking and came across the question of “Why and how is music so important to one’s life?” I decided on restoring used trumpets and donating them to kids in my local Indonesian community. I presented my plan to Braskem in which I got full funding to restore 3 trumpets.

I came to a realization that the tools used for instrument repair were quite advanced and expensive. My knowledge was also not up to par. However, as in Capstone fashion, I learned as I went. Through different articles, forums, and YouTube videos I was able to learn different repair methods and created my own cheaper version. Using two aluminium rods I was able to smooth out the dents of the trumpet bells. I could disassemble and reassemble a trumpet by heart and learned how to solder trumpet joints and slides. I gained a better understanding of the intricacies of trumpets and the beauty in its creation. In the end, I was able to have 3 finished restored trumpets to give to kids in the community.

Barone, Joshua. “A Symphony Breathes Life Into 400 Broken School Instruments.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 4 Dec. 2017, www.nytimes.com/2017/12/04/arts/music/philadelphia-david-lang-symphony-for-a-broken-orchestra.html.

One initiative that was brought up by the School District in partnership with Temple was the Symphony of a Broken Orchestra. The idea behind the initiative was that the School District has a room/rooms full of broken instruments. To fix these instruments, the initiative asks donors to “sponsor” an instrument to pay for its repairs fees and to be able to give them back to the community. This source talks about an event they did, where they assembled an orchestra ranging from ages from 9 to 82 to perform. I will use this source to show progress done in the community, and I have considered talking to this organization. As it is written by the New York Times, I trust this source.

Gill, Charlotte C. “Music Education Is Now Only for the White and the Wealthy | Charlotte C Gill.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 27 Mar. 2017, www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/mar/27/music-lessons-children-white-wealthy.

Much of the problem of musical education is the high costs. Lessons can run up to a dollar a minute and instruments are very expensive. The barrier to entry scares off many families and kids. This articles details the problems of viewing music as an elite luxury. The subject needs diversity and more people need to understand there are ways of learning without shelling big dollars. I will use this source to show how important it is in giving kids the opportunity to play an instrument for free and how I can hopefully spark a musical interest in kids lives.

Graham, Kristen A. “Some Philly Schools Have Rich Arts Programs, and Others Have None. How Do You Fix It?” Philly.com, Philly.com, 17 Oct. 2017, www.philly.com/philly/education/why-do-some-philly-schools-have-rich-arts-programs-and-others-none-at-all-arts-mapping-cultural-education-instrumental-music-orchestra-art-20171017.html.

Since 2013, the School District has been trying to build its music program. However, much like the District’s others problems, the programs are disparate throughout all the schools. There are schools in the district like GAMP and CAPA which have amazing music programs, while there are other schools who have no music programs. I will use this source to prove the stats amongst different schools to see who receives funding and to prove the disparity amongst schools and the decision to give them to kids who necessarily aren’t exposed to music education in their public schools. As it is written by the Philadelphia Inquirer, the source is pretty reliable.

Holcomb, Mac. Girard Academic Music Program, gamp.philasd.org/faculty-and-staff/.

This source details personal relationships I have formed throughout my years of schooling. I went to GAMP for middle school. Here I met many teachers like Mr.Holcomb who excelled in musical repairs had extensive knowledge on all types of musical instruments. I know that I will come across roadblocks in my repairs and it is my hope that I will have people like Mr.Holcomb who I can hit up and ask for help. I also know a number of music teachers throughout the district. As my cited source, I used the school’s directory which lists him as the school’s band director.

“How To Clean A Trumpet.” TrumpetHub, www.trumpethub.com/how-to-clean-a-trumpet/.

This source details a step-by-step process on how to properly clean a trumpet. When starting with the restoration process, the first step is to clean the instrument and assessing the damage. The point of this source is to gain a better understanding of this process so I can start off the restoration with a great start. This should be a fairly simple as not many specialty tools are needed to clean the trumpet, hence why am I starting off with the trumpet. In regards to the source, TrumpetHub is a blog about trumpets and has a knowledgeable community on all things trumpet.

Instructables. “Giving a New Life to an Old Cornet/Trumpet.” Instructables.com, Instructables, 15 Nov. 2018, www.instructables.com/id/Giving-a-new-life-to-an-old-CornetTrumpet/.

This source is an Instructables step-by-step process of a person restoring his trumpet/cornet. In this situation, the restoration job wasn’t as complex/difficult as the trumpet did not have too many problems with it. The man, known as “hobbyman,” includes videos and detailed photos throughout his process. I will use this process as a baseline as I want to start off restoring an instrument with not too many problems. I figure that I should start off simpler, and then go more complex if I feel like I can. Although Instructables is not the most credible source, it is not necessarily needed for my project.

McKinstry, Aileen. Why America Needs to Continue Funding Music Education in Public Schools. pp. 1–10, Why America Needs to Continue Funding Music Education in Public Schools.

This source is a journal published by Penn State University. It makes the argument for keeping music in public education. In contrast to others, the source is backed by an institution like Penn State and is very fact based. It includes good graphics and a number of great statistics to further prove the impact of musical education in schools. I will use this source as the academic journal to fulfill the requirement of a reputable source. Furthemore, the source provides a real world example of the lack of funding and the writer brings a personal story into her argument.

Muse, Queen. “Silencing the Music at Philly Schools.” NBC 10 Philadelphia, NBC 10 Philadelphia, 21 June 2013, www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/Philly-Students-Face-Uncertainties-School-Cutbacks-Music-212290071.html.

The Philadelphia School District is no stranger to budget cuts. Ever since middle school, the topic at the beginning of every school year was the possibility of losing this, that, or the next thing. This source is an NBC news article on one of the major budgets cuts in 2013. At this time, a lot of music programs were cut out, and the students were the ones that had to suffer. I plan to use this source to explain the lack of musical education in Philadelphia schools and why it needs to change. This will provide my capstone some background information for others to see.

The United States Army Field Band. “What Not To Do: Trumpet Instrument Repair.” YouTube, YouTube, 19 June 2012, www.youtube.com/watch?v=3n6wAtZz3wA.

This source is a YouTube video provided by the United States Army Field Band. Going into this project, I believe it is advantageous for me to watch as much content on these repairs as I can while working. However, what is different about this source is that it details the common mistakes of trumpet repairs, instead of the step-by-step process of how to fix trumpets. I will use this source as a way to strengthen my knowledge and avoid common mistakes during this process. This source is pretty credible as it was posted by a YouTube verified U.S. Army channel.

Tom Barnes. “The Scientific Reasons We Should Teach Music to Kids in School.” Mic, Mic Network Inc., 25 Oct. 2015, mic.com/articles/94992/the-scientific-reasons-we-should-teach-music-to-kids-in-school#.WghkcCfzY.

This source details the scientific proof of the benefits of musical education in schools. While the NBC article focuses on the issues of the Philadelphia School District, this source looks at the issue at a much larger scale as it describes the other issues from school districts around the country. It details the cognitive benefits of musical education and mentions various studies on students benefiting from musical education. I will use this source to further strengthen my argument on the reason for musical education and the reason why I believe in my capstone’s importance. Although I am not that familiar with the source, the writer does cite all of his information and provides direct links to his sources.