Garage Band 

Gate to a New Place

Unresolved

Tide Pools

Delighted Fools

I chose to write this song at a quick tempo because saurischians are fast and dynamic because of their specialized breathing. I model the progression of the song with theropod evolution into birds and larger theropods. Many of the sound effects I added are bird wing flapping noises to show birds and birds coexisting with theropods. My main research for this section is on the evolution of color in birds. Pigment storage sacks called melanosomes that produce black stripes in animals that live today have been found In fossils. In Sinosaropteryx they have found phaeomelanosomes in the darkest regions of the tail feathers which can be attributed to dark red and orange colors . I decided to use the “Evolving Colors” synth to represent the color diversity within theropods and I used the “Scarlet” synth to represent the phaeomelanosomes in the fossilized feathers. To represent the air sacks, I used the “Airy Synth Lead”. The transition to flight is represented in the middle of the piece with a change in pace to a synth called “Set Free”. Directly before the “Set Free Synth” I used a wing fluttering effect to symbolize takeoff. In most theropods and even some ornithischians there is evidence protofeathers, but it is unclear whether or not the fuzzy protofeathers were integumentary (in the skin) or epidermal . For the protofeathers I used the “soft and Fizzy synth”. The ticks of the high-hat drums are representative of the grasping hands and the sharp claws in theropods. 	
	For the sauropods, my main focus was sauropod migration. The ratios of oxygen isotopes in sauropod teeth are different depending on the food that is available in different regions of their environment. They lose their teeth every five months, so if the isotopes in the teeth didn’t match up to the environment where they were found, its likely the sauropods moved to a different location than the food they had been eating . To symbolize migration, I added the “Colossal” synth and used heavy percussion to signify movement of sauropods and their migration patterns. This aspect of the song goes alongside the therapods. The higher pitched version of the same or similar melody represents the prosauropods.

Saurischia

I’ve always thought pterosaurs were beautiful and I wanted to portray them that way. In this song, I worked with a light hearted and upbeat sound which to me is representative of flying. I used the “higher and higher” synth and the “Afloat” synth pad to convey this. A locality in northwest China where 40 pterosaurs were found yields very important for seeing the difference in male and female morphologies. The males appear to have larger and thicker crests than the female skulls and also have more curved anterior crests and are more anteriorly positioned . These displays were likely used for sexual selection which reminded me of the Spanish dancers with the vibrant skirts that dance so I used the Gozadera Latina drums to represent that vibrant display that they have. Another paper talked about how the detailed skin impressions of pterosaur wings give evidence that even though the plagiopatagium isn’t easily identifiable, the soft tissue shows connection to the hind feet, especially the tibiae . This reminded me of bats as analogies, so I sampled the sounds of a bat colony. Rhamphorhynchids are shown through the small bat flutters throughout. I also read a paper about a pterosaur landing trackway found in the Crayssac site that has evidence of pterosaur landing habits. It shows them landing feet fist and then wings second . In the song I added one hit of the bass followed by two more hits to show the landing sequence of two back feet at once and then. To show the connection of the wing to the ring finger, I used the synth called “solid gold”.

Flight of the Pterosaur

I divided this song into sections about each main group of ornithischians and continued a bass drum through the song to symbolize their heavier and less agile footsteps.
I started with stegosaurus where I included staccato and very spread out and contrasting rhythmic synths to represent the alternating plates on their backs. In dorsal plates and distal caudal plates of Stegosaurus, there are large vascular canals that connect with other vascular canals on the surface of the skin. This leads paleontologists to believe that they were used for thermoregulation . I used thermoregulation to inspire both the addition of the “Warm Sun Accordion” synth and the “cooler Vibes” synth. 
	Next, the song moves into the ceratopsians with a drum beat shift to a triplet groove and synth notes in groups of three to represent the three horns of triceratops. In the Big Bend National Park in Texas, there have been many ceratopsian bonebeds found with around 20 individuals all preserved in costal and marsh faces. These groups of ceratopsians yielded juveniles, subadults and adults, hinting at gregarious behavior and social groups within ceratopsians . Ceratopsians are known for their horns, so I used trumpets and a French horn beginning in this section as horns, and I used high and lower pitched to represent different animals of different ages living together. 
	The ceratopsian groove changes into the ankylosaurid bead which I wanted to seem heavy and a little denser. I added a bass solo and low brass because I picture ankylosaurs to be kind of funky in the way that they walk. Ankylosauria have large paraglossia that resemble the paraglossia in birds. Muscle scaring and reduced, slow replacing teeth shows that their tongues were likely very muscular and demonstrate that it was likely that ankylosaurids relied heavily on their tongues for feeding . I sampled the sound of a steel tongue drum and recorded it behind the bass solo as the metaphorical ankylosaurid tongue.  
	Next,  I moved into the pachycephalosaur section. I picture pachycephalosaurs as violent because of all of the artistic renderings of them bashing heads so I made this section intense, as if they are going into battle. Even though it is accepted by most paleontologists that these battles don’t happen, I looked more into pachycephalosaur battles and head butting. On a pachycephalosaur skull found in the Hell Creek Formation, there were two large depressions on the frontal region of the dorsal surface which appear to be prominent injuries. This is hypothesized because the bone had healing bone and varying thickness of high-density bone which does not exist elsewhere on the specimen. When this is compared to the behavior of caprids and bovids, it appears as if dinosaurs, such as pachycephalosaurs, may have participated in head butting on occasion however this has never actually been described in pachycephalosaurs . I decided to make this section warlike as they are normally interpreted. 
	Next, I moved into ornithopods and I focused on hadrosaurs because I was interested in exploring the way that they make sound. In my research of hadrosaur noise, I learned that hadrosaur skulls have two lateral diverticula and one median chamber that make up the nasal cavity. Air that passes through this cavity resonates because the organ that is placed between the lungs and the pharynx is perfectly located to move air through the nares and into the into the external nares. The sound produced is related to the shape and size of the structure that they pass through. The type of sound that is simulated through these tubes is similar to the sound created by the instrument called the krumhorn . Because of this, I added a krumhorn melody underlying the ornithopod section.

Ornithischian Rhapsody

In this section, I decided to set the scene of the ocean using the “ocean Glistening” synth and the quiet and calm arrhythmic pads. I tried to contrast the flowing, calm tones of the ocean with more fast moving and sharp sounds created by the marine reptiles. 
 	I started with ichthyosaurs. They are fast swimming because of their stiff backbones. To show fast speed, I incorporated the “pumping our waves synth. For their sclerotic rings around their eyes which helps them with deep diving, I used the “watchful eye” synth and the “deep down” synth. They have a torpedo shaped body also which increases speed, so I used the “synth stabs” synth .
Next, I incorporated the plesiosaurs. The long necks of plesiosaurs are thought to be a specialization for catching fast moving prey, so I used the “short plucks synth” to symbolize their hunting. They swam as if flying through the water with their four fins, so I used the “flight crew ocean” synth. In my research I found that plesiosaurs have been found with gastropods and bivalves in their stomach contents, which suggests that they are bottom feeding, so I used “Deep Link” synth chords. 
Then my final section of the song, I move to mosasaurs. Mosasaurs to me are more intimidating because of their larger mouths, and bodies so I made the section heavier and intense. I researched their giant jaws and found that many mosasaur skeletons reveal massive unhealed wounds that appeared to be from other plesiosaurs on the dentary, spine, and the rest of the skull. These injuries are found in a wide variety of samples, and mosasaurs are the only ones with a bite force to crush another mosasaur skull. The skulls were also loosely jointed, kinetic, which aided in swallowing prey whole and this continued into their snake descendants . For this kinetic skull, I used the “Heavy Impact Machinery” synth and the “Wide Body” bass.

Ancient Marine Reptiles

After the Rain

Earth's 4.5 billion year history in 12 minutes.

Julia Ricks