Donau-Auen National Park – May 2022 (AT)
is a multichannel piece about echolocation and social calls of bats. The recordings were made in the „Donau-Auen“ National Park (Au) in May 2022, and nine different bat species were identified. The recordings were then processed using scientific methods and electroacoustic composition techniques.
Pipistrellus nathusii, Nyctalus noctula and Myotis daubentonii introduce the composition with their locating calls. This is followed by the first calls, and the leitmotif in the form of social calls by Pipistrellus pygmaeus. Eptesicus serotinus and Nyctalus leisleri follow the interplay, and only a few times Myotis mystacinus, Plecotus austriacus, and Plecotus auritus are heard. In the background, the calls resound as timeless breathing and extend throughout the piece.
„Socially Intelligent Flying Animal“ (Latin) tells stories of bats’ acoustic and socially interactive world, and invites the listener to understand this often imperceptible world more closely.
The work was first released as a one-hour radio art piece as part of RADIO ART ZONE for Esch-Sur-Alzette European Capital of Culture 2022. As a result, this twelve-minute multichannel composition was produced and released for the first time at „Ars Electronica“ 2022 as part of the „Immersive Sound“ at the CMS Sonic Lab of Anton Bruckner Private University, Austria. A revised version of this piece was performed at the „Austrian Composers Week 2023“ in Linz and at „Eath Day Art Model 2023“.