Katharina Klement

Loser – that’s the name of the local mountain and landmark of Altaussee – means “Lauscher” (ear) in hunters’ jargon. It towers over the town like a big ear, hides in bad weather, and has a lot to offer in terms of sound, both internally, as well as externally. A huge cave system runs through the mountain’s interior, from, which drops have been taken as the sound material for this composition. The exterior is better known: the wind, cowbells in the summer, all kinds of animal noises and, last but not least, people leave their acoustic mark on the mountain. You can reach the Loser nature reserve via the panoramic road, a cable car or on foot.  Embark on a sonic journey into one of the caves at that station! At the end, this leads back outside to a meadow with chirping field crickets.

Bees determine the life of plants – and our lives, too – through their tireless collecting of nectar and pollen. Three different recordings of bee colonies and an interview with the Altaussee beekeeper Franz Hütter form the basis for this sound station. The different pitches of the humming were extracted and thereby emphasized. Are our minds perhaps unconsciously tuned by bee tone scales as well? Let yourself be carried away by the sounds of bee swarms and hear what the beekeeper knows to tell us.

At least thirteen horses and a billy goat can be observed at one of the most beautiful workplaces in the world with a view of the Zinken, Dachstein, and Sarstein mountains. Here, the farmer and experienced equestrienne Evi Schartner gives riding lessons and teaches interns how to handle horses. These are very special animals in terms of their sensitivity and sense of hearing. Horses perceive sounds much earlier than we do and don’t just hear with their ears, but with their whole body. The horse’s sense of hearing is constantly active. Horses are able to localize sounds and noises very precisely. They can rotate their ears almost 180 degrees using many ear muscles and perceive sounds with a frequency of 33 kHz or higher. This is more than half an octave higher than our upper hearing threshold. Horses react nervously or shyly to anything that makes it difficult to perceive and locate sounds. This includes, for example, wind. Tomsy the billy goat is a permanent member of the herd. He doesn’t just think of himself as a horse, he sees himself as a leader. The horses allow him his quirks and play along. Thanks to Nadja Zeh, Lilli Jetzl, and Evi Schartner (interview partners)

At this station, the analogue environment lends itself to listening without a QR code or smartphone. Stop, sit on a tree stump, or lie comfortably on the soft forest floor and listen. There is always something to hear in nature: be it the wind that makes the forest rustle, the calls of birds, the rain, or the buzzing of insects. Human noises, such as traffic or other machines, also put their special acoustic stamp on a so-called soundscape. What happens if you just sit or stand still and listen? Take your time. If you want, write down your listening experiences in the small book in the Plexiglas box. Perhaps some noises bother you and you wish for others. Feel free to design your ideal soundscape!

The farmers are the caretakers, preservers, and designers of the landscape. For centuries they have been cultivating areas, laying out meadows, fields, and gardens, driving their cattle up to the alpine pastures. Due to its fragmented nature, the Ausseerland region is strongly characterized by small farmers, who have been endangered for some time. Although or precisely because we live in an affluent society, these farms are gradually disappearing. Franz Steinegger, himself a farmer and mayor in Grundlsee, has set up a landscape maintenance fund that is committed to providing a basic income for farmers. In order to protect the natural landscape on a large scale, there is a plan to set up a biosphere park in the Dachstein–Salzkammergut–Totes Gebirge region.

Thanks to Franz Steinegger and Diether Ribitsch (interview partners).

Cows play a major role in shaping the landscape in the Ausseerland region. In the summer they are driven up to the alpine pastures, graze them, fertilize them, and thus counteract forest cover. The small-scale mountainous landscape does not allow factory farming. Each farm has certain grazing rights, most of which were negotiated centuries ago. A large herd is made up of animals from several farms and is also tended to collectively. So-called suckler cow husbandry, geared towards meat production or breeding, is mainly practiced. The polyphonic and microtonal ringing sounds of the herd on the Loser mountain pasture provide the tonal basis for the composition of this station.

At this station, the possibility was pointed out to record a relevant sound, noise, or spoken message on one or more of the station’s topics with your smartphone or other audio device.

1. Audio contribution
Fieldrecording close to station 6 of the sound trail in June 2023. Summer crickets and some birds form a typical early summer soundscape of Altaussee.
The recording was submitted by Eric Treml.

2. Audio contribution
Recording of the musical piece "Minuet from Bad Aussee", performed on June 18, 2023, at the Künstlerhaus Vienna. This musical performance was recorded during the book presentation of "Precise Chaos" by Hubert Sielecki. Luise Buisman on the hurdy-gurdy and Hubert Sielecki on the bagpipe.

3. Audio contribution
„Neighbours in progress” submitted by Rainer Kremser:
“An already uploaded piece on Station 14, namely nature recordings WITHOUT humane noise pollution inspired me to make this contribution. Field recordings of early morning Saturday idylls from my home in Lower Austria, a neighbour's hammering and angry birds (jays) in the wind are the sound source material, some of which was further processed electronically. How one feels when it could be quiet and impressive, but exuberant male neighbourly creative power treats the natural and cultural landscape like an allotment garden.”