Top of the pipistrelles: super-skilled bats join eco-philosophers for a riotous rave

Ever wanted to go dancing with bats to the sound of some deep house they've composed? Well, a duo from Arbroath have got 13 hot tracks - translated from ultrasonic frequencies - just for youHanna Tuulikki is inviting you to a bat rave: a party in the setting September sun, propelled by pulsing beats and lights. All being well, above your head will flit superskilled flying mammals - common and soprano pipistrelles, Daubenton's bats - dining on insects attracted by your body heat. The bats have provided the tunes, too: an album of 13 dance tracks written by Tuulikki with Tommy Perman, all mixed from sampled echolocation calls from 14 species found in the UK.Bat calls are ultrasonic - beyond the range of the human ear. The sounds Tuulikki and Perman used were recorded from a heterodyne bat detector, which translates them to audible frequencies. Hearing pipistrelle calls through a bat detector for the first time a few years ago Tuulikki was "struck by how much they reminded me of the Roland TB-303 synthesiser from the 1980s". The squelching sounds of the 303 were foundational to acid house and techno: why not make dance music from bat echolocator calls? Continue reading...