Echoes & Whispers is an immersive six part audio journey produced in collaboration with writer and naturalist Stephen Rutt, as part of a creative evaluation of bat conservation work being undertaken in the Solway region by Species on the Edge.  Taking in four species of bat, namely Soprano Pipistrelle, Common Pipistrelle, Daubenton’s and Brown Long-Eared bats, Echoes & Whispers is a sonic exploration into these four species recounting Stephen’s experiences and findings, woven with field recordings, interviews with project members, and the voices of volunteers who regularly take part in bat walks and help to collect vital data.  

Given the geographical distance between us, which pretty much is the full border span of Scotland, all of the audio was recorded remotely, either by Stephen or myself.  Having not taken part in any of the bat walks personally provided an interesting challenge, requiring significant interpretation gleaned from Stephen’s text and recordings.  I wanted listeners to feel as though they were experiencing Stephen’s insights first hand, reflecting both the ambience of bat detection and also the passion of the project team and volunteers. 

The vocal commentaries are set against musical backgrounds and interludes created using photographed and scanned images of bat habitats which were converted to synthesised sounds and used to create melodies interlaced with bat calls and the static sounds of the bat detector.  The incidental visuals accompanying the audio series were produced by animating a selection of sonograms generated by the recordings of bat calls.