EVP'S

[silverdf1]

Since I am only going to be starting with EVP's, do the results you get differ whether it is day or night time. I know at night there is less outside noise to interfere with your results but does it make a difference on getting good EVP'S?

[dmarie]

In my opinion, EVP results aren't really dependant on time of day or night as long as you're aware and take notes on the sounds of your surroundings especially if you are outside. The best you can do is try to eliminate factors that could cause false positives.

For example, stray radio transmissions are constantly around us. Cross modulation interference could occur and get picked up by the recorder. To help avoid picking up these signals, do not use a wireless microphone. If you're going to keep the recorder static, copper shielding over the recorder is effective to block out those stray waves. Also, lie the recorder on a solid surface with some sort of cushion underneath. This helps reduce picking up extraneous sounds from vibrations.

Another problem with false positives regards the way you save the recordings. If you save with an audio format like .mp3 or .wma, you are compressing the sounds recorded and you end up with a recording that doesn't sound exactly like what you recorded. Background noises could sound like actual voices. It's best to use an uncompressed format like .wav for EVP's.

Also be careful when using audio editing software. If a recording is over processed by "cleaning up", it could cause what sounds like voices.

Basically, the biggest concern with false positives is "noise" (whether it's electronic and/or background) sounding like voices. Choose a good digital recorder with an overall frequency response of at least 5000 Hz which covers vocal frequency. For those EVP's where it's questionable if it's a voice or a fragment of noise, I use this free speech analyzer software. The software won't verify if it's an actual EVP, but it will assist in analyzing whether or not there are any speech patterns present like phonics and frequency. Here's the link to the software:

www.sil.org/computing/sa/index.htm

[Rosemarie]

Can someone give me a little technical advice on capturing EVP's please?

I dont mean to keep harping on about the Most Haunted Live show that finishes tomorrow (Fri 15th) here in the UK, but in a forum discussion dedicated to MHL I questioned why they dont do anything to try and capture EVP's anymore. Im sure Im not the only one who questioned this as during the programme tonight the presenter asked one of the 'scientists' that question. Ok heres the bit I would like to know:
According to the 'scientist' they are collecting EVP's but 'the sound men are lifting them directly from the video film'.

Is this correct - can this be done? Im not a technical person and I would like to understand as much technical info as possible.

[The Paranormals-Celtic]

Yes it can be done. A lot of teams out there rely on audio from video cameras as well as digital voice recorders.. Audio captured on video cameras is typically better than with voice recorders .

[lowbattery71]

This is especially true with analog camcorders. One of the clearest possible EVP samples I ever got came through on a digital recorder and the camcorder we were using at the same time, and because of the proximity of the two recorders we were able to determine the voice came from an area of the room where no researchers were present. I was then able to focus on getting just the audio track into my pc for further analysis. Unfortunately Hi8 tapes have gone up slightly in price as the technology is phased out.

[Rosemarie]

So, you can capture the same EVP at the same time on more than one machine? Is this always the case or has anybody found that on machine caught an EVP whilst another one in the same place didnt? Cos I think that would be weird. And is it worth having an analogue audio recorder?

[The Paranormals-Celtic]

You can use multiple machines, but its not always the case that more than one captures an EVP. It is always good using different types of equipment, digital AND analog, analog uses a higher density signal to record and would be considered "live" signal where digital is "live: converted to a digital signal. So your using 2 different signals meaning you may catch something on digital and not analog and viceversa....

[Rosemarie]

Ok, thank you. Im bringing my analogue and digital recorder next time. Dou you need special software to transfer from an anologue recorder? I have some sort of software on my computer that transfers cassette tape sounds. Is this a good enough programme or is something more specialised needed?

[lowbattery71]

No software needed, really. What you need is a connecting wire with male mono 3.5 mm plugs on both ends (standard earphone jack size). Connect one end to your recorder, the other end to your microphone-in port on your pc. I've used Windows sound recorder to upload the audio, which will save it in a non-lossy .wav format (don't save them as MP3 - the compression can create artifacts in the audio which may be construed as possible EVPs.

All you need to do is press play on your recorder, hit record on the Windows sound recorder, and you're off! Make sure that you have the volume on your recorder set to a good level, and just test a few seconds of the recording to make sure it's comfortable for you to listen to on playback. I can run my volume all the way on my Sony cassette recorder without creating distortion, but my Marantz gets really distorted at that level. Play around a bit...you'll get it!

[Rosemarie]

Oh, Ok, Ive got one of those wires. I used it to transfer music from my old cassette tapes to my computer. So I guess its the same sort of thing. I used Sonic Stage Mastering Studio cos it came installed on my Sony Vaio; but I guess I could see how Windows own recorder compares.

Thanx for everyones replies - I may come back to this topic, depending on my ability to grasp the technicalities of transferring sound to computer - lol!

[lowbattery71]

Any way I can help let me know.

[stevedmvparanormal]

When I do EVP sessions I make sure to tag any and all audible sounds, this way when you go back and listen and you hear something said but no tag, chances are you may have something. Another thing that I like to do is continueously record instead of starting and stopping between sessions. You just have to remember to tag. You never know when or where you may catch an EVP so I always keep the recorder running. I have caught several EVPs while we were just talking amongst each other like on a break. If you use an analog recorder, keep in mind that analogs have mechanical moving parts and those sounds can be recorded. Learn your recorder, and the sounds that it makes, even digital recorders have thier own little quirks.

[Rosemarie]

Yes, I know what you are saying. I keep my recorders going - last time I caught something that no one else did because they switched their recorders off as we were going from one room to another.

I have to say, the noise I captured on my analogue recently is definatley not the moving parts of the audiocassette player. I know its noise very well. Ive tried the tapes in several players and the noise is still there. So until someone can offer another explanation for it, the jury's still out on that one. But yes, definatley continuous recording and tagging are a good idea.