Electronic Voice Phenomena (EVP)

Audio is one of the best types of evidence.  In order to collect accurate evidence, make sure that you listen to all of the natural sounds of the environment and mark them vocally on the tape or write them down.  That way you can rule out those sounds while listening to your recording.  Also, make note of the investigators at the beginning of the recording and make sure you are familiar with their recorded voices.

Common “paranormal” sounds on recordings are knocks, bangs, footsteps and voices.  Voices that are recorded but not heard with the human ear at the time are called Electronic Voice Phenomena (EVP).  If you do hear the voice with your own ears during the investigation that is called Voice Phenomena (VP). 

You can attempt to coax out audio evidence with trigger objects or talking with the spirit, asking them to knock or move something.  If the spirit is intelligent, it could possibly respond.  If the haunting is residual, the noises will be consistent and repetitive over time.

There are three classes of EVPs:

Class A

  • Very clear
  • Easy to understand

Class B

  • Clear that the voice “doesn't belong”
  • Less understandable than Class A but can be managed with amplification or editing software to clear off the background noise (NOTE: do NOT tamper with the voice and post that as evidence.  You can post the original recording and then post the “cleaned” recording listed with exactly what you did so someone else can replicate it)

Class C

  • Potential voice
  • Words undecipherable

Recording Procedure1

Recording Equipment—Digital voice recorders are recommended for transform EVP. Less expensive models produce more internal noise so an external omni-directional microphone is highly recommended. 

Scheduling—Entities will speak at any time of day or night. In the beginning, however, it is advisable to record at a regular time and place. By doing this, the entities learn when there will be an opportunity for contact and expectation of the upcoming session helps focus attention on the process. Try to find a place that will be quiet and free of interruptions. Background sounds are okay, but it is important to be aware of these so that they can be distinguished from the EVP.

Background Sound Source—It is believe that the entities use sounds in the environment to help form the words. Most recording situations have some background sounds, but it may be necessary to add noise with something like a fan or white noise machine. Some people use foreign language radio, crowd babble or audio tapes.

Recording—Vocalize your comments during an EVP session. The entities will often come through as soon as the recorder is turned on.  Questions should be loud eough to be recorded, and a period of time between each comment should be left for the entities to respond--about ten seconds. At the end, ask if the entity has something to say. 

A best practice for field recording is to use two recorders. As a rule, EVP will only occur on one recorder or sound track, making it possible to avoid mistaking local sounds for EVP (false positives).  The TGH leaves most recorders running for the entire length of the investigation, marking outside noise and investigator sounds.

Playback—In transform EVP, the voice is usually not heard until playback. Voices often come across as whispers so pay careful attention to your recording.  Voices may not be recorded in every session and it may take several sessions to discover the first voice. Hearing the voices is a learned ability. It might take thirty minutes to examine a three or four minute recording. 

Classes of Voices—A Class A voice can be heard and understood over a speaker by most people. A Class B voice can be heard over a speaker, but not everyone will agree as to what is said. A Class C voice can only be heard with headphones and is difficult to understand. Class B or C voices may have one or two clearly understood words. Loud does not equal Class A.

Keeping a Log—Maintaining a record of recording results is very helpful. Include the date, time, seconds into the recording, the message itself and the question asked. Be sure to label and save the audio file so that they can be found at a later time. Experimenters report that they feel weather may affect results, but this has not been well studied. The Geoweather page has Geomagnetic and solar reports. There is also a link for moon phase information, as well.

 

Digital Voice Recorders

Digital voice recorders are recommended for EVP experiments. Today, all sound tracks—digital or analog—should be listened to in a computer and with a headset. Unlike tape recorders, the built-in microphone is usually satisfactory for EVP, but we recommend an external microphone. There is a selection guide for audio recorders here. The section includes a setup guide for Audacity, which is an effective audio management program that can be downloaded for free.

Computer Recording

A computer instead of a digital recorder can be used for recording EVP. It should have an audio input jack, speakers, headphone jack and sound player application such as Audacity. Most experimenters use the computer to analyze and store examples. If the recorder does not have a USB interface, it is possible to play the recording into the computer while recording with a recorder program. The Earphone jack of the recorder can be connected to the Microphone or Line 1 jack via a sound cable. The sound source should be set to the correct jack via the pull-down menu in Audacity. Recording with a sample rate of 11025, mono and 16 bit resolution is sufficient for EVP. Files should be edited as *.wav format, but shared as *.mp3 to space purposes.

 

Analyzing the Recording for EVP

Always use headphones when listening to the recording in a computer. The earmuff style that completely covers the ear is best, but also good are the soft rubber ear buds that are inserted in the channel of the ear.

Be sure to set up a method of saving your recordings in your computer that will allow you to easily locate examples. A good practice is to save the raw recording session in a dated folder and then also save clips containing the EVP in the same folder. Field recordings are saved under the name of the location and the date. It is helpful to keep a separate folder for your Class A examples for easy retrieval for demonstrations.  TGH found April follows the labeling practice for her personal recordings of: digi1-location-date.mp3 for raw recordings and digi1-hr-min-sectohr-min-sec-whatevpsays.mp3 for the actual EVP portion.  When collecting group evidence, it is helpful to either name recorders or use the investigator's name.  The underline and dash symbol with no use of capitals helps assure that computer systems and the Internet accept the name. A 200 kb audio file can be reduced to around 15 Kb when converted from a *.wav file to an *.mp3 file. This makes it easy for sharing files via the Internet.

Reviewing

During investigations, typical EVP sessions last for a period of 10-15 minutes while the investigators ask a series of questions aimed at getting the spirit to answer.  However, the Tallahassee Ghost Hunters will leave recorders on during the entire investigation.  During these sessions, it is best to talk as if you were just having a conversation with someone you just met over a cup of coffee.  This is also where your valuable research done previous to investigation can come in handy.  Do not be threatening or provoking unless it is necessary and approved by the lead investigator.  Provoking can leave lasting negative impact on the family or homeowners after the investigative team leaves if not done carefully.  Or it could also anger an other friendly spirit.

To review this evidence with the best results, use sound canceling headphones.

Characteristics of the Voices1

The recorded voices may be very quiet and may be difficult to hear and understand. Most EVP experimenters say that they have developed an “ear” for the sounds after learning to distinguish them from background noise. In transform EVP, the voices can often be recognized as male or female, young or old. Messages are seldom longer than two to four words. The words may be spoken very quickly, and there is often a distinctive cadence to the voices. Analysis shows that they are simulations of voice made from whatever sound is supplied, and are often missing voice box frequencies and have oddly arranged formants.

Verifying EVP2

EVP is difficult to verify due to the investigator’s own bias as well as a phenomena known as matrixing. Matrixing is basically making something into something its not based on the brain’s tendency to do so.  It is hard for an outsider to believe that an EVP is real because they are not there and cannot hear the sounds that you hear and see what you do on an investigation.  Thus, we need ways to verify our EVP. So how can we do this?

  1. Have a tape recorder/digital recorder with an external microphone.  This decreases and nearly eliminates the internal noises of the machine.
  2. When you arrive to the location, make handwritten notes on the baseline data: temperature, weather conditions, EMF, as well as any natural or artificial sounds.
  3. If you use a tape recorder, use a brand new tape.
  4. Always use new or fully charged batteries.
  5. It is recommended to have a video camera pointed at the digital recorder to prove that it was not tampered with during an investigation.  You can also take advantage of this camera by setting up other equipment, such as a digital thermometer, EMF meter, etc.
  6. Set the recorder in a secure place so it will not be moved around or fall.
  7. Always have more than one recorder in a location.  Whether it be audio/video, audio/audio, or video/video, you should always have something to back up your evidence.  EVP is typically only found on one recorder.
  8. Review carefully and more than once.
  9. Send to the group and let everyone review it.  You would be surprised what the group catches that you didn’t. 

 

References:

1: The Association TransCommunication.  Basic EVP Recording Technique Available from http://atransc.org/techniques/recording_evp.htm with modifications by the TGH.

2: Adapted from Taylor, T. (2007).  Ghost hunter’s guidebook: The essential guide to investigating ghosts & haunting. Decatur, IL: Whitechapel Press.