Recording your own EVP's

If you are viewing this page then you are probably interested in
learning to attempt to record your "own" EVP's. :) Equipment needed:

A full size or miniature cassette tape recorder.
This should be the "old fashioned" type that uses magnetically recorded cassette tapes.
Some ghost hunters use digital recorders....but I believe the jury is still
out on them when it comes to collecting EVP's.
NEW cassette tapes.
This is important....because if you "do" get something on your tape...you don't want
to have the possibility there that is some old recording "bleeding" through.
A "External" microphone.
If you try to use the built in microphone that come with most recorders, all you will hear
when you crank up the volume is its own recorded motor and gear noises.
EVP's are usually...VERY soft....sometimes just whispers.
Often....when you hear one....you click the stop button and then ask yourself....
"Did I just hear something....or did I imagine it?"
Thats how faint many EVP's are.
A set of headphones.
I suppose you could dish out the bucks for an expensive pair....but the ones I use are from
Wal-Mart and cost about $6.00
A home computer.
A sound editing program.
I recommend "Cool Edit".
It works wonderfully for amplifying and cleaning up spirit voices.
A single "two plug" wire for connecting your recorder to your sound card jack
on the back of your computer.
This is just a simple speaker type wire with a "earphone" jack on both ends.

When getting ready to use your recorder at a spirit site, test your recorder first.
Turn on the recorder, sit it down and walk around or carry it with you.
If you sit it down.....be sure to place the microphone as far away from the recorder as
possible. You won't believe how sensitive some recorders are....they will pick up their
own motor noise when the microphone is placed within a foot of the recorder.
If you carry it....and this is the method that "I" recommend....be sure to carry the recorder
in one hand.....and the microphone in the other.
Once again....its easy to get caught up in your surroundings, forget and start carrying the
recorder and microphone in the same hand. I'v done this....and believe me....you will
kicking yourself when you go to listen to your tape.
If you carry it.....try not to jostle the mike or move it unnecessarily.
Doing this can cause HORRENDOUS static that is impossible to work with.
If the wind is blowing.....try to stop occasionally and turn your body so that
you are between the mike and the wind before asking your questions and waiting for the answers.
BE POLITE!
Try to be serious....without being "too" serious.
Believe me.....you will feel just a bit strange standing in a cemetary and speaking aloud
to the spirits that might be around you.
I don't feel so odd anymore doing it....but I "do"
look around to see if anyone might be within earshot of where I'm recording that might hear
me and think I'm nuts. :)
Some people just wouldn't understand.
Most people are truly interested when they find out what you are doing and become
facinated when they find out.
However....there are a few people who would call 911 and attempt to have you committed. :)
Introduce yourself and explain what you are going to do.
Ask any spirits that might be present to try to communicate with you.
You may want to consider explaining that you have in your possession a machine which may
let you hear what they have to say.
This may sound silly....but remember you may be talking to spirits who left the world of the
living long, long ago before things such as tape recorders were invented.
Once....after stating this aloud at a cemetary....I recieved an EVP from an apparently
disbelieving spirit that simply said "Bullshit!".
I don't recommend leaving the recorder running for long periods.
Its been my experiance that 90% of the spirits respond within seconds if not instantly after
you stop talking. However...this is not "always" the case.
I recommend asking a question then waiting in silence for about 30 seconds to a minute
to wait for a response.
Don't be afraid to listen to your feelings.
If you seem drawn to that little tombstone that is way across the cemetary...don't hesitate to
walk over to it and start asking questions.
Some of my best EVP's have been obtained that way.
I recommend asking any spirits present to say thier names.
MOST of my EVP's are responses to that question.
Spirits seem to be eager to tell you who they are.
Don't expect full sentences in the responses you recieve.
For reasons which we don't yet understand, spirits seem to have difficulty getting out more
than two or three words before that mysterious window between this world
and the next closes.
Perhaps "time" exists at a different speed where they are....who knows.
I should note that many, but not all, EVP's sound like they are spoken WAY to fast.
Often....they are spoken so fast that you may mistake them for the single bark of a dog
in the distance. Using the computer to slow them down lets you find out for sure if its
really a voice spoken from the other side.....or "Rosco".....the neighbors labrador. :)
A few words about "white noise".
Let me ask you this......
Have you ever had an appliance running....like a box fan in Summer.....or have
been running bathwater....or some other similar "white noise" causing activity....and
thought you heard someone talking?
You were SURE you heard someone talking....but turning off the noise causes
everything to become silent.
Turn the fan or whatever back on....and you hear it again!
Eventually you become convinced that there really is someone outside talking that is
either shutting up everytime you turn the things off to listen....or
that you are losing your mind.
This is "White noise".
We really don't know what effect it plays on EVP's.....but I will
tell you this from my own experiance.
When its super still and quiet....I don't hold
my breath for getting any good recordings.
My best "outside" recordings have
been made when the wind is blowing softly to big gusts.
It could be just coencidence....but you never know.
Some people theorize that since the spirits don't actually have voice boxes anymore....that
they are using whatever "existing" sound is available and somehow altering little
pieces of it to act as their voices.
Now...once again I have to tell you that that is not always the case.
My friend Melissa...who contributes to this site has captured EVP's of INCREDIBLE
quality in an old house where it was completly silent.
Once again....who knows.
This is a brand new school of thought folks.....and we are just now in Kindergarten.
It is also important to note that many people that I have contacted who also record
EVP's believe that there is some connection with either/or the solar rays emminating
from the sun or the earths own geomagnetic field.
BOTH of these vary wildly from day to day.
If you look on the home page of "Voices on the Wind" you will find a little graphic
from NOAA which is constantly updated.
Note:
The incredible EVP's captured on the last visit to the haunted house in Moberly, MO.
were taken when there was a geomagnetic "STORM" taking place.
Once again....its important for everyone to start observing what the conditions are
when we successfully record EVP's.
Click here to go back to "Voices on the Wind!"