| Rules and Guidelines for recording EVP and analyzing your results later The following rules are not listed in any particular order they are all of equal importance! 1. The most important thing to remember when trying to record EVP is to be very quite, unless you are asking the spirits of the dead questions! 2. When you are recording always make a note when you hear dogs, cars, or any other natural sound that might be heard when the recording is played back. It is better to write the time and the sound you heard down on paper but you may state it out loud while recording if you want too. Sometimes the sounds of people pets have been recorded long after they died. By noting these sound you will know if you have recorded a living animal or a spirit of one. 3. Always use a new cassette tape when recording. If you record over a previously recorded session you could get some bleed through when you go back to listen and it will ruin the credibility of your findings. By using a new cassette you will eliminate that possibility and know when you have captured an EVP. 4. If you do have to talk during a recording session do so out loud where everyone can hear you and do not whisper at any time! If you whisper it will sound like an EVP when it is played back later. It is much better to speak out loud so your voice can be identified on the recording. 5. Always note while recording if some one talks by saying that was John talking or this is John talking so your voice or some other persons voice does not become a suspected EVP later. 6. Always look around the location or even drive around the block if you are in rural cemetery. Look for parked cars or people walking that might make a noise and interfere with your recording session. Ghostly music has been known to get recorded before only to find out later that a car with the radio turned up loud was parked in the area near by! 7. When using a audio cassette recorder always use an external microphone! If you do not use one the internal gears of the tape recorder will be picked up by the internal microphone and it might block out the soft whispers of the dead. 8. Never walk with the recorder in your hand while you are recording. Your footsteps and the movement of your hand against the recorder will be picked up. The only exception to this rule is when you are using the walking method to record EVP but you must stop before asking questions. 9. Never point the microphone into the wind. You will pick this noise up on the recorder and it will block out most of the voices that you may capture during the session. 10. Always be aware of the weather and note the conditions down so you can look back later to see if it was raining or if that loud boom you hear in the background could be thunder! 11. If you set the recording device down on a object always turn it on after it has been placed there. If you hit record and then set the recorder down you will hear a loud noise as the device hits the surface it is being placed on. This will sometimes cover up a spirits voice that spoke quickly. 12. You do not have to use an external microphone if you are using a digital recorder. They have no internal gears that can be picked up by the microphone. 13. Always test your recorder before attempting to record EVP for the first time. This will let you know if the recorder is suitable for recording EVP. 14. Make sure your batteries are fully charged because you do not want them to go dead in the middle of a recording session. 15. Always position your microphone where it will record sound from most directions. Do not face it toward a wall were sound is blocked from that direction. 16. Always be respectful of the area you are investigating and have respect for the spirits of the dead! 17. Keep a positive attitude while you are conducting an EVP investigation. You will have much better results and capture more meaningful EVPs 18. Never use the voice activated feature on your recording device. We have found that this does not work well for recording the voices of the dead. 19. Do not place your audio patch cord in the microphone entry port on your recorder when you are transferring your recording session to your computer. This will ruin your recording session when you hit record on programs such as Adobe Audition. Always put the audio patch cord in the earphone port on your recorder. 20. Use white noise with caution if you do decide to use it! It can cover up some voices that are very hard to hear in the back ground. 21. Be aware of first generation digital recorders they cause digital static that some investigators have confused with growls. 22. Ghost and spirits are not evil or demonic! They will sound just like you and me when recorded and not like high pitch chirps or squeals that have fooled many investigators. 23. Always reverse your EVPs using a sound editing program on your computer. They sometimes have another meaning in reverse or their meaning only becomes apparent in reverse. 24. Be cautious of power lines over the area that you are conducting an EVP investigation in. They can sometimes cause cycles of noise that sound like a static hum or a electricity discharge type of sound. This sometimes can only be heard when you play the recorder back. 25. We have found that most EVPs are captured in the 3 to 5 minute time period. It is not necessary to record for long periods of time using a digital recorder. 27. When using sound editing software be carful not to over amplify or raise and lower the pitch of pitch of your EVPs to the point that they are altered or sound different. 28. Only use computer sound editing programs on your EVP when it is absolutely necessary. 29. When using Adobe Audition always save your original segment so you can back later if you make a mistake. You can hit the undo feature but it is always good to have the original! 30. When using the set and leave method for recording EVP always make sure you be carful when you leave the area and still remain quite. Your voice can be picked up by the sensitive microphones, even through walls and floors! 31. When trying to record EVP it should be quite enough to hear a pin drop! Always eliminate any kind of man made sound source so nothing can be heard in the background. 32. It is always good to know all your team members voices so if someone talks by accident the voice can be identified. 33. Always know where all your team members are at all times so if something is heard you can eliminate them as a source of the noise. 34. Try to move as little as possible when recording! Your pants legs brushing up against each other or other slight movements could be picked up by the recorder. 35. Always make sure that the time, and date is correct on your recorder if you are using a digital recorder. This will keep things less confusing later when you realize that you forgot to say that information while recording! |
| Crawford County Illinois Ghost Hunters Society |
| (c) Copyright 2005 by Jason Snider All Rights Reserved |