Recording and analyzing EVP evidence part I

[Bob A]

In my opinion one of the most exciting and rewarding parts of a paranormal investigation is collecting and analyzing EVP evidence. For beginning researchers this is a great area to focusing on as it is easy to learn, requires little equipment and yields good results. As far as equipment needed a good digital voice recorder should cost between $45 and $80. Beyond that you will need a laptop for analyzing your recordings, over the ear headphones, a notebook and pen and lastly a free download of a sound editor of your choice (my personal favorites is Audacity, another good one is WavePad Sound Editor). When choosing your equipment buy what you can afford. There is no need to buy $500 headphones or top of the line recorders as good results can be had without them.

Once you have assembled your equipment you will need to choose a location. This should preferably be an indoor location where you will have control over the ambient noise as you will want the area as quiet as possible. When choosing your location keep in mind you can get positive results in almost any location you can get permission to investigate. As a word of warning, unless you want to know you live in a haunted location don't record EVPs where you live!

When you begin recording your EVP session it is important to state your location, the date and time as this information will be useful later. It is important to ALWAYS be respectful and introduce yourself. At first it may seem odd talking to thin air but you will soon get used to it. Start by saying something similar to "Hello, my name is ___. I would like to talk to any spirit who is here with me right now." followed by a ten second or more pause and your next question. Before ending an EVP session I always ask "Is there anything you would like to say before we go?". I then thank any spirits for communicating if they did. It is good to be as friendly as possible as you may want to return to the location in the future.

Common basic questions are "What is your name?", "How old are you?" or "Why do you stay here". I like to mix in more telling questions like "What is your favorite food", "Who was president when you died?" and "What was your favorite holiday?". Some questions may be location specific "Do you know the ____ family that lives here?", "Are you happy this place has been remodeled?" or "Do you like all the visitors that come here?". Other questions can deal with what the afterlife is like "Do you know that you are dead?", "What do we look like to you?" or "Do you see other spirits come and go?". There are endless questions you can ask but always remember to be respectful, never provoke and leave at least a ten second pause between questions for the spirit to have time to answer.

When conducting an EVP session it is almost inevitable there will be sounds that you can't control, a dog barking, refrigerator cycling on, traffic outside or stomach rumbling. It is important to identify these sounds as they happen so as to not confuse them with something paranormal. It is also important to make sure that everyone in your group understands that there should be strictly no whispering at all. Talking will always be part of an investigation statements like "Watch your step." or "What was that?" will almost always be part of an EVP session but it is very important to speak out loud so they are not confused with an EVP.

Lastly, try to keep your individual recordings down to about ten minutes or so. It is perfectly fine to conduct two or more sessions in the same location but when analyzing your evidence it is best to work with sessions that don't last too long. When working with longer recordings it is hard to stay focused.

I hope this tutorial has helped to explain the process of collecting EVP evidence. I will talk more on analyzing EVP evidence in "Recording and analyzing EVP evidence part II". If I missed anything please feel free to ask or if you have any tips or favorite EVP questions to ask please share.