What is EVP - How does it Work  - How to Record the Voice of Ghosts 
                             and How to Increase Your Chances of Getting Class A - EVP’s    

Written and Compiled by: Tina Lilley 2007, revised 2009, 2010 & June 2011 Copyright, all rights reserved

EVP DEFINED:
EVP Or "Electronic Voice Phenomenon" The term alone is still widely debated and even though many researches define it slightly different, it all comes down to- the capture of disembodied voices or sounds of paranormal origin, on electronic audio equipment.An even better term is EAP - Electronic Audio Phenomenon. Audio phenomenon is often something other than a voice. It will often be a knock , bang, a door slamming shut, footsteps, or the sound of a musical instrument etc. These sounds certainly are not voices so I tend stay away from the term EVP for the sake of not confusing anyone, I will reference it as EVP throughout my training.
THE HISTORY:
It is not generally known that in the 1920s Thomas Edison seemed to believe that it might be possible to capture disembodied voices with a machine. Thinking this was possible, he wrote: "If our personality survives, then it is strictly logical or scientific to assume that it retains memory, intellect, other faculties, and knowledge that we acquire on this Earth. Therefore … if we can evolve an instrument so delicate as to be affected by our personality as it survives in the next life, such an instrument, when made available, ought to record something." In 1939, Attila von Szalay, an American photographer, experimented with a phonograph record cutter, trying to capture spirit voices. It's said that he achieved some success with this method and got even better results in later years using a wire recorder. In the late 1950s, the results of his experiments were documented in an article for the American Society for Psychical Research.

In the late 1940s, Marcello Bacci of Grosseto, Italy claimed to be able to pick up voices of the deceased on a vacuum tube radio. In 1952, two Catholic priests, Father Ernetti and Father Gemelli, inadvertently picked up EVP while recording Gregorian chants on a magnetophone. When the wire on the machine kept breaking, Father Gemelli looked to heavens and asked his dead father for help. To the shock of both men, his father's voice was heard on the recording saying, "Of course I shall help you. I'm always with you." Further experiments confirmed the phenomenon.

In 1959, Friedrich Juergenson, a Swedish film producer, was recording bird songs. On playback, he could discern his mother's voice saying in German, "Friedrich, you are being watched. Friedel, my little Friedel, can you hear me?" His subsequent recording of hundreds of such voices would earn him the title "the Father of EVP." He wrote two books on the subject: Voices from the Universe and Radio Contact with the Dead.

Juergenson's work came to the attention of a Latvian psychologist named Dr. Konstantin Raudive. At first skeptical, Raudive began his own experiments in 1967. He too recorded the voice of his deceased mother saying, "Kostulit, this is your mother." Kostulit was the boyhood name she always called him. He ended up recording thousands of EVP voices.

1970s and 1980s. Spiritual researchers George and Jeanette Meek joined forces with psychic William O'Neil and recorded hundreds of hours of EVP recordings using radio oscillators. They allegedly were able to capture conversations with the spirit of Dr. George Jeffries Mueller, a dead university professor and NASA scientist.

1990s to present. EVP continues to be experimented using tape and digital recorders by a large number of individuals, organizations and ghost research societies.



THE SCIENCE:
Most paranormal investigators with knowledge in science believe that evp’s are either generated by direct influence of the recorder’s electronic circuitry by the ghost or electromagnetic fields generated by the environment or through the transmission of sound waves that pass through the air to a microphone. The second is still debated on accounts of still not knowing how it is possible. Either way we still know that paranormal phenomenon occurs and until we can prove or disprove the scientific means, I’ll leave the options for you to decide.  
Sound waves funnel into the ear of the human via the external ear canal and hit the eardrum . The compression and rarefaction of the wave set this thin membrane in motion, causing the middle ear bones to move. The number of sound pressure level vibrations (sonic waves) per second denotes the frequency. Infrasonic (below hearing) and ultrasonic (above hearing) frequencies are measured in Hertz (Hz). Most young children can hear as low as 12Hz and higher than 20,000Hz however, older children and adults have a hearing ranges between 20 Hz to 20,000 Hz, but the range shrinks during life, usually during late childhood. Inaudible sound wave vibration can also be ‘felt’ by the physical body of humans, in the range of 4 to 16 Hz. So what does this mean to EVP’s?  First I would like to mention that disembodied voices are said to fall in either range of Infrasonic (below hearing) and ultrasonic (above hearing) frequencies. I honestly believe that children are also able to communicate and hear their ‘spirit’ friends because they can hear into the high end of infrasonic and low end of ultrasonic frequencies prior to loosing this range with age. Next we have the human voice. Knowing the science behind the voice also helps paranormal researchers classify or debunk evp’s.

Some say true evp’s to be classified as paranormal are classified under 300Hz since the human voice has a range of 300 Hz to 3,500 Hz, the human voice can go under 300 Hz, but only with sounds. So that means a clear voice under 300 Hz could potentially be paranormal in nature.  Human hearing can go well over and under what we can speak. As I mentioned earlier, the generally accepted frequencies for human hearing are 20Hz – 20,000Hz so with the above said anything under 19Hz that was only captured on a electronic devise that is capable of capturing as low as 13Hz could also potentially be paranormal in nature.

Enough of the heavy, next we have the classification of the quality evp you captured.

EVP’s will fall under one of these 3 classes: Class A:
Loud, clear, and words/ phrases are understandable to pretty much everyone that listens to them. You don't need headphones to hear or understand these.

Class B:
Loud, and some words may be clear. It may be hard to positively identify exactly what everything is. Note: This is where matrixing problems begin. Somebody thinks that they heard the voice say, 'help me' another thinks it’s a name Elsie - not everyone agrees. With class B you will need to accept them for what they are, and don't use your imagination to figure them out. You may or may not need amplification / headphones.

Class C:
Faint whispers or unrecognizable words/sounds. Nobody can understand them with any degree of certainty. What’s concluded is that something was captured “out of place”. amplification and/or headphones are needed.

TIPS FOR CAPTURING EVP’s:
You will end up capturing evp’s on your devices such as camcorders, radios and tape recorders.You will find that evp’s are one of the best sources for paranormal evidence. The digital recorder will become one of your main tools to capture them. People who seem to get audio phenomena quite readily have been called ghost magnets. This works with evp’s as well.
Ghost magnets/triggers are people who have an uncanny ability to capture phenomena. I will talk about it here as it relates to capturing evp’s. While trying to capture evidence, you may experience:

• Failure to get any evp’s at places reported to be very active (haunted)
• Other members of your team get multiple evp’s while you don’t get any.
• You may go to a location that is reported as having little activity but you come away with the mother load.
• The realization that, at times, it is a matter of being at right place at the right time. You can visit a very active location for only an hour or two and capture a lot of evidence and other times you may not get anything after a 10 hour long investigation. 
  

Failure to get good evp’s can be very frustrating, especially when the results don’t match your expectations and while this may not be a part of your investigative practice, having a psychic or sensitive present for the sake of being a trigger will increase your chances. I am calling them triggers in this scenario since they are only acting as a trigger by being the “beacon of light” enticing the ghost to communicate vocally, banging on something, or by causing an environmental residual imprint to play. This psychic element may explain the wide variable in the success rate in capturing audio phenomena.  
We have conducted and continue to experiment the effect of psychic energy. As it stands we experience more paranormal activity when I or another psychic is present. This included an increase in audio and still photography.

I know this sounds strange coming from an ordained minister but I am also a psychic and truly believe that everyone does this without even being aware of it. For example, it is easy to tell when a friend or family member is in a bad mood even without looking at their face. They transmit angry vibes that a sensitive person can easily detect. You can do something similar with environmental residual imprints, spirits and ghosts.

 If you still prefer to not involve psychics or if the though of already being a sensitive gives you the chills, you can increase your chances through training. Here are some tips to help increase your chances of capturing evp’s.

•  Try to start your session by explaining to the ghost or spirit (out loud) what exactly you are trying to accomplish.
  
•  You want to explain to them how the device you are using is able to capture their voice.
  
•  Ask them to speak as clearly and loudly as possible so you are able to hear them better on playback.
  
•  Keep questioning, but remember to leave space (10-30 seconds) between questions to give ample time for the answers.
  
•  I will admit that whispering is easy to do especially when we are wandering around quiet however whispers can easily  be mistaken for electronic voice phenomenon not to mention- we aren't going to scare any ghosts away by speaking  normally. Remember to talk in a normal voice at all times 
• It is very important that you verbally note all background sounds that you may hear (even the slightest noise) so it can't be mistaken for paranormal phenomenon when processing your recordings later. Announce if you bump into something, cough, etc. Announce a car driving by or if you hear people talking outside of the building, residence, or room. If you turn off your camera and it beeps when you do so, state it out loud. 
• We recommend that you use an external microphone in order to help pick up the evp's more clearly. A lot of evp's come either in the form of a whisper or in lower audible tones which sometimes have to be amplified to be heard.
• The reason we use a digital recorder instead of an analog or tape version is that the analog style recorder uses  mechanical technology to record. The tape and motors may cause noise. This noise is then recorded and might be mistaken as paranormal. If you use one of these, you might also want to invest in an external microphone.
• The digital recorder comes with a built in microphone. They are very sensitive, and are a great tool to pick up but they can also pick up the sound of your fingers moving against the casing of the recorder. It is recommended that you place the recorder on a flat surface to avoid this unwanted noise.
• Make sure you read all the specs on the make and model of recorder you buy. Some will offer a HZ range that the devise will capture.
• If you are going to review the recordings on your computer, you should make sure the format matches the playback software ie. wav,mp3,mpeg.
• If you can afford it, use sound editing software so you don’t miss anything during playback. Investing in high quality audio editing software such as Adobe Audition will be worth it, you will be amazed at your recordings once you become skilled in using noise reduction.
• If you can not afford the software, there are free downloads available. If you choose not to go that route, use of good headphones to help you pick out faint sounds or voices during playback.
• Always check to make sure the digital recorder is ready for the investigation. Bring extra batteries, and make sure there is plenty of memory.
• If the structure to be investigated is multi-story, team members are not to investigate on sequential floors, so that noise, footsteps and voices are not construed by another team as paranormal in nature.
• Have your session recorded on video. This will allow another device to correspond with the recording.
• Have multiple recorders. You do not want to limit yourself to one audio recorder. Most teams use three or more recorders.
• Remember - what you record, you will also have to review (listen) to it latter. If you have 4 recorders running and the investigation is 6 hours long, that is a total of 24 hours spent listening to what was recorded. This does not include time to review 4-8 camera’s from the DVR systems and handheld/stationary video cameras. 
• Revisit the investigation site if you’re able to. When you limit your investigation to one or two visits, you could’ve ended up being there on the “off” night thus missing your chance to capture evidence. Even if you are a ghost magnet, the chances of getting any type of evidence is slim. The typical trend among amateur and some celebrity ghost hunters is a single follow-up visit to “reveal” their findings and they usually don’t go back for a follow-up investigation, especially if they have not captured any evidence.

COMMUNICATING WITH THE SPIRITS/GHOSTS: 
 Sometimes you get results; other times you may not. These are just general questions. Depending on the situation you are dealing with, you will add to, or alter your questions. When first starting your session, assume the spirits/ghosts are there. After all the owner would not know there was something there if it hasn’t made itself known! You may find that you get better results taking for granted that they are there vs asking such a question as…Is there anyone here?

There are a lot of people who are firm believers of being nice and ask questions politely. This does not mean that you have to ask ‘can I’ or ‘will you’. When you ask- “can you tell me your age?”, and all you get is a ‘yes’, you will drop these 2 words quickly unless asking a yes or no question.
SAMPLE EVP QUESTIONS/STATEMENTS:
I know you’re in the room with us, would like to talk to us?
I have a devise that will allow me to hear you if you speak to me. Will you talk to me?
Why are you here?
Is it you that has been seen... (location)?
Do you like being here?
Please make a sound or knock so we know where you are.
Do that again.
Who are you?
What is your name?
Are you a man?
Are you a woman?
Are you a child?
How old are you?
What year were you born?
Where were you born?
Who is the president of the United States?
What day it is?
What year it is?
Why are you here?
Is this your home?
Did you live here?
Did you work here?
Are you here all the time?
Are you just visiting?
I’m not leaving until you…
I’m going to sit in your chair
Nice bed you have here.
What is your favorite room in the house?
How long have you been here?
Did you grow up in this area?
Do you have family here?
Are any of your family members with you?
What are their names?
What is your favorite color?
What color is your hair? (or other physical characteristics)
Can you see me?
Do you know my name?
Please say my name as loud and clear as possible
Are you looking for someone?
Are you looking for something?
Are you waiting for someone?
Are you alone?
Is there anyone else here?
How many of you are here?
Please knock loudly once for each person that is here with you?
What are their names?
Please make a noise for me/us?
Please touch one of us?
Please move something?
Please throw something?
Try to shout something really loud.
Do you know who we are?
How do you feel about us being here?
Is there anything we can do for you?
Is there any way we can help you?
Please show us what you look like.
Can I take your picture?
Do you have a message for me/us?
Do you have a message for someone else?
Can you pass a message on to someone else on the other side?
Can you bring someone here from the other side for me/us?
Are you afraid of the other side?
Are you sad or angry?
Are you afraid where you are?
Are you lost?
Do you need help?
Is someone keeping you here?
Is someone keeping you here against your will?
Do you have anything to tell us?
Do you need help to move on?
Can we talk with you again some other time?
Would you like us to leave?

The basic 75 or so questions above will certainly get you well on your way to having successful results with your evp work, however you can increase your success rate with more personable questions/statements. When you’re starting your evp sessions, try talking about the concerns the home/business owner mentioned to you. Such as the homeowner reporting that she sees and smells pipe smoke. You could capture the interest of the ghost/spirit if you “talk tobacco”.

 If a child’s toy is always being moved, talk about the toy,…
“This is a pretty doll, do you like to play with the doll?”
“Is this your doll?”
“Is the doll your favorite toy?”

I know there are people who antagonize/provoke and ask such questions related to death so I may as well add them however I would like to mention- these spirits/ghosts- were people too. Depending on how long the spirit is at the location, they may have lost sight of how to pass on, not to mention they may not even know they are dead. I’ve accused a ghost of being unfriendly, and lacking the courage to communicate, simply because I know they are there.That is where I draw the line. I know of paranormal investigators who use foul language, threaten to destroy property, and make accusations of criminal activity. I believe that approach is unethical, especially if accusations of criminal activity are untrue.
Not only is that kind of behavior unnecessary, it also reflects poorly on the investigator and his/her ethical duty.

 
There are statements that should never be made by any ethical investigator, and asking questions that touch upon death are not ideal in most cases either. Here are a few examples of both:

Unless otherwise informed by the ghost, you should not ask:
Are you aware that you're dead?
How did you die?
Did you die here of old age?
Did you die of an illness?
Are you afraid to pass on because of the things you did?
Was your death an accident?
Were you murdered here?
You should not state:
Accusations of a crime or behavior that the ghost/spirit did not commit.
Commenting on things such as entering heaven, forgiveness of sins, etc.
Insult the ghost/spirit’s character with derogatory or profane words.
Threats to desecrate a grave
Threats to destroy property
Threats to remove cherished objects

There are many ways to ‘connect’ to the ghost. Walking into the investigation with your historical research conducted should not only be a requirement, it will also increase your chances of having a successful investigation and evp results. If there are reports of a ghostly girl named Sara walking the halls and your research indicates that a man and his daughter were murdered there, having a male investigator say something like, "I have two daughters, I miss talking to my girls, will you talk to me?” or “Are you looking for your father?” will more than likely increase your success rate.

If a haunting is suspected to be someone who is ex military, have someone with a military background talk to them.
You don’t always have to ask questions, just stating relatable phrases will spark the interest can trigger and bring out a response from the ghost/spirit. It is possible to bring out a response without being antagonistic even when dealing with feisty ghosts. Some groups like to antagonize or 'bully' ghosts into communicating and they often find it ‘showy’ and ‘edgy’, our team does not.

 

If you have found this training guide complete and informative, we would like to hear from you. Please leave feedback and don’t forget to check out our other training guides! 
Mail to: Tina@mindseyeparanormal.org