EVP Software and finding EVPs

Widely accepted definition of EVP:An acronym for Electronic Voice Phenomenon. The term used to describe voices of spirits caught on tape.

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The following article will touch on what VAMP uses for software and how we analyze our sound files for EVPs.

We started off by having to find software that would be both efficient and effective. After using many different software packages we settled on Audacity. The software is freeware and has many great features that make finding EVPs easier.

We won't go into the details of how to capture an EVP , this will be covered in another article, or how to upload the files to your pc, refer to your recorder manual on how to do this. Once we have our sound file loaded into Audacity we start off by doing a base line wave search, to do this we scan through the wave patterns to see if we get any spikes in unexpected places. Many of these may turn out to just be the recorder being bumped or even someone in the team coughing or talking unexpectedly. Our base line search is used to determine what the typical environmental noise patterns look like. Before we go further make sure your Snap To option under the Edit menu option is set to Snap On.

After we finish our base line search we then zoom closer in on the sound wave, you can use the shortcut keys CTRL+1. We try to get a magnification that will show us the maximum detail of the wave but will also give us ample time to watch as the sound plays. If you zoom in too close the wave pattern will leave the screen faster then you can watch it. While the sound plays we are listening for sounds that we can not explain and for an anomaly in the sound wave itself. Please note an anomaly in a sound wave can be hard to spot if it is during sound or speech created by a team member.

If we feel we have heard or spotted an anomaly the next thing is to isolate the sound. You do this by clicking and dragging the section of the wave that is in question, once the section is highlighted you must then copy the section, you can use shortcut keys CTRL+C. Now we need a clean file to put this wave selection in, press shortcut keys CTRL+N.

We paste the selection in the new file using shortcut keys CTRL+V. Now we are left with only the sound or anomaly in question, we can zoom in even more. From here we will repeat the sound many times in an attempt to pick up on what we "think" the sound is. If we believe that it maybe a voice we try to determine what we think is being said. Spirits often times are recorded as higher speeds and frequencies then human speech, this can make an initial sound clip hard to understand.

Many groups use their software to do everything from changing the speed, reversing and filtering out noise and frequencies in their recordings. We have had great luck using the software to slow down a selected sound and removing extra noise to determine what is being said. Playing around with the settings may take awhile before your clip turns into something you can understand, each EVP is different.

Now we have our captured EVP we will listen it it many more times to try to determine the source of the sound. Many times during modification to the original sound it can be determined that sound was that of a scuffle or movement made by a member of the team or even a sounds as simple as the ticking of clock in the room. It take awhile before you can find solid hard to debunk evidence, but that is part of the fun. Not every time out will harvest a success, but keep up at it, have fun and be safe.

If you have any questions please feel free to e-mail me.

Kristopher Croteau Lead Investigator of VAMP research