WHAT IS E.V.P.?

EVP stands for electronic voice phenomena, some believe that the voices of the dead can be recorded onto audio devices such as tape recorders, mini disk and other such devices. It is unsure as to the true reason being the disembodied sounds of spirit or something else, so at present it remains a great mystery, and a brilliant tool for capturing evidence for all those interested in parapsychology and similar supernatural subjects. This method allows the monitoring of a remote location at vigils and is relatively inexpensive way of logging information, and is a bonus to investigators as it gives them an extra set of ears! Any audio recording instrument can be used provided it has an adequate capacity to store a sizeable chunk of time upon it, and it is reasonably portable enough to carry about from location to location. Another good point to remember is the items power source, make sure any device used has plenty of battery power, or is fully charged before using it in any valid experiment. You don't want it conking out mid way through your task!

RECORDING THE PHENOMENON

Where ever you decide to begin your session, try to clear the air with a quick affirmation or prayer (Of your choice), then begin to start to ask questions, as if asking an unseen guest politely, but give an adequate pause between each one, and wait to see if there is a response, and also to leave a sufficient silence for annalysis later to see if you can catch any evidence if any. A full side of a c45 audio tape is well enough to start you on your first few tries to familiarise yourself with the task at hand. When you are at the end of each full session, remember to use an appropriate closing affirmation/prayer to clear the air in order to dispell any negative energies still present in the locality from any spirit entity that may or may not have manefested (Best to be safe than sorry.)

LOCATIONS FOR EXPERIMENTS IN E.V.P.

Any where can be a suitable location for EVP experiments, from the most creepy haunted castle to the comfort of your own home. Most investigators that use EVP, vary in thier methods and use sites of thier own preference and use everything from haunted homes to quiet cemetaries. It is a good idea to try to optimise on the most likely places to find supernatural activity, it doesn't have to be a haunted site, it could be your local church graveyard, or a known ley line, or even a known UFO hot spot. Usually where these kind of phenomena occur, some research has shown that they have a link to natural earth energies, so you might be in with more luck in finding some evidence, rather than experimenting in your front room!

ANNALYSING THE DATA

When all the recorded material is in and you have finished your sessions, now you may sit down to annalyse the information you may or may not have gathered in your experiments. Go through your recordings question by question, to see if your equipment has picked up any unnatural recordings. Don't expect miracles, it can take ages before you pick up any evidence at all, and even then you cannot garuntee any sucess at all, only very lucky investigators will get any decent results, so don't worry and keep trying. The payback of your evidence will depend upon just how sensitive your recording devices are, you may be able to link your audio recording to a PC to allow a spectral annnalysis, and isolate and amplify the recorded pauses, but don't worry if you can't afford the most upto date recording gizmos, many of the best examples of E.V.P. I have heard have been recorded by friends and family on basic tape recorders and dictaphones. Most importantly don't be put off by any lack of evidence you may encounter, just keep going at it and don't give up, eventually you will obtain a result, if not gain a great deal of skill in recording techniques!

Will Grundy is a ritual craftsman, and been an occultist for over 18 years. He grew up in a haunted house and has been dealing with other worldly matters all of his life. Will now runs "The Doncaster Ghostwatch Project", a paranormal investigations group in the South Yorkshire area. It can be found by logging on to: http://www.doncasterghostwatch.webitsmart.co.uk or email: grun577@aol.com