In this article I will atempt to give you pointers that will enable you to conduct a proper EVP session and then later extract your evidence from your recordings. I do not claim to be a master, but I have done this many times with great results. Hopefully I can give you some pointers that will help you out so that you can get out there and start gathering evidence.
First off, let us start with the basics. I always HATE the segment on Ghost Hunters where they stop every week to explain to us what an EVP is....but, just in case you have been under a paranormal rock for the past few years we will touch on that here. EVPs are voices captured on recording devices that were not heard with the human ear as they were spoken. EVP stands for Electronic voice phenomena. Some people believe this to be the voices of the dead speaking to us from beyond the grave. Some people feel that these are voices being heard from another dimension that is paralell to our own. Others believe it is extraneous noise from outside sources such as televisions and radios. Who is right? No one knows. But, I have heard some compelling EVP clips in my day and have heard them directly answer questions. I have my opinions on what they are, but your mileage may vary. Either way, they are compelling when heard and can send chills down your spine with some of the things they say.
On most cases, EVP's will be your main source of evidence. On a LOT of cases, it will be your ONLY source of evidence. This should show you just how important EVP evidence can be to a case. As I have said many times on this site, evidence is crucial to any investigation. Repeatable evidence is even more important. Without evidence all you have is a personal experience...or a ghost story. In my mind if you can not prove that it happened it might as well not have happened. It is crucial to work hard enough and SMART enough to be able to gather evidence.
One of the first things that can help you on your EVP sessions is research. If you are going to a location it is always smart to do some research on the history of the home, the people that might have occupied the space over the years, things that might have stood on the land previously, any information you can gather. This will help you be able to ask intelligent questions that will make sense to the entity that is haunting the location. If you ask specific questions that make sense you have a better chance of getting intelligent and understandable answers in return.
I also find it best to do EVP sessions in SMALL groups. This cuts down drastically on noise contamination. When you have 12 people in a bedroom you have so much more chance of recording noise made by movement, or breathing, or coughing, or stomach growls, or just about anything. It also makes it hard to distinguish what you are hearing on your recordings because it can be difficult weeks later to remember who was in the room with you at the time of the recording. Very small groups cuts down on the noise factor and makes it easier to account for voices you might hear on the recording. For example, if you have two females conducting an EVP session and the voice of a man shows up on the recording you can be positive that neither of the investigators made that sound. If you have 4 women and 8 men it is very difficult to rule out the chance that one of the men might have whispered something then forgot about it later. Small groups work best.
At the beginning of every session it is also a good idea to "mark" your recording. Speak into the recorder and give the time, date, location and names of the people present during the recording. Trust me on this, it will aid you later when you do your evidence review. It takes all the guess work out of it and makes your review a much more simple process.
Before you do your EVP session it is also wise to eliminate any possiblility of outside noise contamination. When possible it is good to do a day time walk around of your location so you can see all the possible locations where noise contamination could come into play. Causes of noise contamination could include open grates in the floor, broken windows in a room that lets noise in from outside, holes in walls or ceilings, heating systems, the natural sounds of the house, other investigators in nearby rooms, vehicles passing by...any number of things. For example, I cannot tell you how many times people (myself included) have been fooled by rattling pipes in a house mistaking it for footsteps or knocking sounds. It is always a wise decision to eliminate or acknowledge these possibilities upfront to avoid confusion during your evidence review.
Now you are ready to begin your EVP session. Position yourself in your location and make yourself comfortable. I like to stand in the dark for a couple of minutes and become accustomed to the room, and let the energy there become comfortable with you. The next step is to "mark" your recording, and get ready for your session. The first thing I like to do is introduce the group that is present. Start off by giving your name and the names of everyone with you and state your purpose for being there. Now you are ready to begin asking questions. It is very important to remember to pause long enough between questions to allow for the answer to appear on your recording. Talking too quickly between questions will cause contamination if anything is picked up. One theory is that it is difficult for a spirit to gather enough strength to be able to answer you, and this can take some time. Another good tip is to be confident when asking your questions and use the same tone of voice you would when speaking to someone that was living. It is also a good idea to state that you mean them no harm and you are there out of respect and you just want to communicate with them. Along these same lines, it is always a good idea to say "thank you" to any entity that might be present when your EVP session is over. Some people feel this will make the spirits more apt to talk to you in the future and might actually help other investigators on your team get evidence when they work that room later on in the night.
Now, on to a more controversial topic: Provoking. Some people (as you might have seen on shows such as Ghost Adventures) tend to want to provoke the spirits into responding. While I do not disagree with this process and have admittedly used it on several occasions, it is not wise for the beginning investigator. If you take a hostile tone with the spirits and you are actually in a location that is inhabited by an evil or inhuman haunting you can be opening yourself up for a world of trouble you might not be prepared for. You can do more harm than good by using tactics such as this, and it is best left to the trained professionals. I have always said "If you don't know what you are doing it is best to leave it alone" and this definitely applies here. Use respect in your investigations, it is safer for you and the other members of your team and it makes your team look more professional and credible at the same time.
A lot of people ask me about the type of recorder that is best for use during EVP sessions. This is a can of worms, and you will get a million different answers on this depending upon who you ask. My personal preference is to use digital recorders. Specifically I use ZOOM 3D directional recorders and Olympus hand held recorders (The Olympus 4100-PC is my favorite). The reason for this is simple, it's easier to get the data onto your computer for analysis later. Also, analog recorders have problems sometimes of actually recording the sound of the internal working gears of the mechanism which can later be mistaken for sounds or voices. If you do choose to use an analog recorder I highly advise to use an external microphone to eliminate some of the internal noise of the device.
Review of your data: CRUCIAL step in the EVP process. Here is where it becomes tedious. You must listen dilligently to EVERY second of recorded material and focus on the recordings. Losing your train of thought even for a second can cause you to miss important evidence. When you hear something, mark it down (the time the event occured on the timeline of the recording) so that you can go back to it later. It is also wise to have others listen to your recording so that you can have a number of opinions on what you have recorded.
This is by no means a be-all-end-all document on the process of EVP gathering. It is not a rule book or a bible, it is merely a series of suggestions. I have been doing this for a long time, and these are the things I have found to work best for me. Hopefully this will give you enough information to get out there and start finding evidence. If you have any questions or anything that I might be able to help you with, do not hesitate to e-mail me and ask.
