Electronic Voice Phenomena (EVP) are recordings of the voices of the dead. The recording of these phenomena has been ongoing since the 1950's when portable tape recorders first became available. In an active location with the proper equipment and favorable solar and geomagnetic conditions, most researchers will successfully collect EVPs. Recording EVPs is extremely easy, and anybody can do it. It is surprising that more EVPs do not turn up accidentally due to the wide proliferation of good recording equipment.

The sky is the limit as to the type of audio recorders available. Clearly audible EVPs have been recorded on all types of cheap and expensive analog and digital recorders. This researcher has stopped using digital recorders in favor of the analog variety which use magnetic tape. This is simply a matter of personal preference since audible EVPs have been collected using both digital and analog recorders.

The primary unit that this researcher uses with extremely good results is a $20 Model 3-5027 General Electric “shoe box” cassette recorder available from Wal-Mart. It is rugged, lightweight and very sensitive to the low levels of sound encountered with EVPs. If the researcher somehow drops this unit or forgets and leaves it on a tombstone somewhere, he hasn't lost $500.00 worth of equipment. This is no small consideration when the severity of EVP research locations is considered! For example, this researcher has collected EVPs in locations on high mountain ridges where losing gear is a definite possibility.

The big drawback to the GE recorder is a common one shared by all analog recorders — motor noise. The best way to combat motor noise is to use an external microphone. Radio Shack sells an inexpensive tie tack type omni-directional condenser microphone which is an ideal companion to the GE recorder. This microphone is extremely sensitive and lightweight, and the battery life is phenomenal. It has a long enough cable to allow its placement a good distance from the recorder, and while placement is not extremely critical, it should be shielded completely from the wind. Wind is a common problem when recording outdoors and must be taken into account. If not, it will be impossible to later understand low sound level EVPs.

It is not necessary to use extremely high fidelity tapes to record EVPs. After experimenting with many tapes and finding a great number of EVPs on regular tapes, this was found to be unnecessary. A good quality normal bias cassette tape is all that is needed. This researcher recommends tapes labeled for general voice or music recording. Use only quality, brand name tapes as they will be run forward and backward countless times. A stretched or worn tape will be impossible to work with.

Always use a fresh tape for each investigation and never use both sides of the tape to avoid noise "bleed through". This researcher suggests a tape length of no more than 90 minutes. This allows for a single side length of 45 minutes which is plenty of recording time. Spirits are as inquisitive on the other side as we are here. If they don't speak to you or comment in this amount of time, then either the ghost weather conditions are unfavorable or there aren't any spirits at the site to begin with! It is not recommended that tapes longer than this be used as reviewing them is an extremely lengthy process and requires immense concentration to eke out the low sound level communications. Some EVPs sound exactly like normal spoken words, but it is amazing how much underlying, extremely low sound level EVPs are recorded.

Reviewing tapes after an investigation is the hardest part of EVP research. Extreme patience is the key to success along with a highly amplified audio signal. Additional amplification is required in order to boost the audio up to a level which permits hearing the weakest EVPs. This researcher uses a Radio Shack three channel headphone volume booster along with a good set of headphones. The playback volume of the GE recorder is turned all the way up, and the Radio Shack unit is plugged into the headphone jack on the recorder. The headphones are then plugged into the Radio Shack unit. Caution is necessary here because of the loud volume since ordinary noises will be amplified to extreme levels! Take it easy and go slowly while keeping a finger on the recorder's volume control to reduce the volume instantly should an extreme noise be encountered. It is best to make note of noises like this as they occur during an investigation in order to spare your hearing later when reviewing your recordings.

After a suspected EVP has been heard on a tape, it is necessary to isolate it from the rest of the tape for further scrutiny. The best way to do this is to record the EVP on a computer. This entails getting the analog audio from the tape recorder into either the line input of a computer sound card, or in some cases, the microphone input jack. This can be tricky due to differences in impedance between the audio output of the tape recorder and the input impedance of the microphone jack or sound card input. This also requires a cable which matches the application.

In this researcher’s current setup, it is necessary to use another cassette deck to input the EVP into the computer due to an input impedance mismatch between an IBM ThinkPad microphone jack and the GE recorder which results in garbled recordings. A Marantz 360 tape deck is currently being used as the EVP playback device. Audio is taken from the left 8-ohm speaker out jack on this unit and fed directly into the microphone input on the IBM. This has turned out to be a satisfactory arrangement if strict attention is paid to the recording levels. If too high of an audio signal is used, the recordings are distorted.

The simplest way to record into a computer from a recorder is to have a computer and recorder which are both equipped with line-in / line-out jacks That is the way this researcher would have done it if had he had access to this type of equipment. It can be seen that individual setups will vary, and experimentation is necessary.

After a device to successfully record EVPs is obtained, along with equipment necessary to transfer EVPs into a computer, software is necessary for analysis. In Windows based computers, the Sound Recorder feature can be used to record the audio into the computer or other software can be used. This researcher uses a free program called Wave Pad for both recording and analysis. Other sound programs are available and can be found by searching the Internet. After selecting software, read the documentation completely and experiment until the best results are obtained. This can be difficult, but the results are extremely rewarding.

The focus of this article is the methods used by this researcher to obtain satisfactory EVP recordings. These methods are not set in stone, and every researcher should experiment when recording and analyzing EVPs since imagination and persistence are the keys to collecting good data. EVP research has just begun in earnest, and there are no real experts, so find an active site and try it yourself!