Artist Diary

I first started recording EVPs to in public because I wondered if I would get commentary from Prince while I was out and about. I thought maybe in some cases, maybe I could get his opinion on purchases. Instead, I got something totally unexpected. I found an entire world operating on an unseen level; a society of spirits. Spirits were interacting with each other. Sometimes they would interact with the living, offering advice, hoping that they would hear. But for the most part, they were having conversations with each other. 

What shocked me most was the people calling out to Prince. They would recognize who just walked in, some would casually greet him, others would call out to him and react in amazement. 

Over the weekend, I was at my local mall having a look around Winners (the Canadian version of TJ Maxx or Marshalls). Normally I have my iPod with me, but I was charging it. The last time I was without it, Prince’s Kiss came on the store radio, and on another occasion, Raspberry Beret. I find it rare to hear a Prince song in public. This time, I Wanna Be Your Lover came on. I quickly grabbed my iPad to record EVP. I don’t know how he does it, but somehow he manages to get his songs played when I’m around. 

On the EVP, I found two of the funniest reactions to Prince being at Winners with me. You can hear a bit of I Wanna Be Your Lover in the background. (You may need headphones to hear them properly. They are repeated on loop) 

In this clip, a male voice says “Ohhhhhhhh, Prince here”.

In this clip, someone says “I saw… Prince”. And I find this one so cute because of the way they said Prince.

Image above: “Prince” by Prince in spirit. 

©2018 by Andrea Mai. All rights reserved. 

Looking through photos from police investigations at Paisley Park, I finally got confirmation of something I knew all along. Prince was a Coast to Coast AM listener, a late night paranormal talk show that I started listening to as a teenager. A copy of The Quickening by Art Bell, the creator and long time broadcaster of this show. I spent many late nights listening to stories about alien contact, ghosts and time travel. I can only imagine, we might have both been listening to the show at the same time… talk about a Sleepless in Seattle moment! Art Bell was where I first learned about EVP.

With all that in consideration, of course P knew about EVP. That is why he made attempts to be recorded from the start. Upon reviewing video footage of myself from two weeks after his passing, he was already attempting communication by EVP. I posted about it here.

EVP is what’s known as Electronic Voice Phenomenon. It is when voices from the other side can be recorded through electronic means. Never in my wildest imagination did I ever think I would be doing my own recordings.

I started doing them and got results right away. However, I could only hear him faintly and couldn’t make out what he was saying. I was recording them on my iPad. The first time I got something that I could make out, I was so excited and amazed. I did it rather casually and wasn’t expecting results.

I continued to try more of them, but I couldn’t make out what he was saying. So I gave up for a while. At a later point, I decided that I would commit to making EVP work for me. I wanted to hear his voice speaking to me physically. I had telepathic communication with him, but sometimes it gets to be too much. It’s confusing to have more than one voice in your head! So I bought two things. A pair of Beats EP headphones, and the EVP Wrist Recorder 3. Both items have resonating frequencies starting at 20 hz, which is important to note, as not all recording and listening equipment is created equally. By using equipment with the lowest possible frequency resonance, you increase our chances of capturing and hearing EVP. I found out later on in older recordings that Prince would even say things like “You’re not going to hear this until the future when you get better headphones!” And of course, P would know, he was a recording genius!

It was only later when I decided to try harder to make this EVP thing work, that I would export the files onto my computer to listen to them on an editing program. I used iMovie on on my Macbook, because I was familiar with the software. I would listen through a recording and when I thought there might be something, I would keep playing that section over and over. I would use the Amplify setting to raise the volume to as high as 400%. I also found that the Voice Enhance or Treble Reduce Equalizer settings could also enhance the sound quality. I also recently started using the Noise Reduction between 20 to 45% depending on the quality, to help filter out background noises, which can make a big difference. I used the space bar on my keyboard to start and stop recordings. I would split the clips if I found something. Then cut and paste the clip ten times to listen to it on loop. Then I’d export the file as an mp3.

Throughout this process, I started to hear him more and more. I developed the ear for it. Spirits have a speech pattern that is different from a living person’s. They affect sound with their thoughts, and they can end up talking too fast. Prince has learned to slow down his speech when talking to me live in real-time.

When you are doing EVP, there are times when it sounds like the person when they were incarnate, but often times, it doesn’t sound like them exactly. But they will have a specific overall speech pattern that becomes recognizable with experience. In general, a spirit’s speech pattern can sound very sing-songy, as if they are singing their words to you.

The one thing that I discovered that made all the difference was that white noise or subtle background noise is what makes an EVP recording more audible. Complete silence makes it very faint and difficult to hear. I believe that it is their thought waves that are affecting the sounds nearby so that their voices can be amplified. I found that you do not need to be addressing a spirit to capture them. It seems to be like a natural law that their thoughts will affect sound. As a result, I have captured EVP of unsuspecting spirits having conversations with each other. Spirits can also read your thoughts, so you don’t actually have to speak out loud to them unless you wish to.

I have used household electronics to generate white noise in my recordings. I have also used Prince’s music as background noise. TV can also work as well. The key to to find that balance of volume. Too much and you won’t hear them at all.

A word of caution though, I started doing EVP because I knew Prince was there in spirit with me. I did not seek him out. He was already around. This is just a way for us to better communicate. I do not recommend anyone trying to summon a spirit by calling out to anyone. Summoning is a dangerous practice, as you are dealing wit the unseen world. Some spirits are out to play tricks on undiscerning people. There are spirits all around, including in the houses of unsuspecting people, so if you never cleanse your house, they could be there and you may be shocked at what you hear. This has nothing to do with whether or not you are a good person or if you are of good intention. This has to do with your unawareness of their presence, and you never asked them to leave. I emphasize prayer to God for protection in all pursuits of spirit communication.

It has been an experimental process. Anyone who wishes to do this, I would encourage to keep trying. It is not something that will happen right away, but something that you have to develop with practice. It is like learning a new language, so be patient with it. Over time, I became clairaudient with P. I never thought that such a thing could happen, but it is a wish come true. I can turn on some white noise and hear him speaking to me live. I have a recording of white noise on my iPod that I can listen to with earphones and hear him anywhere I go. It’s been an eyeopening experience and I’ve learned a lot about the spirit world as a result.

Updated: January 10, 2019

Image above: “Prince’s desk” by Carver County.

©2018 by Andrea Mai. All rights reserved.