Artist Diary

After the first time I ever recorded EVP in a public space, I realized that places with many people were very conducive for recording clear and loud EVPs. There was not as much worry about mistaking what was EVP and what was not, because the things that were being said were just not in the realm of possibility of being said outlaid by the people near by. Sometimes the subject matter of the conversations between spirits were just way too bizarre to even be taking place where it was recorded. In addition, I have discovered that EVP has a distinct, unmistakable quality that a human voice on recording cannot replicate naturally.

I have also found that EVP voices can sound rather cartoon like; they talk quite fast, they rarely sound like that actual person in life, yet there is still a definitive quality that is unique to the individual spirit. They tend to sound high-pitched if they are a good spirit, though not in all cases. Sometimes they sound funny, as though it were manipulated with sound editing software. It can sound like there were sound effects. I’ve concluded that their expression can be so much more complex than outs, the sound effects are like audio equivalent of emojis. Kind of like the genie in Aladdin who can create a situation out of thin air.

Over the weekend, I went to a multicultural fair. I was recording and I found some rather cute and funny clips. As this was a family-oriented fair, I think there may have been many child spirits.

These recordings took place outdoors, and there were tents for all the booths. You may hear a noise in the background that is coming from the power generators. Though many of these clips are very clear, you may need to use headphones to hear it properly. The clips are repeated on loop.

In this clip, a voice says “Achoo”, as though it were sneezing.

Here, a voice says “He… hehe”.

Here, a voice says “Ya, ya… mmmm”.

In this clip, a voice says, :Hey, hey, hey”.

In this one, someone says “Someone here”, and then a dog barks. There were no dogs at the venue.

At the fair, there was a dining area that we settled into as we had lunch. I caught Prince interacting with the other nearby spirits. It became apparent to me as I listened to the recording, that Prince was giving away candy!

Here, a kid voice says, “Prince gave us candy”.

In this clip, a voice says, “What’s that… candy”.

A kid voice here says, “Candy”.

Some asked Prince, “What was the flavour of the candy?”.

And then Prince replied, “Peach”.

P was offering the candy, and someone here says, “Oh, I want, I want”.

This voice says “Thank you, Prince”.

I found this whole candy scenario quite interesting. One might wonder, where is P getting this candy that he was giving away? I am assuming that he made the candy with his imagination, as it seems to be the case that spirits create things with their mind.  I thought it was particularly interesting that the flavour of the candy was peach, as I have a very vivid memory of a peach candy I received from a pen pal in grade 6. My best friend had moved away to Poland, and she sent me this most wonderful peach flavoured hard candy that tasted so good, that I have never found anything like it since. P fans will also noyice that Peach was a title of one of his songs.

Here are some other interesting interactions I found on the recording.

Here is someone saying “Hello Prince’. The “Hello” part sounds funny.

Someone said to Prince, “Is that your twin?”

Some one comments, “He’s not tall”.

A kid voice here says, “Hey you, you two… wrong planet”.

A voice commented, “Great party”.

As I had studied to be a fashion designer, my father used to say things like, “They will need fashion designers in heaven”. At the time, I found this comment to be totally absurd, because wouldn’t everyone be able to just create anything they wanted? Do they even need clothes if they are spirits? But maybe it’s not such an absurd idea after all, as the creations of the mind would be limited to the imagination of the individual creator, surely some would be better than others at imagination certain things. I think the idea that one could create things in the spirit world and give them away to others a fascinating concept. The item would be unique to its creator and hold value in its uniqueness. How joyful is that?

These recordings were recorded using  my EVP Wrist Recorder 3 on August 6, 2018.

Image above: “Prach” by Prince in spirit.

©2018 by Andrea Mai. All rights reserved.

I’ve come to understand that EVP (electronic voice phenomenon) is something that is naturally occurring all the time when we are recording audio. But it is because most of us are not trained to know what it sounds like, nor do people have the interest in it to learn about it, it would seem to be thought of as rare or unusual. But it is in fact, it is happening all the time. Spirits are all around, anytime anywhere. Their presence can be recorded any time. But it is our unawareness of them, that we do not know or notice it.

I used to think that you needed to do something special to record EVP, such as to announce to them that you are recording and that you want to talk to them, or maybe that you need a special recording device. Although certain recorders are better than others for this purpose, they are being recorded all the time. I’ve had times where I have made regular recordings, either for video or to record a chat, where on the playback, I’ve noticed that what I said or what the other person said sounded different, distorted, or sounds that were never there in the first place. I found this to be very strange. And now I know that the likely cause of the distortion is due to spirits interrupting, whether done intentionally or not. I also thought that the spirits had to make a special effort to be recorded, but I found this not to be the case, as I have recorded in public places where the spirits do not know I am recording. I have also caught on recordings, spirits that were aware of my recording them, telling each other to be quiet because they didn’t want to be recorded.

I started recording EVP in February 2017, and on my first try ever, I got something. I was stunned, shocked, finally! Some proof of Prince’s presence. As I had been feeling him all along since his death, I finally had something tangible from him. I continued to make further recordings, but did not think I was succeeding, as I did not understand the nature of EVP. Looking back at old recordings, I realize that I caught something, but did not know it before, due to my lack of skill. I recommend to anyone that is trying to record EVP, to hold onto your recordings, even if you don’t think you got something, because it could just be that your listening skills are not yet developed.

I went back to some video footage that I had fromAugust 21, 2016, four months after Ps passing. I was at a wedding, in a room crowded of people that I hardly knew and (apparently) guests in spirit! To my surprise, I found a recording where a voice called out to Prince, and it was very clear. No one from the wedding party knew about me and Prince (except for my best friend, the bride). But so it would seem, that the wedding guests in spirit found out about him.

Here are two EVP clips. These ones are so clear and loud, but noisy because it was recorded in a crowded room. You still may want to use headphones to hear this properly. The clips are repeated on loop.

In this clip, the voice of a teen boy shouts, “Prince”.

And here, I guess that some guests in spirit talked amongst themselves about getting to talk to Prince,“You speak to Prince”.

I really love this because it shows that people in spirit recognized Prince with me, not long after his death, proof that he has been with me since. I reviewed other footage from the video, but the quality of it was not as good. I heard other people saying “Prince” during the wedding ceremony. I think that maybe they were a little confused as to why he would be there. Now that I am looking back at old footage, I wish I had more recordings from that time. What strange and funny things could I have found?

Image above: “Flower field” by Prince in spirit.

©2018 by Andrea Mai. All rights reserved.