I Hear Dead People

I just got back from a TSPI meeting, and I'm having a beer and procrastinating before getting back to my EVP recordings.

I finished listening to a 4.5-hour recording just a little before tonight's meeting, and then I have another 4.5-hour recording, an hour-long session and a 2-hour session to go. I plan to hit the latter two tonight, then chip away at the second 4.5-hour as I can during the week.

But the good news is that I submitted my possible EVPs from Yorktown earlier this week (I tried late last week, but there were technical issues I had to overcome) and I got some really possitive feedback! :D So it appears I'm doing a good job so far!

So here's how my weekend's been:

Monday was pretty much lazy for the first part of my day. I slept a bunch, lol. Then I finally got around to transferring my last audio recording to Audacity.

I should explain...

I have 3 digital audio recorders. Two inexpensive RCA RP5120-A models and a Sony ICD-B600. The RCAs these ports so you can upload your recordings directly into your computer (then there's this file management program that can convert the VOC files to WAVs, which Audacity can read and manipulate).

The Sony doesn't.

The way I get audio from the Sony recorder into my computer is by plugging a line from the headphones jack in my recorder into the mic jack in my computer and pressing Record on my Audacity program.

Now, when I first got the recorders and was getting to know them, Brian and I would record these short demo runs to see how everything worked and everything transfered. And the line-in, real-time transfer method was fine... back then.

But the 4.5-hour session I just finished listening to was recorded on my Sony, because I'm a ree-ree.

Since the Sony can't transfer files directly to the computer, I think of it as a backup. I keep one of the RCAs with me for most of my recording.

Okay, now one of the things that Brian and I learned investigating the Yorktown is that it's incredibly useful to have an extra recorder just laying around to record the investigation in its entirety. This allows you to (1) keep track of time, such as when everyone took a break and how long the investigation ran, and (2) sometimes back events up. For instance, there was one point in the Yorktown where I had the Sony in the Labor Room by itself while Brian & I were in the Delivery Room with an RCA recorder. The Sony could hear the murmers of Brian's & my conversation, though it was too far away to make out the actual words.

The Sony picked up a very loud slamming sound that reverberated throughout the room, and the tones in Brian's and my voices didn't change. We didn't hear the slam at the time of recording! It was an EVP!!!

But then, when I went back and listened to the RCA recorder that was with us in the Delivery Room, Brian made mention of the slam. We had heard it, it wasn't an EVP. :( (By that time in the investigation, we had simply grown used to loud, unexpected slams, lol.)

So on this past Saturday's investigation I placed 2 recorders in possitions that weren't covered by IR cameras or other people's recorders. And since the Sony's just a backup recorder for me, I made sure it was one of those recorders.

But I hadn't thought it through...

Since these recorders ran for the duration of the investigation, it meant that when it was time to get the Sony session onto the computer, I had to let it play... for the entire length of the investigation, lol.

And this recorder wasn't placed in a hotspot of ANY KIND of activity, lol. (Of course.) And I wanted to listen to it as it recorded, because I wanted to make sure no problems arrose during the transfer.

Which, actually, turned out to be a good choice... I hadn't switched out the batteries since the investigation Saturday, and at 3 hours 15 minutes and 17 seconds, the Sony simply stopped. The batteries were dead.

I switched out the batteries, but do I begin the transfer all over again from the beginning?

Hell no, I decided. I backed the recorder up several seconds and ran it through to the end.

But it was fairly excruciating to sit through, because this was the end of my day, and I wasn't listening for evidence (I do this with headphones on so I can hear every nuance of every nanosecond of sound) so I was just sitting, listening to the night pass.

I hit the sack Tuesday morning with extreme enthusiasm, and I slept A LOT.

So Tuesday night I wake up super-late, but I'm actually enthusiastic about getting started on my evidence review. I had basically had several days off -- since I worked Sunday night, and Monday night was the transfer.

I gave myself generous breaks as I reviewed the Sony recording: I'd listen for half an hour, chat with Brian for a while, listen for another half an hour...

I got 1.5 hours in and Brian mentioned watching the newest Cinematic Titanic disc: Frankenstein's Castle of Freaks. It was hysterical, and we had a great time, but afterward I just didn't feel up to finishing up the Sony session, so I didn't.

Then today I woke up, and suddenly realize that my weekend is almost gone!

I finished up the remaining 3 hours of the recording, just in time to get ready for the meeting and leave.

Out of 8 pages of notes about specific areas to listen to to see if I think these sections should be submitted as possible EVPs, I came up with 1 very possible EVP and 2 sort of anomolous sounds that will probably be discarded, but that I'll submit anyway, just because I'm a very thorough cat.

Don't get me wrong, though! Worth every second of it!!! :) If I have any regrets, it would be my poor time-management skills, lol. But the experience is invaluable! It's one thing to read about the paranormal and to watch Ghost Hunters and to listen to paranormal investigators on my podcasts, but it is another thing to actually be doing something! Contributing in my tiny, humble way!

Okay, now I'm excited to get back to work! :D

I wanna send love out to my Gnomey Goddess, who's feeling under the weather lately! xoxoxo If it's any consolation, sweety, it was cold and gray all day here, and tonight as I was driving home it started rainy like crazy! So you would be as miserable here as you are there. I LOVE YOU, SWEETY!!! :D

And I hope anyone who stumbles upon this entry finds themselves warm and cozy as you read these words! :)