This study is suspended due to lack of participation
proposed by Tom Butler
Previously published in the Summer, 2013 ATransC NewsJournal
The study began with: Seeking EVP Examples for Study
Abstract
The propose of the article, with Seeking EVP Examples for Study, is to issue a call for transform Electronic Voice Phenomena (EVP) examples in the form of an audio output file containing the EVP and a file containing the environmental sound and/or sound used as input for voice formation. Both files must be so configured as to allow side-by-side comparison from a marker sound. The examples will be analyzed in an effort to find a relationship between EVP formation and the energy profile of the sound file which contains the example.
An overview of the various forms of EVP and current theories for transform EVP formation are provided. A hypothesis is proposed that transform EVP are formed via stochastic resonance and that the source energy in the form of the message (that which is amplified) is made available by strategically apporting sounds already present in the physical. The study is expected to show a net increase in energy associated with EVP.
Introduction
One of the first questions we faced in 2000 as new directors of the AA-EVP concerned how the paranormal voices of Electronic Voice Phenomena (EVP) are formed. Since any serious study of any phenomenon requires a theory describing the means of its formation, one of our first acts was to draft a theory for EVP formation.
Early efforts to model EVP were confused by the different technologies being used to produce the phenomenal voices. Stefan Bion (1) developed EVPmaker which depends on the psi influence on a random process to select prerecorded voice fragments to produce EVP. Frank Sumption (2) introduced radio-sweep, which depends on bits of fortuitously occurring radio broadcast sounds to produce EVP. More recently, Bill Chappell (3) developed devices for EVP that depend on environmental energy changes to select words or voice fragments to produce EVP.
Ordinary audio recorders have been used since the discovery of EVP in 1959, and EVP examples produced by them are an often-studied form of EVP. Listening panels consistently rate audio recorder EVP higher than those collected with other technologies.(4)(5)(6) Since the examples collected with a recorder have been shown to be formed out of available background noise, they are referred to by ATransC as “transform EVP.”
At the turn of the century, Alexander MacRae, (7) Paolo Presi (8) and Daniele Gullà (9) were amongst the few people conducting studies of EVP using scientific methodology. Based on that early work, it was possible to compile a list of common characteristics exhibited by EVP which is still used today. (10)
Functional Areas of a Recorder
It may be useful to first have a picture of the functional areas of an audio recorder. In Figure 1, the left triangle represents the input amplifier for a typical digital voice recorder. Because the sound received from the environment is necessarily analog, the input stage is also analog. The diagram equally applies to a computer being used as a recorder with microphone and speakers.
Figure 2 shows the basic parts of all analog stages. Note the feedback loop used as a gain control. This circuit is designed to promote stability and signal quality. It often involves threshold limits that, like the squelch control for CB radio, is capable of introducing instability in the signal flow if not correctly designed.
The Analog-to-Digital conversion process (A/D) is shown in Figure 3. Note in Figure 1 that the input amplifier is connected directly to the A/D stage, and that the output of the A/D is digital in the form of “binary words” which represent the amplitude of the signal and when in time that amplitude was measured.
Design of these components is usually based on the principle that information about a sine wave can be digitally stored and the wave can be later reproduced with only two samples. Voice is in the 5 Hz to 4 kHz range which can be reproduced with a sample rate of 8 kHz.
This design approach also means that recorders can only record what can be sampled. A digital voice recorder such as a Panasonic RR-DR60 with a sample rate of 8 Khz will only record up to 4 Khz sound. Music-quality recorders should have a sample rate of at least 44.4 Khz and record up to 22 Khz. In practical terms, the average digital recorder is incapable of recording audio that is outside of normal hearing.
Note also in Figure 3 that the digital words representing each sample are pulses rather than an analog wave. Each “word” has start and stop pulses which allows the internal computer program to know where the word belongs in the sound stream. Any other digital word, say from a cell phone, cannot be confused with words in the recording device.
What this means is that stray radio waves cannot be detected in the digital stage. It is possible for AM radio to be detected by the input amplifier and included in the conversion to digital; however.
Active, Nonlinear Regions
A typical electronic circuit consists of resistors, capacitors, inductors, diodes and transistors. Of these, only transistors are used to amplify a signal; they are nonlinear devices, meaning that there may be a gain between the input and the output. The important point is that the region between the input and output where gain occurs is an energetically active region, meaning there is a dynamic change in energy and not just the storage or loss of energy. This region may be where the telekinetic psi influence is able to produce changes in ambient noise to produce the voices of EVP.
The presence of active regions is important because all of the theories for how EVP are formed depend on a nonlinear, active region. It is also important because the physical processes in these active regions are near quantum scale, which is the level of granularity that is possibly required for detection of psi influences.
Single Point of EVP Injection
Evidence indicates that transform EVP are formed in a single channel of a recorder. For instance, when using a stereo recorder, the EVP will be found on only one side. When using many recorders at the same time, say in a group setting, the EVP will be found on only one of the recorders. This suggests that the information is “injected” into the circuit at a specific place … possibly in one of the potentially dozens of transistors in the typical input stage of a recorder.
Transform EVP Characteristics
Common characteristics of transform EVP provide insight about the nature of their formation:
EVP Forms in Analog Circuits
As a general rule, once an EVP sound file is placed in digital memory, it is faithfully reproduced each time it is played. This indicates that EVP formation probably occurs somewhere between the input and the A/D conversion as shown in Figure 1.
Ambient Noise
Evidence indicates that the voice in EVP is formed from available audio-frequency sound. For instance, it is possible to produce layered EVP composed of elf-like voices formed from the high frequency sound of trickling water and more human sounding voices from the lower-frequency sound of a common household fan.
Microphone Not Required
A microphone is not required if the recorder has sufficient internal noise; however, one is useful for introducing additional noise and making a record of the practitioner’s actions.
Most Useful Sound for EVP Formation
Broad-spectrum audio-frequency sound with many transients (spikes or short pulses) appears to be more effective for voice formation than a steady-state signal with little change in amplitude, phase or frequency. See Figure 4.
Cultural Influence of Content
There appears to be a cultural influence on EVP that is related to the practitioner’s beliefs or those of an interested observer. In view of this, there appears to be a similarity between coloring of mediumistic messages and EVP; both may share a common process.
EVP are Objective
Blind listening panel tests average 20% to 25% correct understanding of multiple-syllables examples. Questions of illusion, delusion, deception and the ordinary being mistaken as paranormal have been addressed and discarded under controlled conditions.
EVP are Interactive
A question can be asked with the expectation of recording an answer which is appropriate for the circumstance. An important practical application of EVP is the potential to establish meaningful, continuing communication with a transitioned loved one. In such admittedly rare instances, gender, age and the nature of unexpected information in the EVP can be agreed to by uninformed witnesses.
EVP Are Intended Communication
Both the etheric communicator and the practitioner’s attention is on the recorder during a session, and more specifically, on the microphone or input of the recorder. This understanding is reinforced by the fact that EVP are formed in one channel and possibly in one component.
Transform EVP Hypothesis
This hypothesis is based on the Trans-survival Hypothesis, which is further explained in the Cosmology Series of essays. These articles are available for review in the theory section of ATransC.org. Please contact us if you are unable to access the material online.
(It is important to keep in mind that this is a proposed model designed to explain how EVP are formed. It requires vetting that can only come from you. Please let us know your thoughts and suggestions.)
EVP are conceptual influences which produce objective effects. Any theory explaining their formation must necessarily address both the conceptual (etheric space) of the communication and the objective (physical space). With this in mind, the hypothesis is presented here in three parts:
Morphic Field
The term “morphic field” is suggested by the concept of “morphogenesis”; “morphic” is a suffix meaning “having a specified shape or form.” “Fields” in this context are conceptualized as subtle energy regions of reality which organize the formation of objects of reality including life forms, physical objects and ideas; thought forms.
A morphic field (11) is a subtle energy field that defines and causes the organization of component parts of an object into a unit. In biology, it is theorized that this is the guiding principle determining how cells form, each according to its unique purpose. For this to be possible, morphic fields must contain the rules determining which of many possible outcomes will be expressed by biochemical processes for a specific life form but which are common to all living organisms. This selection of possible outcomes may be comparable to the selection of audio characteristics for voice formation.
Morphic fields are etheric rather than physical, and as such, represent the necessary interface between the etheric communicators and the physical recorder for EVP formation. Since they bring order to processes, they are the expression of the person’s intention for the process to unfold.
The fields also represent habitual behavior or collective memory of what they represent. In the context of EVP, this memory would tend to assure that the most common expression of something is the easiest. While the momentum of habit is the dominating influence, research indicates (12) the expression of intention can and does change the field. In that way, the field “learns,” and once learned, if the result is successful, the influence of the new habit is universally expressed in every instance of the field. In the same way, as EVP becomes easier in one location, it should become easier everywhere.
Stochastic Amplification
As objects of etheric space, morphic fields require a physical process to have a physical effect. Stochastic resonance11 is a physical process by which a weak signal is amplified in a nonlinear system when a large noise background signal is applied. Since a common factor in many forms of trans-etheric influence is the presence of noise, it is speculated that a weak telekinetic influence (the signal) is made stronger via stochastic amplification. In electronic circuits, the active regions of tubes and transistors provide the necessary nonlinear condition for amplification.
In this theory, a morphic field is thought to represent the weak psi signal, but rather than the signal containing explicit information such as “Hello,” it would contain influences on the stochastic process favoring the selection of audio-frequency energy required to say, “Hello.”
Adaptive Materialization
Some amount of order naturally occurs in noise, which results in a “bunchiness” in reality where one would expect an even distribution. This appears to be true at all scales and is likely due to small variations being amplified via stochastic resonance. EVP formation appears to be affected by this uneven distribution; the optimum background noise for EVP has been shown to be broad-spectrum audio-frequency sound punctuated by short spikes or sharp perturbations in the noise. The words are formed out of the sound but the spikes appear to be useful to initiate the process. See Figure 4.
Especially considering the nature of EVP, it is evident that trans-etheric influences are energy-limited phenomena. This naturally leads to the question of where the energy comes from in the first place.
Apports are an important class of objective phenomena. They are physical objects found in one part of the physical and transported to another location, usually as a sign or gift. A communicating entity is credited with control of the process, which in essence, is the dematerialization of a physical object, movement of the resulting conceptual information in etheric space and the materialization of the object in a new location.
Apportation is spontaneous and seemingly impossible to study clinically, so little is known about possible ways it may manifest. However, there is evidence that the basic process is common to Instrumental TransCommunication (ITC). Some examples of paranormally produced photographs of “the other side” resemble physical locations enough to bring accusations of fraud. Some examples of visual ITC look very much as if they are based on available photographs. In EVP, there are examples that appear to have been taken directly from existing sound files.
A fundamental concept in the Trans-survival Hypothesis is that a physical person is necessary to provide the conduit through which an etheric influence is made physical. That would argue that the actual words in EVP, as physical objects, must either already be in the physical or be formed via the practitioner–probably as a psi influence.
From the perspective of energy efficiency, it may be more reasonable to hypothesize a form of “adaptive materialization” as the mechanism bringing the words to the EVP formation process. In that view, it might be simplest to find the required word somewhere in the physical and apport it to the transform process. This would seem to be the only way to produce an EVP containing information the practitioner or an interested observer does not already know. This possibility provides a compelling reason for people to suspend judgment when faced with “obvious fraud” in things paranormal.
A Study To Determine the Energy Profile of EVP
Because EVP is probably the most available for study of these phenomena, the ATransC has embarked on a research project to determine the energy profile of output file waveforms containing EVP. The objective is to compare the input signals to determine if there is a difference in energy profile, and if so, what may have caused it and where it was caused.
This is the first of a series of studies intended to test the Transform EVP Hypothesis described in this article. To begin, if a change in energy profile can be noted in many examples using sound scientific methodology, then it should be possible to use that foundation of understanding to develop further experiments.
The expected result of this study is to establish the paranormality of EVP based on sound evidence, or to provide the necessary understanding to explain in normal terms how the voices are formed.
Who Can Participate
Anyone able to follow the protocol is welcomed to participate. The Idea Exchange is available for questions and answers, and as always, we are available for questions via email. This first phase will also include a search for confident research practitioners. (13)
Protocol
All submissions should be sent to the ATransC.
- Two sound files should be submitted for each EVP example. One containing the EVP, and if possible, the practitioner’s voice. The second should be made with a second recorder and contain the ambient noise from which the EVP was formed. A sharp noise or the practitioner’s voice should mark the beginning of both files. Both files should be less than a minute in duration and should be able to be compared by synchronizing them on left and right channels of a display. (It would help if this comparison file was also submitted.)
- Before submission, examples should be screened by a blind listening panel to help assure they are objective. (14)
- Once sufficient examples have been received, a research facility will be asked to conduct the energy profile study.
- Examples will be screened by the research facility for usefulness in the study. Practitioners might consider using their initial submissions as an interview for participation in further study. Please review the Best Practice for Research Practitioner. (15)
Conclusion
The most important common factor in transcommunication is the expression of intended order in otherwise chaotic systems. This order is hypothesized to be accomplished by way of the ordering influence of morphic fields on physical processes.
A second important common factor is efficiency, as transcommunication is clearly no trivial matter. It is governed by the influence of intention, whether in support as belief, acceptance and willingness to learn, or in opposition as fear, doubt, denial or ideology.
Understanding these influences is central to the understanding of EVP. All indications are that EVP are messages from our discarnate loved ones, but it is not necessary to depend on indications. With predictions based on a well-considered hypothesis and tested with carefully designed experiments, it should be possible to establish not only whether or not EVP are paranormal, but also how they are formed. Since examples of EVP can be collected more or less on demand by confident practitioners, they provide perhaps the most important tool in the etheric studies arsenal for understanding the true nature of our etheric personality, our survival beyond physical “death” and our continued life in the greater reality.
References
- Bion, Stephan. EVPmaker.
de/evpmaker/index_e.htm
- Sumption, Frank. “The Box” Spirits say the darnedest things. 2012. pine-tree-lady.proboards.com/thread/9
- Chappell, Bill. Digital Dowsing. digitaldowsing.com
- Butler, Tom. “EVPmaker with Allophones: Where are We Now?,” ATransC Journal, atransc.org/evpmaker-study-where-are-we-now/;
- Heinen, Cindy. “Information Gathering Using EVPmaker With
Allophone.” Association TransCommunication. atransc.org/information-gathering-using-evpmaker/
- Leary, Mark. “A Research Study into the Interpretation of EVP.” Association TransCommunication. atransc.org/radiosweep-study2/
- MacRae, Alexander. “A Report about Experimental Results.” Association TransCommunication. atransc.org/macrae-experimental-results/
- Presi, Paolo. “Italian Research in ITC,” ATransC NewsJournal. atransc.org/presi-il-laboratorio/
- Daniele Gullà. “Computer-Based Analysis of Supposed Paranormal Voice.” Association TransCommunication. atransc.org/gulla-voice-analysis/
- Butler, Tom. “Characteristic Test for EVP.” Association TransCommunication. atransc.org/characteristic-test-for-evp/
- Sheldrake, Rupert. “Morphic Resonance and Morphic
Fields: An Introduction.” Rupert Sheldrake. sheldrake.org/research/morphic-resonance/introduction
- Sheldrake, Rupert, “An experimental test of the hypothesis
of formative causation.” Rupert Sheldrake.
Forum 86, sheldrake.org/research/morphic-resonance/an-experimental-test-of-the-hypothesis-of-formative-causationl
- McDonnell, Mark and Abbott, Derek. “What is Stochastic Resonance?” Plos Computational Biology. 2009. nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2660436/
- “Best Practice: Witness Panel.” Association TransCommunication. atransc.org/witness-panel/
- “Best Practices: Research Practitioner,” Association TransCommunication.
atransc.org/research-practitioner/
But in April we began to lose some of the response categories. There were no in-context responses to some of the questions. Were they losing interest in those questions?
Trying to make sense of this required a great deal of analysis, and I will try to compress this, in what follows.