Audio question..

I looked at the descrips. for the other boards, but couldnt find one that this fit any better in.. so here goes:

When I was about 12-13, I was talking with my friend on the internet.. We were using the AIM audio feature where you record about 10 seconds, they hear it, and then record 10 seconds in reply.

Earlier in the day, we had been talking about some "ghostly" occurences that happened at another friends house. (a post in another thread reminded me of this story/question) I felt kinda creeped out by talking about it, because I could feel the same "OH MY GOD" panic I had when the first occurence happened. (Im actually getting kinda creeped out just talking about remembering it lol)

Well the conversation continued, and I started talking about a flamboyantly gay waiter I had the night before and making jokes about him.. Well in the middle of me recording my impression of him, my TV starts flickering on and off, on and off, on and off.. Really fast. Its volume had been all the way at 0 so that there was no background noise on my recordings to my friend...

Well after my TV got done flickering on and off (the final state was off) .. my audio sample (which had started recording before the flickering began and stopped after the flickering finished) started to play back (as it always does) .. and when my TV had started to flash during the recording, there are voices in the background (while I was still talking on the recording) like maybe 3-4 voices whispering incoherently..

I absolutely freaked _OUT_... I started to tear up, called my parents and told them to come home (they were out getting groceries at the time) , went out on my front porch, and took my animals with me.. I refused to go back in until my parents got home. But when they did get there,
I didnt let them listen to it originally, because at the end (due to the tv flickering) I cussed... ("Holy f****** sh**"", if you much know) ... My friend had saved the file (luckily), and I removed the cussing later with windows media recorder (took me hours to figure out lol).

Ive let lots of people listen to it, and they can all hear the voices.. but we cant understand what it is saying..


So thats the story, heres the question:
Are there any audio programs out there that will let me single out that particular noise, so that hopefully I can finally hear what its saying?

Or would any of you be willing to maybe look at it for me?

I would appreciate it soooo much!

Thanks!

[Edited on 4-4-2004 by shidge.]

you tampered with the file!!!

Why dont you post it up somewhere so we can hear it?

Well the recording itself is EXTREMELY embarassing, because the voice I used to do the waiters voice is probably the most flamboyant thing ever.

Lets see.. *looks for a way to upload it*
The script goes like this: "Ello, my name is colin, and ill be your waiter for this evening... holy f*** sh**"
The voice comes in at "waiter" and a MUCH quieter one at "my name is colin" or somewhere around there..
I cut the cussing off, but also kept the original.. I put the cussing-free one on disk to take to school so people would know im not crazy, but my old computer crashed and I lost the one with cussing.

Please dont laugh too hard. hehe

Growl.

I cant find any way to upload it here..

Would anyone be willing to host a relatively small .wav file?

audiouploading.50megs.com...
Click the picture.


Here ya go, hope it works.
My first time making a website.. Thank god for templates.

Might have to turn up speakers loud.. and listen a few times (the first few times you probably wont hear it over your own laughter at the voice I used)

I found this:

"Spiritual voices on tape have been documented since the very beginning of electronic media. What are they, and how does one go about recording them?
Electric Voice Phenomena, or EVP is a phenomena in which voices are unintentionally recorded on tapes, and are usually found accidentally.

A case in point involves Fredrich Jurgension, a native of Sweden and an avid birdwatcher, who in 1959 was recording bird songs on a recorder. While listening to the recordings later, he heard odd bits and pieces of people talking. He was sure that he had been alone during the recording, but over the next four years, he experimented with the recordings and documented an amazing number of unexplainable voices. As time progressed, so did the voices on tape, and eventually this resulted in a conversation of sorts.

The voices responded to things Jurgenson would say, and would call his name at times. Eventually he had conversations with these spirits by asking them questions, then playing the recording afterward to discover the answers. Convinced magnetic tape recordings were indeed an effective tool for communicating with the dead, he published his findings in 1963. Though this process is not yet fully understood, the voices of the entities are somehow embedded on the tape and can be heard when the tape is played back - and only then. Any type of tape recorder is suitable for EVP recordings but we suggest you use only new tapes to prevent hearing any previously recorded sounds.

Researchers have also suggested taping white noise and recording it to produce EVP. When listening to the product be sure to pay close attention to what you are hearing. Many voices are hard to discern from the background static produced on the tape while others can be blatantly obvious. "


www.mysticalblaze.com...

BTW-I tried to listen to your EPV & had a bit of a hard time. Thanks for sharing though!

Oh good, it works then..

Im _REALLY_ hoping that someone here will be able to pick out the voices, and help me figure out what its saying..

Ive listened to it so many times, and im almost SURE its saying something.. but so hard to hear through my own (stupid) voice.

Ill check back tomorrow
*crosses fingers*

Night yall

You could try using Steinbergs WaveLab Lite available from download.com. You can highlight sections and focus in on them. You could isolate all the entities audio portions and tie them together, then we wont have to hear your flamboyantly gay impression.

*EDIT: I couldn't access your file, otherwise I would have done all the work for you.

[Edited on 4-5-2004 by insite]

Thats odd... the other week when my girlfriend was making dinner, her tv started flashing on and off really fast when i was on the phone with her, the remote was on the couch in plain view... she was the only one home. She's told me before about seeing shaddows run across the walls.

that impression of yours is pretty funny. no need to be embarrassed.

what I DID hear in the background seemed to be nothing more than compression backrgound. you know, that fuzzy sound in between words or gaps of silence. i didnt hear whispers. just "fzzz waiter fzzzz", and that's typical with these kinds of low-bitrate recordings.

the tv turning off may have been an electrical problem or a localized radio distortion. similar stuff i have observed in my room is my wireless mouse's receiver flashing like it's getting movement from my mouse, but I am not even using my computer. also, my TV has turned off at random before and even my TV and receiver's volume would go up or down spontaenously. kinda freaky, but I think it's just some ELF or other form of local backrgound radio signals.

im not trying to debunk you, trust me. im just trying give you possible reasons as to why you heard and saw what you did. no my electrical equipment did not turn off when I played the sound. i played it over and over again.

here's an idea. try slowing down the sound by about 150% per cent. if the fizzing sound really is a bunch of whispering, you'll hear them more clearly.

[Edited on 4/5/2004 by AlnilamOmega]

something else to consider if there was possibly some sort of power surge it could have caused "noise" in the recording

Ive kinda considered that.

I realized that a powersurge couldve knocked out my TV (the flickering) and also affected my audio recording.. But after thinking back, I realized that NOTHING else in my room flickered, or even browned out.

My lights stayed fullpower (and they are normally the first to brown out). My computer monitor stayed full power... The recording doenst get quieter...Nothing else points to a power surge.

The whole audio compression idea is viable, yes. But there is something that makes me know that this wasnt just a techno. issue. The feeling I had before and after (not to mention during :wow this incident.. I have only felt that a couple of times in my entire life.

Kinda like when a dog can sense that someone is a bad person, I think my instincts sensed something unfriendly floating around. All my hair stood up, and I could feel something around me, and in this recording.

I guess it sounds pretty unbelieveable unless you were there, but ive noticed that the more I live, the more things are like that.

Oh well. Im still gonna look into having it analyzed, and hopefully I can get further with it.