GHOULS IN THE MACHINEInterview With a “Ghost Hunter” (Yeah, Right)
Do you remember that terrible film White Noise? The one where Michael Keaton is chased off a roof by evil spirits? Well, that film was about Electronic Voice Phenomena (EVP). Not only was it crappy but it pissed off most people interested in EVP because it was so misleading. Anyway, we had a chat with Mark Turner, a man with a wealth of knowledge of EVP. The key is the Panasonic RR-DR60 recorder, by the way…
|
|
|
Illustration by Mimi Leung
|
Vice: Are you a ghost hunter or do they come to you?
Mark Turner: The term I would use is “paranormal investigator”. I just investigate cases of paranormal activity.
Can you give me a brief history of EVP?
It goes right back to people like Thomas Edison, or Marconi, who both believed that if we were ever to communicate with the spirit world it would be through electricity. Edison allegedly left plans for a device that he believed could be designed and used to communicate with the spirit world. Designs were found, it was made, and of course it did not work.
Bummer. What happened next?
In 1859 a Swedish filmmaker called Friedrich Jürgenson was making a film, and he was out in a field recording. When he got back home he discovered voices saying the words “my little Fredo” on his tapes. That was his mother’s nickname for him when he was a child. Now the problem was that his mother was dead. From that moment on, Jürgenson started his own investigations into it and wrote a book on the subject. But as time went on, recording equipment became available to the masses. The phenomenon escalated alongside growing availability and affordability.
Is there a visual equivalent of EVP?
Well, it’s called ITC: instrumental trans-communication. And basically there is a practice of attempting to get faces on a TV screen, but it is not directly related to EVP.
So you don’t get pictures of the dead coming out of computer screens or anything?
No.
OK, phew. What are the explanations offered for these voices?
I think the most obvious is that it is some kind of electromagnetic disturbance. To counteract that explanation of EVP we use a piece of equipment known as a Faraday cage that blocks the most common forms of interference.
There are other explanations, aren’t there?
Yes, there are. There is something called auditory paradolia. Paradolia is seeing shapes in clouds. You can lie on your back and see anything you like in clouds. Auditory paradolia is similar, only with noise. It is your brain trying to convince you there is something there. I do think that is a factor in some EVP, but in some cases the voices on the recordings are louder than those asking the questions.
Is there a common pattern to EVP voices?
I think the most common factor is that typically the voice is faster than normal, and often high-pitched.
Lots of the messages I have heard seem nonsensical—things like “brain turd”. Is the theory that these messages are targeted at those who are listening? Because I think I would be confused by “brain turd” out of the blue.
Well, sometimes we ask those we think could be present questions, but at other times you can leave tapes recording, ask no questions, and get conversations, arguments or single voices.
So what machines are best for recording the voices of the deceased?
It’s definitely the Panasonic RR-DR60. It’s far and away the best.
Someone should tell Panasonic. They could use that as a USP.
We tell them, but they don’t respond to anything about EVP. I wish we knew what made them so good, but without help from Panasonic’s engineers we can’t work it out. We try taking them apart, but no luck so far.
HARRY LEYLAND
See all articles by this contributor Anonymous, on May 19, 2009 wrote:
So there are ghost amongst us. So fucking what. If they aren’t chipping in on the ConEd bill I really don’t care. | |
| zerotransfat, on May 7, 2009 wrote:
yeah, that movie white noise? that was just that, static and noise. nothing else. | | Anonymous, on May 7, 2009 wrote:
I remember when I was a little tyke I heard about ghost hunters and I thought they were ghosts that hunted so ever since then I always picture ghosts on horses with Sherlock Holmes hats with hounds chasing foxes through forests. | | Anonymous, on May 5, 2009 wrote:
dead people work at panasonic | | Anonymous, on May 5, 2009 wrote:
an angry turd at that! | | Anonymous, on May 5, 2009 wrote:
the yellowish ghost is really a pile of turd, i wonder if you can smell ghosts, that would be rude if ghosts would constantly cut one around you. | | Anonymous, on May 5, 2009 wrote:
i always wished ghosts looked like the ones from the ghostbusters movie. all glowing and flourescent and shit | | Anonymous, on May 5, 2009 wrote:
www.viceland.com/int/v15n11/htdocs/mimi-leung-331.php
No offense, but the illustration here pales in comparison to what Leung did for the No Photo Issue. | | Anonymous, on May 5, 2009 wrote:
calling ghosthunters "paranormal investigators" is like calling janitors, "masters of the custodial arts" | |
| anonymouse, on May 5, 2009 wrote:
i believe auditory paradolia sometimes affects the writers of pitchfork too. | | Anonymous, on May 5, 2009 wrote:
i really like the illustration with this article, if only ghosts really looked like that everyone would want to hangout. | | Anonymous, on May 5, 2009 wrote:
i have never heard ghosts but i have seen them. they’re for real. | |
| bird is the word, on May 5, 2009 wrote:
look, you’re a fucking ghost hunter you ghost hunter. stop with the paranormal investigator nonsense. thats like glorifying a nonexistant, made-up, profession that only exists in your head and all the other crazies | | Anonymous, on May 5, 2009 wrote:
True or not, the "My little Fredo" story gave me the chills. | | Anonymous, on May 5, 2009 wrote:
Here is the spirit recorder in
question:
di1.shopping.com/images1/pi/e1/ac/37/20654712-1
77x150-0-0_Panasonic+RR+DR60.jpg
| | Anonymous, on May 5, 2009 wrote:
bloody ghosts, come on your dead, stop fucking up my recordings with your crappy whisperings. | |
| lazy eyez killa, on May 5, 2009 wrote:
can you imagine how funny it would be if dog became dog: ghost hunter? he would catch them and berate them in front of all the other ghosts but once he got them in the backseat of his ghost suburban he’d be all nice and offer them ghost cigarettes. someone needs to set that up asap. | | Anonymous, on May 5, 2009 wrote:
I believe there’s some kind of spirits or ghosts out there but all sound recordings have been very suspect. All the ones I’ve heard have either been such a stretch to call it something not usual or so mumbled and scratchy there’s no way the "transciption" is accurate. | | |
| zerotransfat, on May 5, 2009 wrote:
i find shit like this very hard to believe. no wait, not hard to believe but just plain old bullshit. | | Anonymous, on May 1, 2009 wrote:
i have a solution. have amelie make the recordings for you. did you see her photos of clouds? those were incredible! | |
| whitney, on May 1, 2009 wrote:
can’t leave people hanging like that. ghostsandstories.com/evp-recordings.html | | Anonymous, on May 1, 2009 wrote:
Of course Edison’s blueprint didn’t work. It took him something like 100 tries for the lightbulb. | | Anonymous, on May 1, 2009 wrote:
Apparently the Panasonic RR-DR60 is the Mamiya of ghost picture taking. | | Anonymous, on May 1, 2009 wrote:
I saw a “paranormal investigator” TV show and it turns out it’s a lot like when we had a gas leak and the firemen came. They went into the basement with little gadgets and they started beeping and were like "Yep, we got something." That is exactly how the ghost hunters did it. | | Anonymous, on May 1, 2009 wrote:
no. i don’t. the only michael keaton movies i remember are batman and mr. mom where he makes a grilled cheese with an iron and throws the race at his wife’s boss’s annual company party. damn that is a classic. | | |
| |
