How many times as a
Paranormal Investigator do you and /or others use portable speakers for
burst sessions on investigations and events? Over the years I have
seen my share of others doing just that. We as investigators have different
opinions on equipment, methods, etiquette and so on. The differences
are what makes us as a whole a great mix, as some mixes they work well with
each other and others not so much but all in all, it is a learning
process. You take what works for you and discard the rest.
As for me one of my favorite
things are audio, I can spend hours and hours reviewing audio without issues.
For others, it seems like a job so of course, they find something else that works
best for them. With reviewing audio, we all have different preferences to what
audio editing software we like. Again, we all have our favorites and we work
well with what we like. Correct? Plus, audio on cases vary with recorders
being use and when to use them. Some use only for burst sessions or EVP sessions,
for myself, I record all the time. I know I know some of you may say but it's
not always a controlled environment, there is too much noise
contamination. I for some reason can remember what was going on and who
was where and if I heard a noise or something from another area. I will
say it again that I love audio review, so hours and multiple recorders don't
bother me, so I want to do my best to gather as much evidence as
possible. Through the years I have noticed that spirits tend to speak when
they want to not just when we ask questions. They love to put their two cents
in on a conversation we may be having at the time.
With that being said back to the
subject at hand portable speakers. Although it is really cool to do a burst
session and listen back to see if you get a response, how often do we get true
results? When you go home where you can put on your headphones and have a quiet
space to review audio your full focus is on that but then again that is after
the investigation or event. Some people want to get results right away in
hopes to further communicate. There is nothing wrong with that at all, isn't it
about further communication with spirit.
My thing is though who thinks about
the false positives using this method, does it always work? Which speaker
is the better speaker? Again, it is a preference for the investigator. We all hear
at different frequencies, so at times not everyone will hear something or again
upon what is being said. So, which goes to show that at times when using
a portable speaker, it can create ambient sound in itself then add additional
sounds like people and location sounds. Using this method, it is difficult to
say that you can fully give your attention.
My personal observation and opinion of
course, since I do record all the time. I tend to have a recorder on my person
which records all the time. Depending on how long I am at the location does
depend on how often I stop and start another file but on average I record a
file none stop for a couple of hours. At times I have been at locations with
others who randomly do burst sessions. So, on my recorder, I will have the
record time of them asking questions and all the other things going on then I
also will have the playback of that session. I have noticed and came up
with two different thoughts or possibilities. Example one situation one
the original recording during the burst session someone was getting the gear out of
a backpack and during the replay that same time frame on the playback it
sounded vocal but in actual reality, it was just the sound of the person getting the gear out of the back. So, in that case, my opinion was the ambient sound from
the portable speaker caused the sound to sound vocal. Did it hurt anyone
knowing it was one or the other? No not at all but in my opinion, it has and
can cause the investigator now to change gears on their questions or
investigating process. Still does that hurt? No, not again just to me may delay
communicating the way one would without that false positive. Now
another example once again I had gathered myself while investing with others
was a different way of looking at things. A false positive, possibly or
spirit responding in delay. I had my recorder going while someone was
doing a burst session got nothing during the questions then on playback, there
was a response. Now was it a delay from the spirits which I caught while the
person was using the portable speaker or was it again a false positive but
during the session whatever sound it could have been faint enough that I may
not have taken much notice. Could very well have been, one never really knows.
I just know that for me I don't do many
burst sessions just because I like the way they put their two cents in rather
than drill them with rapid questions all night. If I ever do a burst session, I
don't use a portable speaker and I usually have earbuds on me which I could use
to see if there is something there or just listen to what comes from the
speaker of the recorder. The only time I use a portable speaker is during
a reveal at a client’s house if the laptop speakers are not loud enough for
others to hear but usually, I have my earphones for the client to listen
through. Like I said some use portable speakers some of us don't, I just hope
that those who do want to verify a little more to rule out false
positives. This is just my opinion and observation.