The following tutorial will instruct you on how to work
with EVP audio, by teaching you how to effectively
reduce hiss in an audio clip using Adobe Audition audio editing software.

Adobe Audition is available as a 30-day free trial from the Adobe website. If you don't have it already, download it for free here
(quick registration on the Adobe web site is required.)

Opening your EVP File

Start Adobe Audition 2.0
Use the top bar to select "file" and then "open".
Select the EVP you would like to work with from your computer.
Once selected you can click on the "edit" view button just above the main screen. The other views are multitrack and CD but are not commonly used for editing and EVP.

Playing your Audio Clip

1. Simply use the toolbar in the bottom left side of the Audition screen to play, stop, pause, rewind, and forward your audio file. You will also find a usually button hear that will allow you to loop the audio clip to play over and over again.

Isolating the EVP

Once you have found the possible EVP use your mouse to click and drag over the section you would like to isolate. Note: Make sure to leave a little space before and after the actual EVP.
With the portion highlighted that you would like to isolate go to the top menu and select "edit" and then "Copy to New".
This will create a file / window with just the segment you want to isolate.

Reducing Noise

To reduce the background noise in the sound file find a small portion of the file that you can hear that there is nothing but background noise. Select that portion of the sound file by click and dragging over the appropriate area. Make sure not to selected your suspected EVP or something you don't want taken out. *It should be noted that if you select too small a portion of the sound file this program will not let you perform this step. If this does occur then try to select a larger portion of the background noise.
Once you have this selected go to the "Restoration" located in the effects menu and click on "Capture Noise Reduction Profile" or you can use Alt+N. Select Ok to the dialog box.
Now you will need to select the entire audio file to apply the noise reduction. Go to edit menu and select "select all audio".
Go back to the "Restoration" tab in the left window and select the "Noise Reduction (Process).
Adjust to the appropriate level. This is usually adjusted between 70 & 80% but use your own judgment. You can click on the preview button in this dialog box to hear what the edited version will sound like.
Once your happy with the sound of your EVP select ok and your noise reduction has been applied.

Normalizing the File

Once you have used the noise reduction effect you may want to normalize and balance out the audio clip.
To do this select the "Amplitude" tab from the left effects window and click on "Normalize".
In this dialog box you will see an option called "DC Bias Adjust". Click on the box (which should be at zero) and enter the percent you would like to adjust. Normal adjustment is about 80%.
Click OK.
Your normalization has been applied.

Slowing Audio Clip Down

Some researches claim that recorded EVP's are 20 to 30% too fast.
To slow down the clip go to the effects window and select "Time Pitch" and then "Stretch".
Input the percentage and use the preview option to hear how it is affecting the audio clip.

Erasing Your Mistakes

Don't worry if you mess something up when working on an audio clip.
If you need to go back a step just hold Control and press Z. This will undo the last editing change you made to the audio file.

Saving your EVP

Now that you have that amazing EVP clip that you want to share with the world its time to save it.
Audition will allow you to save your file in many different formats but the most highly recommended format is PCM Windows.
Make sure to save this as a different file than the original with something in the title to distinguish it from the original.

Remember that each person finds their own unique ways to edit their EVP's and you should do what feels and sounds right to you. Play around with effects and levels and see what you end up with.

Note: Many thanks to PRISM investigator John Shrimpton for putting these instructions together for the web site.

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