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After having such a great time on the Old Cowtown Museum investigation, I've been invited to go on my second investigation-- a turn of the century theatre!! I'm currently doing my historical homework on the location and will put it all in an article ( /wink.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=';)' /> ).
Question for the pros: This place was constructed by skilled acoustical engineers, and it has exceptional sound quality (with or without amplification) in the auditorium. Anyone ever work with a similar location? Any tips, tricks? Hints or methods to try? I'm guessing sound will carry very well.
I write books. I take pictures.
I sometimes try to tap into my Jedi powers.
~Michelle Pillow Author Website~
The Raven Books
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After having such a great time on the Old Cowtown Museum investigation, I've been invited to go on my second investigation-- a turn of the century theatre!! I'm currently doing my historical homework on the location and will put it all in an article (
/wink.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='<_<' /> ).
Question for the pros: This place was constructed by skilled acoustical engineers, and it has exceptional sound quality (with or without amplification) in the auditorium. Anyone ever work with a similar location? Any tips, tricks? Hints or methods to try? I'm guessing sound will carry very well.
I'm so excited for you Michelle. Can't wait for the article!
<—- Not a pro. Wish I could offer some helpful advice. LOL
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I'm so excited for you Michelle. Can't wait for the article!
<—- Not a pro. Wish I could offer some helpful advice. LOL
/smile.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='<_<' /> Thanks.
I write books. I take pictures.
I sometimes try to tap into my Jedi powers.
~Michelle Pillow Author Website~
The Raven Books
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Sweet!
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After having such a great time on the Old Cowtown Museum investigation, I've been invited to go on my second investigation-- a turn of the century theatre!! I'm currently doing my historical homework on the location and will put it all in an article (
/wink.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='B)' /> ).
Question for the pros: This place was constructed by skilled acoustical engineers, and it has exceptional sound quality (with or without amplification) in the auditorium. Anyone ever work with a similar location? Any tips, tricks? Hints or methods to try? I'm guessing sound will carry very well.
Michelle, are you planning on using any particular approach to your investigation or just diving right in? I'm just curious.
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For EVP sessions, make sure you space questions and talking out about 30 seconds. Since sounds can bounce around, that should give a echo the chance to die off. Also make sure everyone is keeping noise down to a minimum. Call out sounds as well. If you pop a knuckle, call it out. If you fart, call it out. You will be surprised by how much a little noise is blown up on a recorder. Also make sure no one is handling the recorder when it is recording. Fingers rubbing on the case can sound creepy.
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Michelle, are you planning on using any particular approach to your investigation or just diving right in? I'm just curious.
Since I'm a "guest" investigator on this, I'll have to follow the lead of the other team. Learn the rules before you break them kind of thing. /smile.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='
' /> I'm all about learning. I've read about different approaches, but field work is different than research. I tend to approach it with historical knowledge and research, also respective. I know some are aggressive or like to antagonize to get a response. I've never done that. But, my experience is also limited. /smile.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='
' />
I write books. I take pictures.
I sometimes try to tap into my Jedi powers.
~Michelle Pillow Author Website~
The Raven Books
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For EVP sessions, make sure you space questions and talking out about 30 seconds. Since sounds can bounce around, that should give a echo the chance to die off. Also make sure everyone is keeping noise down to a minimum. Call out sounds as well. If you pop a knuckle, call it out. If you fart, call it out. You will be surprised by how much a little noise is blown up on a recorder. Also make sure no one is handling the recorder when it is recording. Fingers rubbing on the case can sound creepy.
Good thought on the EVP echo and waiting extra time. I don't have a good recorder. I wish I did. I have it on the wish list, lol. The group has a lot of equipment, though, and they're great about letting me practice with it.
I write books. I take pictures.
I sometimes try to tap into my Jedi powers.
~Michelle Pillow Author Website~
The Raven Books
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Sounds like a great time Michelle……I'm anxious to hear all about it.
When is the investigation?
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Anyone ever work with a similar location? Any tips, tricks? Hints or methods to try? I'm guessing sound will carry very well.
I've had the opportunity to investigate a theater setting a couple of times, and one thing that I can tell you is that when people speak in normal tones in one area, it is going to sound very muted in another area (a balcony, for example). You would be surprised in which direction sound actually travels in a theater…
First thing I would recommend is when you get there, bust out your audio recorder and make your first cut a 'sample cut' of the sounds; place your recorder somewhere in the center of the theater and label it as your test cut; walk all over the theater and talk in a hushed, normal and loud voice… flip a chair or two to see what that sounds like; open & close a door… Listening to this cut first when you review the audio later will remind you of how things sound. Like someone else said, tag every noise you hear (or make) because it will sound very different when you are going back over your audio later…
Also, be sure to use your eyes as well as your ears; be observant of your teammates and where they are, who is talking, etc. and note it for your audio. Don't worry about 'keeping your voice down' because you don't want to disturb others, just talk in a normal voice at all times – they'll appreciate being able to tell it is you rather than having to spend extra time analyzing a barely audible voice that may be misinterpreted as an EVP! /wink.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='
' />
One thing that I like to do is take pictures while I am recording audio. Every audio cut that I start (and occasionally during the audio recording), I mark the time; if I hear something that I can't easily describe during review, I can go back through my pictures and – using the EXIF data – correlate the audio track time with the picture EXIF timestamp. It helps to refresh the memory and has proven to help with labeling someone's actions.
Good luck!
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Sounds like a great time Michelle……I'm anxious to hear all about it.
When is the investigation?
In a couple days!!! YAY!
I write books. I take pictures.
I sometimes try to tap into my Jedi powers.
~Michelle Pillow Author Website~
The Raven Books
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I've had the opportunity to investigate a theater setting a couple of times, and one thing that I can tell you is that when people speak in normal tones in one area, it is going to sound very muted in another area (a balcony, for example). You would be surprised in which direction sound actually travels in a theater…
Thank you so much for the great advice! I love that I can come here and there's always wonderful people willing to share the knowledge and help out. I like the idea of test audio in the center of the room, since I'm sure different recorders have different sensitivities. I think one of the things I'll invest in is an audio recorder (could use one anyway for interviews, lol). The group is great about letting me try out their equipment and learn how it works. I'm hoping to get even more hands on this time around.
I write books. I take pictures.
I sometimes try to tap into my Jedi powers.
~Michelle Pillow Author Website~
The Raven Books
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Thanks for all the encouragement. The theatre was an amazing location. I wish I would have brought all my studio equipment, not just one travel camera bag, lol.
I write books. I take pictures.
I sometimes try to tap into my Jedi powers.
~Michelle Pillow Author Website~
The Raven Books
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That's why hindsight is always 20/20. It's after the investigation you start thinking of stuff you should have done or brought but didn't.
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That's why hindsight is always 20/20. It's after the investigation you start thinking of stuff you should have done or brought but didn't.
Yeah. There wouldn't have been time to set up equipment to do a photo shoot anyway, but you're right about 20/20. I might have to change up my photo shoot bag to make it geared toward paranormal shoots. /smile.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='B)' /> I could have used a little more strobe lighting for the location.
I sent in an article to PUG, so hopefully I'll be able to share some of those pics and the experience really soon /smile.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':D' />
I write books. I take pictures.
I sometimes try to tap into my Jedi powers.
~Michelle Pillow Author Website~
The Raven Books
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Awesome! Can't wait to hear all about it!
Thanks /smile.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='B)' /> There's a "picture of interest" I can't wait to hear everyone's impressions on.
I write books. I take pictures.
I sometimes try to tap into my Jedi powers.
~Michelle Pillow Author Website~
The Raven Books
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