10 Ways To Use A Digital Voice Recorder

I know I've been talking a lot lately about Uqique and their digital voice recorders. I'm sure you also may think that either you don't need one or that one is plenty, well you may be wrong. There are so many uses for these handy little devices that you may need more than one. Even better- with Uqique's prices, you can afford it too!

1. Record Thoughts or Notes

Sometimes we think better doing our normal daily activities, not while sitting in front of our computers or notepads. Keep a digital voice recorder with you and when a thought or idea comes to mind, record it!

2. Record Lectures

Oh how I wish I'd had a digital voice recorder in college. Those lectures wouldn't have lost to the dark recesses of my mind after I got back to my dorm room. I can't count how many times I looked over my notes and wondered what something was about. 

3. Record Interviews

Whether you are recording for a show, a client for an investigation or a client for a job- having a voice recorder could make things so much simpler. You can go back and listen many times and make sure the client will be happy and your research correct. 

4. Have An Audio Sequence of Events

Using a digital voice recorder during set up could be amazing. You can record all of your initial readings, where and why your equipment is in certain places, and even not special things about the location. You wouldn't have to worry about remembering to write it all down. 

5. Stick With A Camera

We all know that the audio on cameras isn't all that great. If you have a hot spot of activity and want to make sure you catch everything, stick a digital voice recorder next to the camera so you are sure to capture great audio and video. 

6. Leave With A Trigger Object

Is there an area where you are investigating that has evidence of a child spirit? Use toys as a trigger object and place a digital voice recorder nearby- don't forget an emf detector. You never know what you might catch. 

7. Have It Always Running

Keep a digital voice recorder with you during an investigation. Keep it running the whole time- in addition to the one you use for EVP sessions. Sometimes EVPs can be caught by one recorder, but not another. In addition to that, if something happens, you can just voice it and have a record of the night. 

8. Keep It At Command Central

Keep a voice recorder by command central and use it for those monitoring the cameras. Also, it will catch when the team discusses events of the night. Also, use this for team members to document any experiences they have right away.

9. Record Night Time Forest Activity

We hang voice recorders in our research over night when there has been a lot of activity. You would be surprised at what you'll catch when no one is around. Just be sure to protect them from the weather. 

10. Record Moments To Remember

Whether you are recording first words, school moments, weddings, or any other milestone of life, having an audio account of that moment can be amazing. You can also record elderly members of the family so your children can always hear their voices. 

If you are looking for a new digital voice recorder, check out Uqique. Their prices and quality will amaze you. 

10 Tips For Getting The Most Out Of Your Voice Recorder

We all know that I basically have a voice recorder attached to me. Over the years, I have learned a few things about recording with these handy devices, and I'm always looking for ways to get a better quality recording. I think you guys will benefit from my research as well.

1. When possible, use an external microphone. This will help cut down on any mechanical noise the recorder might make. 

2. Lay the recorder on a steady surface instead of keeping it in your hand (when possible). This will help keep down on static noise caused by your hand. 

3. When speaking, speak clear and precise.

4. When paranormal investigating, be sure to tag any noise you make or that you can identify at the time. You can simply state "that was me bumping into the table"

5. In addition to this, it's a good idea to time stamp if something is strange. This helps when going back to watch video as well. Plus, when you are going over the investigation, other team members might have the answer to the strange happenings. 

6. Get a good audio editor for your computer. This will save you a lot of time and allow you to cut out sections of audio to send on or for evidence presentation. I recommend Audacity and it's free. I actually use this to edit podcasts. 

7. Add a brief introduction each time you start to record. Include the date, time, people present, case information, and any other pertinent information. 

8. When recording interviews and similar, make sure to know the laws in your area. For example, in South Carolina, only one person has to consent to be recorded. I ask anyway though, just so they know what is going on. 

9. Get to know your recorder before using it for the first time. You want to be familiar with it before it counts. Run a few practice sessions with it. 

10. When shopping for a digital voice recorder, be sure that you find one you are comfortable using. If you are not tech savvy, don't worry about all the extra features. After all, you don't want to be fumbling at the last minute. 

This is part of a content series as a courtesy to Uqique because I love their recorder so much. All opinions are my own. 

5 Uses For A POV Camera

This is part of a content series for MeCam. All opinions are my own.

I'm sure you've guessed that one of my favorite gadgets is a POV camera, more specifically, my MeCam. I'm sure that you've also wondered how you would use a POV camera.

1. Paranormal Investigations

As you've guessed, we use POV cameras on our paranormal and cryptid investigations. The uses inside these circumstances vary. We can use them during setup to take initial readings with equipment. We can use them during an EVP session in case there is something odd going on visually. We can also use them on ourselves to catch a different angle. For instance, if something keeps happening just out of our peripheral vision, we can situate a POV camera to point that direction and hopefully catch it. We actually are always coming up with different uses. 

2. Mom/ Dad Shots

Are you dying to get that perfect shot of your little one walking or crawling? Just pin a MeCam on your shot and get your little one to come to you. You'll get that perfect eye level shot. Do your kids say adorable things but never when a camera is pointed their direction? Well, this should solve that problem. Want to get a shot from your kids' angles? Just pin a MeCam to their shirts and then watch the world from their view. 

3. Track Your Dog's Behavior

Wondering how your dog keeps getting muddy or stinky? Well, MeCam can solve that mystery. Pin it to their collar and watch the mystery unfold. It would also be cool to get shots from their angles and post to social media. Most people are intrigued by how the animals see the world. 

4. Legal Reasons

Holding a sensitive interview? Got stopped by the police? Participating in a protest? Serving papers? MeCam can come in handy with so many different legal issues. Cover yourself and get video of the situation. Just make sure that you live in a state that is single party consent for recording. South Carolina is, in case you are wondering. 

5. Nanny Cam

Do you have a new babysitter or Nanny? Do you wonder if everything is going smoothly? Do you have a feeling that something is just not right? Well, pin a MeCam somewhere and then see for yourself. You can do the same thing at your child's daycare or school. 

There are so many different uses for a POV camera that it's one of those things everyone could use in their arsenal. My favorite is MeCam- Quality, Cost Effective, and Cute!

I Must Be Hallucinating & A Special Discount

Did you guys know that I'm a columnist for I Must Be Hallucinating? Well, I am and I enjoy writing about all the weird stuff that catches my attention and draws me in. There are articles about cryptids, zombies, vampires, werewolves, aliens, and more. There are so many interesting articles, and the other authors are so interesting that I'm sure you can get lost in the site for days, just like I do.

My first article featured a "cryptid" that I investigated, along with the journey of getting to the bottom of it. You can find more here:
Things Are Not What They Appear: Do Your Research Before a Wild Duck Hunt
I Must Be hallucinating even has a shop with some pretty cool items that I'm sure will draw you in. Guess what?! You can get a 10% discount, if you enter PARASASS at the checkout!

UFO Sighting

On April 10, 2015, I had my first UFO sighting. By UFO, I mean it literally- an Unidentified Flying Object. I have no idea what I saw. The only thing that I was certain of is that it was strange and somehow, the military got involved. On this particular night, some of the Carolina Cryptid Crew members and I were sitting outside our research area listening for activity, when lights caught our attention. The video documents what happens next.

Luckily, I documented it. The video didn't pick up much of it, but you can hear what is going on and our thoughts throughout the night. These occurrences happened over the course of several hours. It was quite strange. Even stranger- there is some weird light anomaly the whole time on the video while nothing showed up there while I was recording. I recorded on my phone (an LG Optimus L90) and have never had this happen before. Also, I actually had the video light on throughout some of it; while, at other times, the light was off- so that doesn't explain the light.

If you have ever had anything like this happen, please let me know. If you saw something strange that night, I would love to hear about it.

I Caught The Bug: My First Bigfoot Expedition

I have been interested in Bigfoot since I was about 8 years old. A teacher sent me home with a book about mysterious animals to read. The book was about the Kraken, Bigfoot, Nessie, Chupacabra, and many more. From that time on, I would read or watch anything about these mysterious creatures, especially Bigfoot. In all honesty, I never thought I would get the opportunity to look for Bigfoot. I thought they were all in the Pacific Northwest. I didn't think there was any way they were in South Carolina.

On June 1st, 2013, the team decided to have a sort of training exercise to get everyone used to being in the woods and learn how to look for oddities. This was just an exercise in case we needed to look for cryptids or investigate haunted forests. We also decided to take this time to do a live broadcast that was a discussion with the team.

We found a good bit of interesting evidence and even had some experiences that couldn't be explained. After this night, our research took off and gained the attention of the local news stations. Some of these stories were even picked up by international media outlets.

This is my journal entry after that night- I have caught the bug and jump at every opportunity to look for Bigfoot.

Bigfoot Hunt: June 1, 2013 To be honest, I did not expect to have any experiences, especially since I was assigned command central for the night. At the most, I thought we may hear some sounds that we were unsure of and hear from the team if the habitat was likely to be the home of a Bigfoot. However, the evening started out with a bang- literally. Inspector Cryptid, Marty, and a couple of other members went for a preliminary walk in the woods and that left Lisa and I alone at command central. 

At first, we hear a rock hit the building behind the home on the property. A few minutes later, we hear a rock hit the building behind the neighbor's house. A few minutes after that, a rock hits a bag of charcoal behind where we are seated. At this point, we decide that it is not coincidence and decide to go check out the woods. 

We radio the field team and tell them what we experience, grab the camera, and head towards the woods. We get to right before the woods start and stop to listen. Within a couple minutes, we hear a distinct "woop." When we heard the woop, we realized the woods were completely quiet. A bird started singing, but stopped in mid song- I have never heard anything like it. We radio the team to see if they had made the woop. They had not. After we finished talking with the team, we heard a very distinct wood knock from pretty close to where we were. This was not a branch breaking. We decided not to radio the team again- they would never believe us. 

We then headed back to command central so we would not scare anything off. After the team returned, we learned that they had heard woops as well. They had also found some trees that had been pushed over and footprints at the base. We were going to cast them the next day, as it was already about 2am. However, storms came in that night and washed evidence away. 

Family Day with Carolina Cryptid Crew

A few weeks ago, the team and our families headed up to the mountains for a much needed expedition and family day. We decided to make it a family day because we were just going during the day and we were going to just get a feel for the place, as most of the team was pretty unfamiliar with the location. The thing about this location (that I will not disclose at this time) is that there has been a lot of Bigfoot activity in the past. In fact, I have heard that Matt Moneymaker actually had activity here, including hearing "Samurai Chatter." A member of our team even had activity here.

This particular location is a very secluded primitive campground with a small river running through it. It is a popular spot for trout fishing and very close to the Chattooga rafting launch locations. In fact, it is only a few miles away from each of the major rafting companies in the area. This is actually in the area where the film Deliverance was filmed, so you can imagine how wooded and secluded it is.

One of our team members smoked a wild boar and it was so good. The team ate, socialized, laughed, and had a look around. There was some activity, but the spot was pretty populated with fishermen and picnickers that day, with it being such a pretty Saturday, even if it was a big chilly.

One of the kids that came along for family day was throwing rocks into the river and from the other side of the river, a rock would be thrown and hit the water at almost the same spot. Odd, right. While there, we also felt like we were being watched from across the river, found a few breaks high up in the trees, and even saw a few tree structures. One of the team members later reported seeing a tree with the root ball up in the air.

I did record a video while there, which I will upload to my new YouTube channel at some point.

We are going to head back up at some point, and even conduct an over night expedition. We'll be sure to keep you updated with our future adventures at this well known Bigfoot hot spot.