GHOST in the machine

[shadow5606]

So I'm sitting at my PC, recording a rough draft of a song. Singing into my Sennheiser e835, playing my Taylor 314CE through my Behringer DI Box into my Behringer mixer. I stop playing for a minute. THEN I softly hear voices... then more distinct... I listen very very closely & quietly... they're speaking German... through my monitors.

I move my mic on it's boom stand a bit & it fades... so I move it back... tweak it's positioning a bit & voila!!! The germans are much more clear.

so I decide to see where it's coming in, I turn down the fader on channel 1 (my mic) & start to loose the signal... then I turn it back up... then I turn down Ch 2 (my DI from the taylor) I start to loose it... so back up. then I move my guitar... start to loose it, re aim the guitar & it's even stronger.

Soon it's as strong as the radio in my car... it's German TV or Radio for sure... a comercial comes on... then back to talk... soon it begins to fade & I can't do anything to get it back...

how ironic, most of my equipment is German too...

SUPER weird & spooky though... anyone ever had this happen or have ideas????

 

[willovercome]

do you live in germany?

 

[echomancer]

What you are experiencing is your entire setup turning into a giant shortwave radio antenna / amplifier, probably due to lack of RF Shielding. Is the wiring in your house old? If so (or really, even if not), invest in some kind of good power conditioner (anything Furman makes should do). Looking into better quality cables for your mics and instruments and things can help too.

I had a Fender Princeton Chorus that would reliably pick up the local NPR station during the day and at night, radio from somewhere in South America.

 

[shadow5606]

Yeah my house is brand new so old wiring is not the culprit & I live in Indiana!!! Pretty far from Germany. I thought you had to be close to a broadcast site to pick up radio like that. I don't know of any German language broadcasting in my area.

It was pretty damn cool though

 

[shadow5606]

I'm going to work on tuning in the aliens tonight...

 

[terocious]

I am no expert but shortwave sure does travel. In Delaware at different times of day I can pick up stations from all over the world with my crappy little shortwave.

 

[terocious]

And oh yes that is cool. Maybe you can use it in the mix...

 

[Innovations]

Well my guess is that since positioning your equipment around changes the reception that it is the equipment, not the house wiring, that is acting as the antenna. My guess is that it is the mic cables acting as the antennae. Better shielding, also being sure the grounding is good, should help.

 

[David Artis]

I used to get flights going and coming into Tampa International until I upgraded my shielding in the studio.

 

[Brent Casey]

Yeah my house is brand new so old wiring is not the culprit & I live in Indiana!!! Pretty far from Germany. I thought you had to be close to a broadcast site to pick up radio like that. I don't know of any German language broadcasting in my area.

It was pretty damn cool though

The Taylor's electronics and therefore the cable going to the DI, being of high impedance and around 1/4 of the broadcast wavelength were probably placed sufficiently (perpendicular to the wave) as to interact with the oscillating electric and magnetic fields that happened to be toting a German broadcast through your room.
How long is the cable going to the DI?


Brent Casey
Studio Projects Beef Jerky
877-563-6335

 

[acorec]

So I'm sitting at my PC, recording a rough draft of a song. Singing into my Sennheiser e835, playing my Taylor 314CE through my Behringer DI Box into my Behringer mixer. I stop playing for a minute. THEN I softly hear voices... then more distinct... I listen very very closely & quietly... they're speaking German... through my monitors.

I move my mic on it's boom stand a bit & it fades... so I move it back... tweak it's positioning a bit & voila!!! The germans are much more clear.

so I decide to see where it's coming in, I turn down the fader on channel 1 (my mic) & start to loose the signal... then I turn it back up... then I turn down Ch 2 (my DI from the taylor) I start to loose it... so back up. then I move my guitar... start to loose it, re aim the guitar & it's even stronger.

Soon it's as strong as the radio in my car... it's German TV or Radio for sure... a comercial comes on... then back to talk... soon it begins to fade & I can't do anything to get it back...

how ironic, most of my equipment is German too...

SUPER weird & spooky though... anyone ever had this happen or have ideas????

You have a German mic haunted by german ghosts. If you get a recording contract, you will have to split the royalties with the ghost's families or risk being sued. My advice is to exorcise them through a well known priest. It should be the most cost effective solution to your problem.

 

[sjjohnston]

If the voices start telling you (you, specifically, that is) to do things, seek professional help.

 

[Herm]

If it was at night you where doing this alot of short wave stuff
from Germany, and other country,s gets real strong at night.

They are in the 7.2 mghz erea. The ideal 1/4 wave antenna is
about 30 to 32 feet for that area not including the ground side.

so maybe your cords are in that area and could be part of the problem. It minght be as simple as using shorter or longer cords.

 

[Armistice]

Before you get rid of them, record them and play them in the background of one of your songs - it may be the next new cool thing, you never know...

 

[shadow5606]

I've got about 6 ft from the mic to the mixer & 6ft from the guit to the DI & about 2 ft from the DI to the mixer. Then of course there's some cabling from mixer to the soundcard & back plus the cabling out o my monitors & the FX loop as well so I've got a few feet hangin around.

I'm kinda hoping it happens again. (just not in the middle of a really good take, lol)

I should have hit record while the voices were going but I was too astounded to do it.... lol

I think the biggest shock was the irony of all my GERMAN gear picking up a german shortwave.

and yeah, it was at night so at first I was a little creeped out. I might try calling the preist 1st cause I really don't want to split roalties!!!!

I hope the preist has a package deal though cause it might get pricey having them exorcise ALL of my equipment.

 

[Beltrom]

Well, what do you know. Back in the analog days (Teac Tascam 244) I used to get faint Italian voices. Kind of miss them, it was comforting knowing someone else was out there.

I do however not miss my shortwave neighbour. He ruined one of my best solos talking to a truckdriver about what he had for lunch.
(Spagetti and meatballs if you wonder...)

 

[shadow5606]

Damn, & I bet the song wasn't even about spaghetti & meatballs!

 

[akkkkt]

ghost in the machine

my buddies recorded songs using basic sound recorder on the computer. had a template track 11:59:59 long used it for editing and the whatnot. didn't use all the time on it though when we burned the CD with all the tracks including the template track it had this guy talking in the background at like-4dB but it was creepy because it looped over and over for a minute and a half and we didn't record and the software we were using doesn't have a loop function on it. reall y scary

 

[rcktdg]

I grew up in Indiana and for about two weeks in the late spring I could watch Showtime with my television on channel 6 after about 1 am until 6 ish. We did not have cable at all. It was never connected to the house. The picture had snow in it but it was clear enough to enjoy. Maybe Indiana has some really powerful RF stuff going on.

I told an engineer at a local TV station about it and he said it was impossible that I was receiving a cable station over the airwaves. The only way it could happen is if a badly malfuntioning TV became a weak transmitter. Three months after the strange event a neighbor down the street became suddenly very sick. In a week they determined he had cancer and he died shortly after.

I always wondered if Mr. Rue was radiated to death by his TV.

This has nothing to do with your weird noises but it reminded me of the whole strange free showtime summer. I think Mt. St. Helens erupted the same year. I would rather think about this than being shot by a cop which had been on my mind.