Stefan Bion
Pioneering ITC software that splits an audio source into random segments and reassembles them in random order. The theory: randomness prevents meaningful speech from forming unless an external intelligence imposes order. Used by serious ITC researchers worldwide since the 1990s.
EVP Maker was created by Stefan Bion in the late 1990s and has been used by ITC researchers for over 25 years. The concept is different from a radio ghost box: instead of sweeping radio frequencies, EVP Maker takes an audio source — white noise, a recorded voice speaking gibberish, ocean sounds, or any audio file — and cuts it into very short, random-length segments that are then reassembled in random order in real time.
The randomisation is the key theoretical principle: if the segments are shorter than the phonemic units of human speech (roughly 40-80ms), no coherent words can form in the scrambled output by chance. Any meaningful sounds or apparent words that do form must, theoretically, be imposed by something external to the randomisation process. Researchers such as Anabela Cardoso have used EVP Maker extensively and published findings in the ITC Journal.
EVP Maker supports multiple phoneme sources: white noise, recorded voice files, and external audio input. The segment length and randomisation parameters are configurable. For investigators interested in the theoretical framework of ITC, EVP Maker is the most scientifically designed tool available — it was built by someone attempting to eliminate the obvious radio-fragment explanation while maintaining the conditions theorised to allow ITC.
Investigator Note
EVP Maker does not eliminate all mundane explanations for apparent voices — audio pareidolia (the tendency to hear patterns and words in noise) is a well-documented phenomenon. Any apparent voice must be independently verified: presented to multiple listeners who are not told what to listen for, to assess whether they hear the same thing without priming.
