Anyone else getting weird static bursts right before an EVP session starts?

Yeah this happens to me pretty regularly actually. My recorder picks up this weird burst of white noise for like 3-5 seconds right at the start, before I've even said anything or asked a question. First few times I thought it was just the device warming up or something, but it's too consistent now to chalk up to that.

Not sure if its the equipment reacting to something environmental or if theres something actually there messing with it. I've read a bit about EM fields and how they can cause interference but I dont have any proper meters to check that side of things yet.

Does it happen to you at a specific location or is it everywhere you go? Curious whether its location dependent or just a general thing. Be good to hear if others are getting the same pattern.

@ForestMisty yes this is a well documented thing, been noticing it myself for the better part of 30 years. Old timers in the field used to call it the "opening window" - the theory being that whatever energy is present sort of announces itself before full communication begins.

Worth checking your recorder's automatic gain control settings though, because AGC can produce exactly that kind of burst when it kicks in and calibrates to a quiet environment. Rule that out first.

If you've already done that and the burst is still happening, start logging the timestamp and duration of each one. Over time you may find a pattern, certain locations producing longer bursts, certain atmospheric conditions. I had a session at a farmhouse outside Sleaford where the burst ran nearly 8 seconds and what followed was the clearest EVP I've ever captured. Coincidence possibly, but I've stopped dismissing these things outright.

Yeah we get this loads at our local spots in Cumbria. My theory is its the recorder picking up on a sudden drop in electromagnetic interference - like something's pulling energy from the local field right before activity kicks off. Could also just be the device warming up but where's the fun in that lol.

Worth checking if it correlates with anything else at the time, like does your torch flicker, do you feel a temperature drop, that sort of thing. We started logging everything around those burst moments and found a pattern over about six months of sessions.

@ManchesterRaven would probably know more than me on the historical side of it but from a practical standpoint I'd say don't dismiss it as noise, treat it as a potential marker and work backwards from there.