Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response (ASMR)

ASMR is the new thing on Youtube and the internets.

Tl;dr: Audio Erotica via whispering. It's a tingle as a man or woman whispers into the camera.

Some vids are "roleplays":

edited 1st Jun '13 11:15:28 PM by TairaMai

And here is a female "trigger video":

edited 31st May '13 3:02:48 PM by TairaMai

Not just by whispering. It could even be "triggered" via the ambiance of someone unboxing something/tinkering around with stuff without saying a single word. Like so:

edited 31st May '13 3:46:05 PM by Nettacki

Now, my questions are:

• Does this go under Audio Erotica
• Should it get a YKTTW?

Anyone can post their fav ASMR sites and linkies in this thread.

• I don't think so. I think it goes under Most Wonderful Sound instead. The feeling I get with these ASMR triggers isn't really the same as getting aroused by someone's voice, especially when it's not even the voice that triggers it in most cases.
• It probably doesn't need a YKTTW. Maybe having a general listing under the Web Original section of Most Wonderful Sound is better. I dunno.

Anyway, I've posted a video from one of my favorite channels, Soundsculptures. My main triggers tend to be silent/whispering/speaking-in-a-low-voice unboxings/tinkering around with stuff. The ambiance of someone peeling the plastic away from a new package and going through the cardboard is enough for me. I'm not too big for those "role play" ones.

edited 2nd Jun '13 11:13:11 AM by Nettacki

Good points, I'll make an addition. But I'll preview it here. Should I just find a youtube playlist or use the wiki article (or both?).

Keep those links a-commin' in people! I like ASMR because I have tinitus and this helps me relax and/or sleep.

Okay here's what I got for an entry into this very wiki (under web original) :

ASMR is Audio Erotica via whispering. "ASMR" is the tingle up your back that some sounds produce. On You Tube, people whisper into the camera for ASMR videos. Some videos are "roleplays" others are people using objects to make relaxing sounds.

edited 4th Jun '13 6:27:56 AM by TairaMai

...yeah, something like that.

Piss-posh representation here. Almost sounds dirty when you type "roleplays" and "female trigger video".

I get a tingling feeling whenever I watch medical examinations, clean, sterile environments, dental visits, ear exams, physicals, autopsies, surgeries - ever since I was a kid, these things soothed me. Examination was a stress reliever. I wouldn't initially consider it erotic. It's like a ghostly touch in the back of your mind, and its constant, seemingly infinite. If you have a 'trigger' which could be the crunch of pop rocks or the turning of a socket wrench, you can keep it going for awhile. It's oddly calming.

Rather than develop a path toward a career in these fields, I found a video about Japanese massages on Youtube, which turned out to be equally relaxing. Then I found airport security checks, TSA videos, even police frisking scenes had the same effect. By this point, I was slowly realizing that I might be dangerously neurotic.

And finally I saw an ASMR video in the suggested videos list, a "yearly physical roleplay" done by an ASMR creator who unfortunately is no longer part of the greater community. Since then, I've found dental, medical, wizard, assassin, sci-fi, fantasy, magic, and even video game referencing ASMR videos, among other things. And a large community of people who've gone through a similar experience to my own.

This playlist contains everything I've enjoyed about ASMR.

I've found that in order to make it work, you have to be in a quiet environment. Obviously you're not going to pick up on quiet, soft sounds if you're in a subway, or if you've got TV blaring in the background.

edited 10th Feb '14 9:08:29 PM by Soble

The "roleplay" thing, yeah. It's easy to misinterpret it. In many cases it's just to relax.

Yeah, quiet is a prereq in order to get the most out of an ASMR vid. I like foreign language whispering because it allows me to "turn my brain off". Mostly the worry and analytical parts. They get to chew on the sweet sounding [INSERT SMEXY LANGUAGE HERE] and I get some sleep.

Or there are the roleplays that are a good background noise waaaay better that network news. I'm much calmer with a roleplay vid than with some newscaster in the background.

Fun fact: yeah women get a lot of the attention, but guys are making these vids as well. Sf Debris admits that he has a male fanbase. And his vids are just his voice over Star Trek (and other sci-fi) clips. And there are some vids that are just "sound sculptures": cool sounds that relax.

I don't know if this is tropeworthy or not. Even for a site with no notability, ASMR is niche.

And no I'm not wearing hipster glasses, I just don't want a stubby article on something that's obscure even for this wiki.

edited 10th Feb '14 9:54:17 PM by TairaMai

So I only just discovered ASMR and I think I might experience the feeling, but I always called it "chills." Sort of a tingly feeling along the back of the head, neck, and upper back. Is this the feeling people mean when they talk about it?

And if that's the case, then I may have experienced the same feeling from certain kinds of music and some scenes in movies.

It happens. ASMR videos are just a way to get that response by triggering it.

And there are the videos that trigger ASMR by accident:

Please don't label ASMR as Audio Erotica! A big misconception about ASMR is that it produces feelings of arousal. That is not the purpose at all, and in fact producing arousal would actually be counterproductive to what ASM Rtists are trying to accomplish. ASMR is more about triggering a feeling of bliss, relaxation, or tranquility that can sometimes be accompanied by a tingling feeling in different parts of the body, often the nape of the neck or sometimes the legs (it depends on the trigger and the person listening/viewing). It is in no way meant to be sexual or erotic.

Instead, try labeling it as simply Most Wonderful Sound or something. Much like what I suggested years ago.

edited 25th Feb '15 4:02:11 PM by Nettacki

okay but think about the potential of this for film. Like if this were employed purposefully in the sound and visual design of certain scenes to evoke a "magic feeling?" (the same feeling i get from asmr is the feeling i get when something "magic" happens)

In Bound Violet puts the moves on Corky, Jennifer Tilly's voice is pure sex appeal here. It was an Unbuilt Trope at the time, but the effect is there in an epic scene of seduction.

In Star Trek Deep Space Nine, Onaya "inspires" Jake Sisko in a scene that produced the tingles and is an epic Getting Crap Past the Radar.

Neither are ASMR. ASMR isn't a trope, it's at most an audience reaction. But really, unless you're looking at what storytelling tropes the content producers are using in the roleplays, I don't think it really belongs on this site, just like we don't list "people get nauseous" or "people get tired."

Meh, Most Wonderful Sound covers it for the most part, until works outside of youtube start doing it, this can stay in People Sit In Chairs for the most part.

I was referring to the reaction as an Unbuilt Trope, tingles weren't really thought of until Youtube and then took off as more people googled and were all "Yeah!"

Until more media take this on, let's keep it under Most Wonderful Sound...

I think its officially hit It's Popular, Now It Sucks! status.

Half the videos I see are garbage, most are T&A, and most do more talking than anything.

And then there's the ones based off of videogames you like that use sounds you like:

I feel like I can live with it, though I have NO idea how this got so popular out of nowhere.

The bright side, I finally found out that weird tingly feeling I've liked since I was a kid has an actual name,^* don't quote this out of context and there's a community of people who loved it too. The downside is by the time I found out about it, ASMR has more-or-less become the butt of several jokes.

The problem is that several attention whores with cameras and PATERON accounts think they can cash in. Yes there are porn sites (of course there are porn sites with "ASMR") and Sturgeon's Law is in effect.

I have 3-7 ASMR artists I visit. I have downloaded the videos I like and only check on those 3-7 depending on what they put out.

A lot of people think that "whispering" and random sounds make ASMR. Oh so not true. Effort has to be put in.

Some people can't or don't get the tingles, other just love shitting on something a lot of people enjoy.

edited 3rd Feb '17 11:35:52 PM by TairaMai

I'd been considering starting an ASMR thread...glad I searched for it. My non-voice triggers are mainly tapping and soft friction noises; wet mouth sounds and food sounds do not work at all, and I avoid ASMRists who focus on them. As for the creators who I regularly follow: Latte ASMR, ASMR KittyKlaw, Darya Lozhkina ASMR, Pelagea ASMR, Gentle Whispering, Olivia's Kissper ASMR

edited 8th Feb '17 7:42:56 PM by Willbyr

Gentle Whispering, Oliva Kissper, ASMR Darling, ASMR Requests, and Heather Feather for me.

Basically anything to do with medical instruments and examination, sounds like screws twisting or metal objects rotating (socket wrenches, nuts, bolts), and also that weird sensation of watching flashlights move left to right. I tend to look for videos that actively roleplay rather than just "random sounds while staring at the camera seductively."

Oh, and that guy who does the creepy ASMR's like "Chat with Satan, Groot, Lovecraft-etc, Witch Doctor." Can't remember his name but he always does the weirdest videos.