ASMR: Weird Head Tingling

[SGOS]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autonomous ... n_response

Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response (ASMR)  Also called head tingles.

I blundered onto this thing a couple of years ago while exploring 3D sound, often called binaural sound, which requires the use of headphones.  It's a bit more than stereo, with much more intense sound separation.  It does not work without headphones.  I found a couple of examples to be oddly pleasurable.  

I recently discovered the experience is spreading around the web as an internet phenomena, and has now been named, described, but not researched.  Not everyone experiences it apparently, which surprises me, because I've experienced it for years and cannot imagine others would not.

http://www.vice.com/read/asmr-the-good- ... an-explain

ASMR is a tricky feeling to describe, and I can only talk about it secondhand. From what I understand from conversations with ASMRers, it's a tingle in your brain, a kind of pleasurable headache that can creep down your spine. It's a shortcut to a blissed-out meditative state that allows you to watch long videos that for someone who doesn't have ASMR are mind-meltingly dull. Not everyone gets this feeling, and though some people can get the tingles through sheer force of will, most depend on external "triggers" to set them off. Triggers can include getting a massage or a haircut or a manicure, or hearing someone talk in a soothing tone of voice (Bob Ross, the "let's put a happy tree right here" painter from PBS, is a common trigger), or even just watching someone pay extremely close attention to a task, like assembling a model. It's not usually sexual—everyone who talked to me about ASMR mentioned that right off the bat—but like sexual turn-ons, different people have different things that set them off: the sound of lips smacking together, a cashier's fake nails tapping on the register, your friend drawing on your hand with a marker.

Maria, aka GentleWhispering (she didn't want me to use her last name), has been triggered by everything from accented whispers to scratching grainy surfaces to being tickled when she was in kindergarten. During a Skype conversation I had with her, she described ASMR as feeling like "bubbles in your head," and compared it to getting a scalp massage, but the sensation is on the inside. She went on: "It's like a little explosion, and then just little sparkles and little stars going down [your back]. Depending on the strength of the trigger, it might just go into the top of the spine of the shoulders, but sometimes it goes down to your arms and legs, and other parts. Mostly, if you get it in your leg, it's really exciting!"

Maria is the reigning queen of the ASMR videos, with over 34,000 subscribers to her channel and 12 million views. She mostly speaks directly at the camera in her accented English, giving a Russian language lesson or pretending to be a physical therapist or just talking about her life or answering questions sent to her by her fans. Sometimes she crinkles bags or folds napkins or shows off some souvenirs she bought in the Dominican Republic.

[SGOS]

Note:  If you find a site and attempt to experience ASMR without stereo headphones, even if you have a dynamite sound system, you will get nothing, zip, nada.  It only happens with headphones, for me anyway.

[Hijiri Byakuren]

It works without headphones if you don't need binaural triggers. For me, whispers will do it even from a distance on my speakers, as will a soft-spoken male voice. Some visuals will do it for me too, like watching a pen near-silently writing of paper.

[SGOS]

It works without headphones if you don't need binaural triggers. For me, whispers will do it even from a distance on my speakers, as will a soft-spoken male voice. Some visuals will do it for me too, like watching a pen near-silently writing of paper.

Yeah, I think you're right because I've experienced it without headphones too, but not as intensely.  The headphones seem to guarantee the response.  For myself, separating the sound with headphones does things like duplicating an actual whisper focused on one ear at a time.  It reproduces a more life like experience, which is necessary for me (judging from comments I've read at the sites, I don't think I experience this as intensely as others do.  I need the extra bump).

There's nothing happening here that isn't part of normal experience, so any artificial attempt to duplicate such an experience just needs to be as lifelike as possible.  Actually, I only use headphones in unique situations under normal circumstances, but ever since I tried them the first time back in college, they still tend to blow my mind.  Apparently, the people (usually females) who put these things out use binaural recording equipment.

[aitm]

wow. I found her extremely annoying....not her of course, but the whole whispery thingy.....gaddamn that was annoying

[SGOS]

wow. I found her extremely annoying....not her of course, but the whole whispery thingy.....gaddamn that was annoying

While the woman interviewed was billed as the reigning queen of ASMR, I actually have a similar response to her.  It's not just because I can't understand a word she says.  IMO, she lacks the "gift."  Her accent, whatever it is, is not the problem either.  Try this one.  I don't have a clue what this woman is whispering.  I don't think the language is important.  I think she may be French, but see if this makes a difference:

[youtube:t9p8eknw]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pvr3gr8BzA0[/youtube:t9p8eknw]

[Hijiri Byakuren]

I'm a fan of the YouTube user Airlight, a Russian-speaking Ukrainian who does almost every type of ASMR imaginable. There's also Leviticus45, who goes around recording various sounds; usually outdoors, but occasionally it's something like crinkling paper or turning pages.

[SGOS]

I'm a fan of the YouTube user Airlight, a Russian-speaking Ukrainian who does almost every type of ASMR imaginable. There's also Leviticus45, who goes around recording various sounds; usually outdoors, but occasionally it's something like crinkling paper or turning pages.

OK, I'll see if I can find it right now.

[SGOS]

This was my first hit on Airlight.  It's mostly an undefinable sound, and around 25:00 there is a period of near silence followed by a few whispers.  I'll search for more Airlight as the mood strikes me.

http://www.youtube.com/user/AirLightASMR

Incidentally, a few days ago, I found something similar that included video of the sound being made.  The creator uses a large microphone (most likely two) encased in a ball of foam.  It's black, but reminds me of s crystal ball.  The creator puts both hands on it, and gently taps and scratches around the surface.    

When I can't sleep, I go down to my computer room, find one of these, turn off the lights, put my feet up, and sometimes wake up hours later after the audio has stopped and I have no idea what time it is.  I don't experience the air bubbles in my head as intensely as most people claim, but mostly I find it phenomenally relaxing.

[Hijiri Byakuren]

This was my first hit on Airlight.  It's mostly an undefinable sound, and around 25:00 there is a period of near silence followed by a few whispers.  I'll search for more Airlight as the mood strikes me.

http://www.youtube.com/user/AirLightASMR

Yes, that's her.