Sound is a spectrum. From acoustic tunes to heavy metal jams; from static noise and blaring car horns to the lively, dynamic voices of conversation—all these auditory stimuli are bound to trigger a diverse array of responses from the listener.
In the confines of our own room, the unsettling silence is tuned out with a trend gaining a significant amount of traction as of late. Finding their home on YouTube, ASMR videos have built a sizable and devoted community despite the
initial weirdness.
Quiet textures
Aimed at producing content geared towards stress relief, video entertainment is taking on a new form through consolidating what many would consider an odd mixture of visual and auditory elements.
“I have to admit I did not understand it at first,” Klariz Chen (II, PSM-ADV) recalls her first encounter with an ASMR video after stumbling upon it during an adventure directed by YouTube sidebar recommendations. Clocking in at half an hour, the clip consisted of microphone tapping and murmured speech. Peculiar as it was, she found the video calming.
Effective production of ASMR-stimulating and relaxing media requires inventive talent and selective decision-making. Much akin to arranging a musical score, artistry is what separates the eccentric greats from the conventional on one side and from the downright freaky on the other end. The creation process is something critical and deliberate.
Although visual stimuli do exist, more focus has mostly been accorded to sound-based content as the distinguishing feature of popular ASMR media. Low-volume and mundane, they’re the auditory equivalent of pastel colors: faint but not absent, subdued but not barren, soft but not silent.
The sounds created aren’t really out of this world in origin; on the contrary, the materials used are quite commonplace. Content creators often play with everyday objects like a pad of sticky notes, dining utensils, and writing instruments. They crumple paper or make coffee, ensuring their recording device captures the exact wrinkle ruffling the stagnant air, or the drip-drop, swoosh of flowing liquid.
Klariz surmises that the recent explosion in popularity of ASMR clips has put a damper on its media quality. She further shares, “Especially [since] it is now a trend, more and more people produce ASMR content even without having any prior knowledge about it.”
Indeed, many do not understand the term’s etymology, much less its
underlying mechanisms.
A soothing long name
The acronym’s expanded name, Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response, requires a bit of a breather to vocalize and perhaps necessitates a word-by-word dissection to explain.
Often described as brain tingles, the response terminology indicates a physical reaction to something—which can come in the form of different stimuli—specifically appealing to the visual and auditory senses.
The sensations are usually recounted as “chills” running down from one’s neck to one’s spine—the meridian concept, borrowed from acupuncture, enters here. Referring to a location on the body through which energy is believed to flow, the definition fittingly designates the brain-to-back route that the tingles course through as a vital anatomical pathway.
Finally, autonomous is synonymous to independent and self-determining; in this context, then, the response is characterized as automatic. It happens on its own, beyond an individual’s conscious control. Additionally, according to ASMR experiencers, these automated tingles are accompanied by positive emotions and reduced stress.
A tricky diversity
The automaticity of ASMR carries some implications. For one, it means that one cannot force the self to experience the tingling. Some can’t feel the tingles at all, no matter how ASMR-stimulating the video content may be. Meanwhile, the people who can feel the tingles likely also easily experience them from the soft sounds and visuals present in everyday surroundings.
The ASMR experience doesn’t follow any standardized formula. And while there isn’t a lot of research conducted yet on this matter, what is certain is that not everyone responds to the same stimuli in the same way. Klariz’s encounters with ASMR also exemplify that despite its association with generating calmness, the tingling isn’t a prerequisite to relaxation. She has only felt the chills a rare number of times given the abundance of ASMR videos she’s watched, but the clips can still reliably help her relax and fall asleep, especially after draining and stressful days.
But she notes that the elements used have to fit her preferences. A fan of simplicity over heavily edited variants, Klariz often defaults to videos she’s already tested before. She doesn’t mind the repetition. The goal of ASMR media has never been about novelty of the tracks, but the effectiveness of the stimuli and the activated response. “We, humans, work by patterns and are easily conditioned,” Klariz adds, acknowledging the danger of harboring a reliance on these stimuli for the purpose of destressing. She admits, “After watching ASMR videos to fall asleep almost every day, I eventually found it difficult to sleep when I don’t listen
to ASMR.”
Tentative ventures
Although scientists have only recently begun probing this physiological response, initial findings do concur with ASMR fans regarding the content’s merits. However, not much else has been uncovered regarding what exactly causes the tingling to occur, and whether detrimental effects could also surface. Is it hereditary? Could people lose their ability to experience the tingles, or could others acquire it at a late onset?
Many questions still lack compelling answers, but perhaps the magic lies in the lack of consensus and universality of ASMR experiences. As mentioned, not everyone appreciates the same kinds of stimuli. In the same way that music and art become personal and meaningful according to individual taste, ASMR videos are perhaps most effective when explored based on audience preference, anchored on identification of what works best for oneself. Whatever reason the community may have for watching ASMR, they typically do feel more relaxed after watching, and maybe it’s something worth exploring for strangers of this side of YouTube. After all, it’s free and you might just find the next best thing since lullabies.
