Anyone else experience ASMR?

ASMR stands for "Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response" and is like a tingling sensation someone gets in their head or neck/shoulder area when listening to certain sounds. Some people like the sound of pages being flipped, the sounds of a haircut, tapping, or even someone simply whispering. If you like getting your back "traced" on then you have probably felt a similar sensation before.

I've personally had this sensation for as long as I can remember but just recently "discovered" it, and apparently there are thousands of videos on YouTube in the genre and some with millions of views.

Here's an example of one of the videos:



If you do experience this, what's your favorite "trigger" sound? Mine would have to be chalk on a chalkboard. I remember sitting in school as a kid listening to my teachers write on the chalkboard and just being zoned out because of the ASMR I'd get from it. I was bummed out when they switched from chalkboards to dry erase boards.

So, is there anyone else on here who experiences this? Or am I alone on here?

a reply to: 3NL1GHT3N3D1

GentleWhispering is the best series of ASMR videos I've encountered. Very good results with Maria.

a reply to: BeefNoMeat

HA! So I'm not alone! Glad to hear it, and yes she is pretty amazing even though I just recently found her videos and have only watched (listened to) a few.

Rain on a tin roof. The sound of a pencil on paper. Wind through the trees. Running water. Yeah, I've got a case.

a reply to: 3NL1GHT3N3D1

YES! S&F.

I never knew what this was until a couple years ago and somebody told me about it.

I had a terrible job that I hated... and the only time I didn't hate it was when I got to take the car through the automatic wash once a month. I would sit back and just enjoy that 90 seconds so much... best 90 seconds of every month.

I know other people who experience it with a much wider range of things including video and audio playback. Enjoy it while you can and if you can.

Just couldn't resist. Keep in mind, they still nail the extremely comforting sounds while parodying ASMR.

a reply to: 3NL1GHT3N3D1

No, you're not alone.

She has a ton of those ASMR videos and I've listened to most of them with great results. I think you'll find most of her stuff effective. Hope to hear more about your experiences with her ASMR vids.

The sound of a good pair of scissors. The sound of a good blade on a whetstone. Nut shells cracking.

Wait, what's going on here. Why are they whispering? Are you supposed to close your eyes while listening to this?

heavy rain from inside a vehicle, T.A.R.D.I.S, dalek heartbeat, a knife slicing through meat.

a reply to: skunkape23

The sound of a good pair of scissors. The sound of a good blade on a whetstone

The sweet spot
Mmm

a reply to: 3NL1GHT3N3D1

Not alone
S&F

That woman is incredibly annoying to listen to. Not the stuff she's doing, her forced hushed voice. Speak up!

Like someone else upthread, I'm lost. Are we talking about, in plain English here, basically oddball sounds you enjoy? Why not just say so?

Over The Horizon Radar signals can be heard on HAM radio, I seek them out. It's especially great for dulling migraines for me. I get a huge kick out of meteofax and RTTY signals, too. I also like binaural beats, the "sounds"of planets and pulsars (the data converted to audio representation)

It's actually really common. Certain sounds give people a tingling effect. You can have a sliver in your foot and it can give you a stomach discomfort. Nerves run all over our bodies and frequencies interact with those nerves. Some people start to move more when listening to music, some people just sit. Frequencies interact with everyone is different ways. Your ears are not the only thing that registers sound waves either, every bone in your body can sense sound and so can your skin.

Certain sounds do give me tingles but I never paid attention to it. Screatching on the chalk board made by dragging fingernails never bothered me but I acted like it did just so I could feel like part of the group.

It's a shame the sound in the video in the OP is sooo bad and hissy, you'd think that if the whole point of the video is sounds that she would at least have a decent setup and have top quality sound.

a reply to: blupblup

From what I can tell this is one of her older videos and she has since gotten better equipment. But as far as I know this is the most viewed ASMR video on YouTube so I thought it would be a good example.

a reply to: 3NL1GHT3N3D1
Standing next to the speakers at Glastonbury music fest in days before sound levels were regulated takes some beating.
Bass vibration interacting with the human body is quite amazing in my experience.

a reply to: 3NL1GHT3N3D1

Not quite as you describe but...yes. I know when in the presence of a spirit or passed loved one. I suddenly get chills head to toe. Suddenly and hard...and it can occur anywhere. Even driving the car. I just say "oh, oh...Hi! I know youre with me". I also know instantly who or what it is.

ASMR is great!

When you're getting your hair cut, if the stylist will STFU long enough and pay close attention to you, you get the "warm shivers" that are an ASMR "effect." That's one of the "life" versions of ASMR, that's not always or only audio.

Youtube has massive ASMR. Tapping, clicking, rubbing, scraping, scratching, crinkling, crunching, dinging (glass), brushing, all of those tend to be triggers, as well as different kinds of whispering etc. Each person responds to different things, and usually after a lot of a given thing your response goes down -- but leave it alone for a week or so and then the response is back. This isn't usually about your concept of something, it's more a nervous system response. One of my strongers triggers is to a fast irregular clicking that sounds like insects chittering, which is just weird! Another of my strongest responses is to 'rubbing' that is nearly-inaudible (I have to have a little visual even to know it's happening) which often is done in the middle of other sound groups.

Sometimes it takes a bit of time (like 10-20 seconds) before the reaction to something comes through. If you're new to this, use headphones, moderate volume, keep your eyes closed unless it's a video telling you otherwise (peering into your eyes with a doctor's-style light can trigger response too) (otherwise it's a bit visceral for men who are often very visual esp. when the ASMR source is a pretty female), and look for some of the videos that offer a variety of trigger sounds so you can try out different things.

Obviously the ASMR category opens up to more exploration - there's a lot of lovely women offering men-centric options, haha -- but the base of it is nice. I have a playlist that has some of my favorite things. It was funny not long ago when my teen walked into my room and said, "What ARE you listening to?!" because it's not music, it's not a show, it was just a series of scratching and so on... made me laugh. Must sound weird to others for sure. :-)

a reply to: 3NL1GHT3N3D1

The sounds of sloppy loving!!! Sorry y'all!