[ASMR Artists]

Creative researcher merges ASMR with Opera

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ASMR Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response UniversityLee Scott fulfills three roles at Bath Spa University in the UK as an educator, digital technologist and graduate student.

He is a creative researcher in digital media, the subject leader of Creative Computing, and a Ph.D. candidate in interactive experiences for web and mobile devices in the School of Humanities and Cultural Industries.

Lee also has a deep interest in opera.  And this is not your grandmother’s opera – this is “new opera”.

New opera is technically-mastered, digitally-optimized, emotionally-charged, story-driven, and carefully coded for internet delivery, smart device consumption, and headphone immersion.

New opera may remind you of another type of sensorial and emotional experience, and Lee would agree.

Lee’s other deep interest is ASMR, and so he collaborated with the ASMR artist adreambeam to produce the digital-based web opera, “The Village.”

Another advantage of delivering and experiencing opera through electronic media is that Lee was able to research and analyze viewer behaviors associated with the ASMR aspects of his digital opera.

In my interview with Lee he shares how the collaboration with the ASMR artist adreambeam developed, the relationship between ASMR and opera, his insights on frisson vs ASMR, his development of an ASMR and opera-themed game, research data from his web opera, and more.

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Meet Dana ASMR, a Korean ASMR artist with almost 100,000 followers

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ASMR Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response UniversityDaham “Dana” Park is an undergraduate university student majoring in Journalism and Advertising in Seoul, South Korea.

Dana also creates Korean-language and English-language ASMR videos on YouTube as “Dana ASMR”.

She started her video channel in 2013, at the start of the rise of ASMR in South Korea.  She has currently been seeing a strong surge of interest in ASMR in South Korea as her YouTube channel is nearing 100,000 followers.

In my interview with Dana she shares how ASMR videos made in South Korea differ from ASMR videos from other countries, if the understanding of ASMR is different in South Korea compared to other countries, how her blog is helping others in her country to understand ASMR better, and more.

Below are my questions in bold, her replies in italics, and links to her YouTube channel, Facebook page, blog, and Instagram account.

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How do the speech patterns of ASMR artists compare to Bob Ross, Bill O’Reilly, and Geraldo Rivera?

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ASMR Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response UniversityGordon McGladdery is a professional composer and sound designer living in Vancouver, British Columbia in Canada.

He has his Bachelor of Arts in English literature from University of Victoria in Canada and an additional diploma in Sound Design for Visual Media from the Vancouver Film School.

Gordon first learned about ASMR in 2012 and immediately created his own research project.

He analyzed the speech patterns of several ASMR artists (GentleWhispering, VeniVidiVulpes, AppreciateASMR, and others) and compared them to the speech patterns of others (Bob Ross, Bill O’Reilly, Geraldo Rivera, and others).

He initially shared his findings with the ASMR community in an ASMR subreddit thread.

In my interview with Gordon he shares how he first learned about ASMR, the objectives of his study, his ideas about further analysis that could be done on ASMR-related audio, his favorite ASMR artist, and more.

Below are my questions in bold and his replies in italics.

Immediately following the interview is Gordon’s detailed description of how he did his analysis and his data findings.

The post concludes with a podcast Gordon created about his study, as well as, links to his initial ASMR subreddit post, to his spreadsheet of the speech pattern data, to his website, to his musical compositions, and more.

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Meet WhisperSparkles, one of the first ASMR artists on YouTube

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ASMR Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response UniversityAmanda McDonnell is a mother of four children and has a diploma in Medical Sciences from the University of Ulster in Northern Ireland.

She is originally from Belfast, Northern Ireland and is currently living in Glasgow, Scotland.

Amanda is also known as the ASMR artist, WhisperSparkles.

The first whisper channel on YouTube appeared in 2009 (see the History of ASMR for more details).  Amanda created her channel soon after in 2010, making her one of the first dedicated whisperers on the internet.

In my interview with Amanda she shares why she created a whisper channel is 2010, how ASMR videos have changed over time, how her interest in ASMR helped her to meet her fiancé, and more.

Below are my questions in bold, her replies in italics, and a link to her YouTube channel so you can enjoy her early videos from 2010, as well as, her most recent videos.

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Listen to a new audio documentary about ASMR on Radio Wolfgang

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ASMR Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response UniversityHarri Watson has been a television producer for 10 years and is now an Executive Producer for the Radio Wolfgang website which features “Great music. Great storytelling.”

The website has recently launched and includes live streaming music and several audio stories – including an audio documentary on ASMR produced by Harri.

She interviewed Heather Feather, Ilse Blansert (thewaterwhispers), Dmitri (massageASMR) and additional individuals whom create, experience and/or study ASMR.

In my interview with Harri she shared why she selected ASMR as a topic for the launch of Radio Wolfgang, what surprised her the most during production, the reception to her documentary, and more.

Below are my questions in bold, her replies in italics, and a link to her audio documentary about ASMR.

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Meet “Singing ASMR”, an ASMR artist on YouTube who creates tingly lullabies

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ASMR Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response UniversityKarin was born in Bucharest, Romania and now resides in South Germany. She has a Magister Artium’s Degree in German literature and minored in sociology and philosophy.

Karin is also the ASMR artist known as “Singing ASMR” on YouTube.

My initial thought about her was that she might be confusing “frisson”, the chills due to music, with ASMR. I expected to hear someone singing in a typical voice, which is not commonly considered a usual trigger for ASMR.

But then I listened to one of her videos.

She sings very softly and gently, almost in a whisper voice. “ASMR lullabies” may be a great way to describe her style – her singing is likely to be soothing to children and adults alike. Her channel also includes videos of role plays, tappings, brushings, layered sounds, and more.

In my interview with Karin she shares how she came up with the idea of singing ASMR, insight about her most popular video, challenges with creating ASMR videos, ideas for ASMR research, and more.

Below are my questions in bold, her replies in italics, and links to her YouTube channel and other sites.

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Meet softlygaloshes, an ASMR artist and the founder of ASMRYouReady.com

/ Dr. Richard / 2 Comments

ASMR Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response UniversityRebekah “Bekah” Smith is a California resident known widely as the ASMR artist softlygaloshes.

She has created about 150 ASMR videos so far and continues to post new videos every 4 days. Her consistent production of high quality, binaural videos has attracted a growing fan base of over 90,000 followers to her channel.

But Bekah is not just a prolific ASMR artist, she is also a blogger and founder of the website ASMRYouReady.com.

ASMRYouReady.com is an extremely content-rich website. Visitors can enjoy frequently posted articles about ASMR, discussions on topics relevant to ASMR fans and artists, interviews with new and established ASMR artists, ASMR videos which can be sorted by category, and “The Tinglies” contest for ASMR videos.

She currently runs the website with the assistance of Kris, the ASMR artist known as WhisperBits. Kris is one of the content creators, as well as providing valuable web and graphic designer contributions to the site.

I interviewed Bekah to learn a bit more about her and her website. Bekah shares why she started creating ASMR videos, her motivation for creating ASMRYouReady.com, how her understanding of ASMR has changed over time, what she would say to scientists pondering ASMR research, and more.

Below are my questions in bold, her replies in italics, and links to her website and YouTube channel.

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History of ASMR – short and long versions

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I have created a new page for the website that covers the history of ASMR.  It highlights some of the major events from 2008 to the present in a timeline format.

The first part of the page presents a brief view of the history.  It is just a bullet list of key dates and events.

The second part of the page presents an expanded ‘witness the history’ version of the timeline.  This longer version includes quotes and excerpts from key moments as they happened, such as:

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Meet Jellybean Green, an ASMR artist on YouTube

/ Dr. Richard / 2 Comments

ASMR Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response UniversityJellybean Green has her Bachelor of Arts degree in performance with a minor in creative writing.

She is a freelance writer, nursing student, and mother living in the United States.

JellyBean Green is also an ASMR artist who creates videos for her YouTube channel, JellyBean Green ASMR.

Jellybean Green shares her insight for what makes a good ASMR artist, beautifully articulates a potential misconception about ASMR artists, envisions a thoughtful demonstration that would definitely motivate more clinicians and researcher to investigate the potential of ASMR, and more.

Below are my questions in bold followed by her replies in italics.

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Meet Maiko Yamamoto, director of a dance production inspired by ASMR

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Maiko Yamamoto is an Artistic Director and member of the Theatre Replacement theatre company in Vancouver, Canada. She has a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, with a specialization in Theatre, along with a Masters of Applied Arts in visual arts.

Part of the mission of Maiko and her theatre company is to “build performances that react to contemporary existence.”

This mission was clearly manifested in a recent ASMR-inspired experimental dance work.

The ASMR-inspired show was, “The Sensationalists”. The world premiere was held May 12 – 16, 2015, at The Cultch Historic Theatre in Vancouver.

The show was created by 605 Collective, a Vancouver-based dance company, who commissioned Maiko to direct the work.

These two companies describe their final product as “an immersive performance experience that pushes both companies into new territories, exploring concepts surrounding various sensory phenomena.”

Maiko shares the first time she experienced ASMR, her favorite ASMR video, her goals of the show (which truly embody ASMR), and how the dancers used movements and words to express ASMR.

Below are my questions in bold followed by her replies in italics.

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