ASMRtist

History of ASMR: About WhisperingLife, the first ASMR artist (podcast episode #5)

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ASMR Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response UniversityOn March 26, 2009, a young woman started posting videos of herself whispering on YouTube.

She shared some information about herself on YouTube, but she never revealed her exact identity.

Most people refer to her by the name of her YouTube channel, WhisperingLife – and credit her with starting the first whisper channel on YouTube.

Today’s podcast will focus on WhisperingLife and address the following questions:

  • How old was she and where was she from?
  • What inspired her to start posting whisper videos?
  • Did she intend to relax listeners with her whispering or was that just an unexpected outcome?
  • What did she whisper about?
  • Was she just a ‘whisper artist’ or was she an ‘ASMR artist’?
  • Did she ever show her face in her videos?
  • What did she use for a camera?
  • How many videos did she post?
  • Why did she stop posting videos?

The podcast will also include comments she received in the first year she started her channel in 2009, and include comments posted on her last video she uploaded in 2014.

Subscribe to the ASMR University Podcast to hear all of the past and future episodes or listen to this one episode right here:

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‘The ASMR Podcast’ showcases a diversity of ASMR artists

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ASMR Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response UniversityGerry Parks is a Project Manager at a software development company in Glasgow, Scotland.  He has his BA degree in Business and his MSc degree in Information Technology.

Gerry also has a new podcast called, ‘The ASMR Podcast.’

Although he created this podcast, you won’t hear his voice on it…at least not yet.  Gerry initially created the podcast as an audio-only platform to help launch new ASMR artists and to help established artists reach new audiences.

In my interview with Gerry he shares the ASMR artists featured so far, his inspiration for creating the podcast, tips for starting a podcast, and more.

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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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Update #2 about “Murmurs”, a cinematic ASMR movie currently in production

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ASMR Autonomous Sensory Meridian ResponseThis is update #2 about the first full-length feature movie about ASMR titled, ‘Murmurs’.

Graeme Cole is the filmmaker of Murmurs – which can be tantalizingly summarized as, “A reclusive ASMR superstar invites an online date to her studio. A paranoid romance with tingles.”

Murmurs is currently in the editing phase, but Graeme has just posted an update on the progress of the movie, an expansion of the production team, and an early response to an initial cut.

Spoiler: the first review of the initial cut is quite positive.

Below you will find a link to the full details of the production update and information on how you can help to support the continued progress of the movie.

I’ve also included links to video clips from Murmurs, video clips of Graeme, a link to the Murmurs Facebook page, and I’ve pasted in the full text of my prior posts.

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Two longtime friends launch the ‘ASMR Newscast’

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ASMR Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response UniversityLee Terrill received her BA degree in Early Childhood Education, has taught 2nd grade and been a professional cake decorator, and now enjoys working an office job with a small, local business.

Logan Jenkins has his BA degree in Fine Arts with an emphasis in Graphic Design, has worked as a Graphic Designer and Flash Developer, and currently works as a Frontend Web Developer.

Both live in South Carolina, USA, are avid board game players, and decided to team up to co-host the podcast titled, ASMR Newscast.

The ASMR Newscast launched on September 7, 2015 and they have been releasing weekly episodes with content quite fitting to their podcast’s description;

“we will bring you news from around the ASMR community along with a few relaxing sounds to give you the best tingles.”

In my interview with Lee and Logan they share how they met, how ASMR is helpful to each of them, their motivation to create a podcast, details about their podcast, challenges they have encountered so far, and more.

Below are my questions in bold, their replies in italics, and links to their podcast and other resources.

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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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Update: Support “Murmurs”, a cinematic ASMR movie currently in production

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ASMR Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response UniversityUpdate to the August 5, 2015 post (prior post included at end of this update).

Congratulations to Graeme Cole, the filmmaker producing the cinematic movie, “Murmurs”, about an ASMR artist.  His fundraising campaign achieved its goal.  The raised funds will assist him in the final steps to complete and market the movie.

The campaign site remains open to allow visitors to see his fundraising journey so far, to view video clips from the movie, and to provide post-goal contributions which will further assist him to bring his movie to life.

Graeme also has a Facebook page to keep everyone updated about the progress of the movie.

Below is my congratulations to Graeme in bold, his reply in italics, a link to his campaign site, a link to his Facebook page, and the prior post which includes a full interview with Graeme and information about the movie.

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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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Meet Deep Ocean of Sounds, an ASMR artist and the creator of a new binaural recording device.

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ASMR Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response UniversityPawel is an ASMR artist living in Poland who creates content under the name, “Deep Ocean of Sounds.”

He is one of the few top artists who does not whisper or talk in any way, his ASMR productions are just trigger sounds.

Although “just” is an understatement.

Many of his productions are 3-dimensional experiences in which the listener is immersed in a multi-layer recreation of a triggering scenario like a haircut or walking in a forest.  Additionally, he creates high quality binaural productions focused on single triggering sounds like the sound of scratching or the sound of wooden blocks.

Pawel also recently created and marketed his own binaural recording device, a dummy head with microphones built into silicone ears.

In my interview with Pawel he explains what ‘binaural’ means, how he creates his 3-D sound, information about his new dummy head recording device, and more.

Below are my questions in bold, his replies in italics, links to his ASMR recordings, and a link to his new binaural microphones. Continue reading →

Support “Murmurs”, a cinematic ASMR movie currently in production

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ASMR Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response UniversityGraeme Cole is a filmmaker who received his B.A. degree in Screen Studies from John Moores University in Liverpool, England.

In 2013, he moved to Bosnia where he is working on his M.F.A. degree in Filmmaking from the Sarajevo Film Academy’s Film.Factory.

Graeme has been creating independent films for over 15 years, and now he has decided to create a movie about ASMR.

The short description of his ASMR movie is, “A reclusive ASMR superstar invites an online date to her studio.  A paranoid romance with tingles.”

The film utilizes ASMR as a central theme to explore the meaning of intimacy and trust between individuals and within society.  This demonstrates a great understanding of ASMR by Graeme.  Intimacy and trust are believed by many ASMR video creators, ASMR video viewers, and myself to be at the core of ASMR.

The film is almost ready, but he does need some last minute assistance to complete and launch his production.

In my interview with Graeme he shares his ASMR triggers (with one of the most poetic and accurate descriptions I have heard about what ASMR feels like), his favorite ASMR artists, his inspiration for the film, challenges with creating an ASMR movie, how funding will be used to complete and launch the production, and more.

Below are my questions in bold, his replies in italics, and an Indiegogo link so you can watch clips from the movie and also help support the completion of his production.

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