###### Screenshot from Jojo ASMR's YouTube channel
The concept of 'ASMR' has been, over the last few years, one of the most used (and to a large extent also abused) within the circle of the sound arts. The term seems by now to have cannibalized the vocabulary relating to 'low-intensity' musics, demonstrating the success and pervasiveness of a phenomenon that, developing on social networks, seems to have reached its first point of maturity. But to be precise, let us start from the basics.
Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response (ASMR) is a deeply engaging mediated sensory experience, characterized by delicate, repetitive sounds capable of inducing states of relaxation and pleasure. The use of audio and video recording technologies plays a fundamental role in constructing the experience, both in order to reach triggers that can affect the viewer and to build a 'digital intimacy' between ASMRtist and spectator.
If in ASMR practices and products the visual part plays an important role in constructing the experience, sound plays a fundamental one. It is not rare to find ASMR videos that ask the viewer to watch 'with eyes closed', or others that instead present macro shots or still frames with a predominance of warm colors, which can enhance the 'relaxing' content of the audio.
For this reason, as well as for the 'sonic' vocation of this space, we will concentrate on the practices and modes of creation of ASMR artists, in an attempt to frame them as parts of an original artistic path, one that has for the first time created a generation of 'do-it-yourself' sound artists, often totally disconnected from musical or artistic practices or contexts.
One of the central elements of ASMR is the use of the voice, which creates a sense of closeness and emotional connection with the viewer. The focus is not so much on the linguistic content as on the sonic quality itself; if the whispered voice, as said, creates a feeling of closeness and intimacy, the skill of an ASMR vocal artist is measured by the ability to master the sonic qualities they can produce with their own mouth, mediated by the amplification of the microphone. The process of amplification is essential not so much for capturing the sonic practice as a main tool of creation: these 'macro-impressions' of low-intensity sounds generate an intense sonic experience that amplifies the listener's affective response. Moreover, the use of stereophony or binaural microphones helps place the listening in a three-dimensional, realistic and enveloping space. For these reasons it is no surprise to see that the ASMR audience is not limited to a language-based reception, with perhaps some peaks for more commonly known languages such as English, but becomes attached in large part to the artists who best manage to use their instruments regardless of the language used.
There are various types of vocal use in ASMR practices, including dry mouth sounds, wet mouth sounds, whispering, soft spoken, tongue clicking.
In mouth sounds, the ASMRtist produces 'dry' sounds, using mainly lips and breath, or 'wet' ones, exploiting the timbral potential of tongue and saliva. The latter in particular take on a particularly interesting role when used in a verbal context, making the speech fragmented, almost inaudible, enriching it with sonic artifacts. As with the clicking of the tongue to interrupt the verbal flow, the use of these techniques once again shows how, often, in ASMR speech is to be understood primarily as a sound source rather than as meaning. But then again, in a soft spoken, speech can instead be used to create an intimate relationship with the listener, for example by talking about personal matters.
Besides the voice, ASMR makes ample use of sounds such as the rustling of paper or fingers, the tapping of nails and the touch of various objects. This sort of foley takes on a new dimension thanks to sound amplification and manipulation technologies, which allow details imperceptible to the naked ear to be heightened. The objects — or, in general, the sonic events — used to create the response in the listener are called, in ASMR practice, 'triggers'. These triggers are created, or sometimes discovered, by ASMR artists, and when they reach a certain pervasiveness they are adopted by other ASMRtists. One case is the 'Coconut Rain', a trigger created by the English angeliclofi ASMR. Presented on social media in the first half of 2024, it quickly became hugely popular and was reinterpreted by dozens of creators around the world, including some of the most famous and influential ASMR artists.
The choice of triggers used can also be tied to specific situations. One of the most popular paths in the ASMR circuit is role-play: through the setting or the choice of triggers and tools, the ASMR session translates into an audiovisual experience situations in which to recreate intimate relationships, whether social interactions or visits to the doctor or the beautician. In the wake of role-play videos, a genre of videos has emerged in which the ASMR atmosphere is recreated by professionals. Searching 'barber shop ASMR' on YouTube as on TikTok, one can see how many barbers or hairdressers improvise as ASMRtists and, through miking, amplify the sounds of the service they offer. This, tied to a studied use of a conveyed aesthetic, is not just a curious marketing idea to promote one's business; through the amplification of the sounds produced, the barber expresses his mastery and precision, bringing to light the details of his practice.
There can also be ASMR sessions that include no voice-related triggers, as the 'no speaking' strand attests. From a purely sonic point of view, this might perhaps be the most interesting side of the very rich production tied to this genre. In these cases artists have the chance to explore the sonic properties of objects even further thanks to the use of contact microphones which, by managing to amplify even deeper layers of the original sources, create a new, deeper level of intimacy with the object.
The creative possibilities of ASMR practice also include a possible live application. In ASMR live shows, in order to recreate that feeling of intimacy and closeness to the sound source, participants wear headphones, thereby losing the kind of visual closeness that camera and screen manage to create. Since the nature of the genre is not so tied to purely semantic stimuli, however, it is not certain that in a possible live translation — or one already in use and simply still unknown to the writer — it might find visual 'triggers' that suit the context in which they are presented.
In any case, no type of ASMR practice is possible without the use of amplification and distortion technologies. This set of practices, in its uniqueness and in its development so peculiar and so detached from — parallel to — the sound arts, represents something singular and still to be explored in depth.
English translation of the Italian original. Read the original →