Helps sleep through visual, auditory, tactile and other stimuli; some of the live performances play a side ball
and the ASMR "sleeper" in the controversial sound
Like a one-act play, a light white halo covers Richard's face from the front right side. He and the left and right microphones are exposed in front of the screen, and the four corners are dim.
"There should be a car going home outside. I hope the background music can cover a little bit of traffic." Richard greeted the camera with a breath.
I lit a candle and approached the microphone. The warm yellow lightly exploded in the glass container. The crackling sound ran into the tympanic membrane of Xiaoxi (pseudonym) through the earphone current. At one o'clock in the morning, the tingling sensation extended from the scalp to the neck, and Xiaoxi's body gradually relaxed. Drowsiness slowly hit.
As a fan of ASMR, what Richard has done gained a nickname he didn't like on the Internet-"Sleepman".
In the middle of the night when more than 300 million people suffer from sleep disorders, the "sleeper" is also hovering in the whirlpool of controversy.
Sound sleep aid
ASMR (Autonomous sensory meridian response), translated in Chinese as spontaneous perceptual meridian response, is simply an emotional physiological response caused by visual, auditory, and tactile stimuli.
This feeling is often described as a pleasant tingling sensation.
Since 2014, Richard, a Chinese Canadian who is still in his first year of university, first recorded ASMR videos in Chinese and slowly introduced this niche hobby to China.
Richard, who has a background in music performance and medicine, occasionally watched a video of an Indian masseur. The audio similar to a haircut made him relax instantly and aroused his curiosity. Then he gradually came into contact with the Australian veteran ASMR performer De Shu and others. video.
"The process of discovering new sounds is a journey full of surprises." Richard became more sensitive to the small sounds around him, the clinking of rice in the glass, the buzzing of the Switch gamepad vibrating, and when the cat was rubbing lightly. The soft rustle...
ASMR trigger types are mainly divided into repeated taps, soft whispers, close contact sounds, and slow hand movements.
At present, a small number of studies believe that touch sounds can form a strong "tingling" (tingles) transmitted through the front of the brain to the limbs of the body, entering a pleasant, calm, and active mental state, improving sleep quality and alleviating chronic pain.
The latest "2021 White Paper on Exercise and Sleep" released by the China Sleep Research Association and other institutions shows that currently more than 300 million people in China have sleep disorders, and about 38% of Chinese adults suffer from insomnia, which is higher than the total number surveyed by the World Health Organization. Insomnia troubles 27% of the world.
At 12 o'clock at night in China, listeners continued to leave messages in the live broadcast room, "I'll be here today, good night." After ASMR was introduced into China, it was used by many listeners as a means of relaxation and sleep promotion.
ASMR enthusiasts are also called "sleeper" by many netizens.
Fight insomnia
At 1:00 in the morning, Xiaoxi (a pseudonym) was lying in the dormitory of the school's six-person dormitory tossing about and unable to sleep.
The sound of ticking water in the bathroom, the whistling wind outside the window, the occasional meowing, the snoring of roommates...all the sounds are magnified a hundred times and stir the nerves that cannot be calmed.
In order to combat insomnia, Xiaoxi does everything, including taking melatonin, playing mobile phones, listening to English, listening to cross talk, counting sheep, running, listening to recordings of physics classes, etc.
In 2016, ASMR gradually expanded its influence in forums, video and audio platforms, and some friends recommended it to Xiaoxi. This sound performance was also known as "earsao" at the time and was said to be effective in helping sleep.
"The first sound was scared." Xiaoxi recalled that it was the first time in his life that he heard a sound so close to him.
But what followed was an extremely obvious physical and psychological reaction. The entire back of the head, the scalp, and the neck were obviously numb, extending all the way to the back of the shoulders.
The excited nerves seemed to have attachment points and were easily controlled, and the creek had a good night's sleep that night.
In the few brain scientific researches on ASMR, there was also a view that the mild irritation caused by ASMR may be due to the fact that some other functional modules of the brain are focused on certain aspects. Caused by automatic shutdown.
Xiaoxi has become a serious ASMR lover, paying attention to the collection of various types of sound works: many rubbing wooden blocks, knocking on cosmetics, turning over books and writing, rubbing clothes corners, etc., almost every night to listen with a sense of ceremony. You can sleep only after you finish.
It is not easy to restore and amplify these subtle sounds without impacting the listeners' ears.
A good radio equipment must have a clean enough noise floor and preserve the original sound to the greatest extent, which requires a lot of cost investment.
Richard, who is also studying piano playing as an undergraduate, has two microphones with a total price of about 6,000 yuan. A few years later, he used the income from ASMR to buy a set of Newman U87 microphones from the 1980s. For the replacement of circuit boards and other projects, Richard rated it as an invaluable collection level.
"For newcomers to enter the pit ASMR, it is recommended that at least 5,000 to 6,000 yuan of equipment be prepared." Richard said.
A good ASMR work is a very magical existence in the audience.
"It's as smooth and relaxing as an electric shock, and it's also like hearing a chorus of a particularly nice song."
Ren Dong, who is in his junior year, has been listening to ASMR since he was in college. UP masters who are not professional enough will suddenly accidentally touch the sharp noises and drop tools. On the contrary, they have no calming effect.
Ren Dong said that he particularly likes the sound of the UP master using the cotton swab to rub the microphone to simulate the ear-picking sound, which will make his muscles feel relaxed.
Retreat
When niche hobbies became popular, some ASMR live performances involving pornography and sideball began to flood the Internet platform.
In 2016, Richard, who is already the core figure of China's ASMR, posted a “de-circle declaration” on the social platform, causing shock.
Richard does not like to refer to them collectively as "sleepers" on the Internet. In addition to obliterating professionalism, "sleepers" associate more commercial and even pornographic information in the network environment.
On the e-commerce platform, search for keywords such as "sleeping", "wake up", and "tree hole", and some shops that specialize in sleeping business popped up to the front row.
Some shops divide male sleep coaxers into "dominant president voice group", "uncle control group" and "big wolf dog voice group" according to their timbre, and female sleep coaxers are divided into "loliyin", "yujieyin" and so on.
The price for sleeping is from RMB 2 for half an hour to RMB 100 for an hour. You can also include a day, a week, or even a month.
Through WeChat, QQ voice, or phone calls, sleep masters have to recite poems, tell stories, sing songs, play games with them, and listen to customers. Some of them involve pornography and play sideball.
On June 8, 2018, the National Anti-pornography Office interviewed the person in charge of many websites such as NetEase Cloud Music, Baidu Netdisk, Station B, Maoer FM, Qingting FM, and requested all platforms to vigorously clean up ASMRs involving pornographic and vulgar issues Content, strengthen supervision and review.
Return
After a few months of "retreat", Richard decided to return to the field to "resist."
He and the fans in the circle clearly limit the non-soft pornographic content to "Qing Shui Xiang" ASMR, and gradually introduce more ways to help the audience relax.
With the recovery of the field, Richard introduced the "478 Breathing Method" in the live broadcast and finished works to inhale for 4 seconds, hold the breath for 7 seconds, and finally exhale for 8 seconds to adjust the parasympathetic nerves through breathing, and stimulate the body to produce "yawning" sleepiness Sense; “Pay attention to the following numbers”, which reflects the numbers read by the anchor to distract tight attention; the situational interpretation guides to achieve a relaxing effect; the last is a positive psychological suggestion in a whisper, “You are good, you are confident” .
"When the numbers come to mind, I will feel happy." The new method Xiaoxi is very useful.
Richard said that after entering the ASMR circle for 7 years, what he has gained is the relaxation and tranquility when he is keenly aware and focused on the work, and can share the things he likes with more people, and the power of this tranquility has also been amplified.
Affected by ASMR, Richard, who is studying for a doctor of medicine, decided to focus on research in the direction of psychology in September this year. In the future, he hopes to do some research for the academicization of ASMR, including image guidance, progressive relaxation, hypnosis, and meditation. A variety of content, such as those, can be used as a psychological treatment method to improve sleep quality, improve depression symptoms and even relieve chronic pain, not just a joke called "sleeping" in the entertainment area of the video platform.
On the evening of March 20th, on the eve of World Sleep Day, the audience in Richard’s live broadcast room rarely came out to speak, and did not give much rewards. He ranked 54th on the platform’s live broadcast rankings that night. “It’s natural to let you relax and have a good night’s sleep. Best." Richard said.
Beijing News reporter Ma Jinqian, intern Wang Jingxi, video reporter Guo Weijing Ruyue, Li Xintong, intern Wang Fangjie