AES News

AES members will have the exclusive opportunity to join Claudia Nader Jaime on Wednesday, July 22 for a live, Encore online Q&A to cover topics from the popular AES Virtual Vienna Convention session, “Binaural Sound in ASMR-inducing Media and Wellbeing”. Beginning Friday, July 19, video playback of the session will be available to members for on-demand streaming through the AES Member Portal. The presentation will be livestreamed at 11AM EDT on July 22 with the live Q&A immediately following. The Zoom link to the live Encore replay and Q&A will be available on the AES Member Portal on Wednesday, the 22nd.

“An experience known as Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response (ASMR) is attributed to a series of physiological and psychological responses to sensorial stimuli such as whispering, tapping, and scratching,” begins Nader Jaime, a PhD Candidate and Graduate Teaching Assistant at the University of York, in the presentation’s abstract. “This term has gained popularity through social media platforms, where content producers share videos that include these types of sound triggers. Scientists have started exploring potential causes and benefits of this experience in people’s wellbeing, because users report finding ASMR-inducing media helpful to cope with stress and decrease mild mental disorders including anxiety, depression and insomnia. It has been observed that ASMRtists, as these media producers are commonly referred to, frequently use binaural microphones in their content production. However, there is scarce evidence that suggests that the use of binaural sound might be related to potentially stronger ASMR experiences, thus more health benefits. This tutorial presents an analysis of common triggers and diverse sound formats found in ASMR-inducing videos, as well as links to wellbeing indicators through user experience.”

The Encore series of members-only events brings noted presenters of popular, enlightening and even historic AES events together with AES members for online dialog. On August 24, the next in the series will feature one of AES’s most consistently lauded convention contributors, Alex Case. An AES Past President, author and educator, Case’s presentation “The Lead Vocal – Record and Mix Strategies” is a “structured discussion of the key elements of art, craft, and technology that will empower you to develop your own creative strategies for recording and mixing the lead vocal.” Session playback will begin at 8PM EDT with the live Q&A following at 9PM.