Month: April 2023

Sleeping With ASMR

The video quality for this one is a tad poor. And perhaps I don’t mean a tad. However it is quite different to what we have had before and it is partly because of its age and its purpose. This one is recorded (to video cassette tape I assume) in 1996 and reflects its time I think.

The sound quality is actually not as bad as in some of the other videos I have already featured on this blog (and no doubt many to come). There is no loud equipment noises in the background for example.

It is designed to inform/educate and as such is calm and unadulterated by extraneous sounds (such as a snazzy backing track for example). It’s recorded at the University of Michigan – Department of Neurology, February 16th 1996.

The Neurologic Exam part 1

This video is of sufficient quality that it crops up in a number of ASMR video compilations which are the kind of ASMR videos I do not watch anymore. It is too much like a box of sweets in which a good twenty percent of the sweets you do not like. Compilation videos are complicated by the fact that no one seems to be able to get the inter-clip volumes to agree. If you start off at a quiet sleep-friendly volume you can be woken sometime later by an individual with a predisposition to bellow. This is John Wald and Douglas Gelb in a demonstration of how to run a Neurologic Exam but who (presumably inadvertently) have good voices for ASMR. In this I feel that Douglas edges out John slightly. Which is good news because in this video he also does the majority of the talking.

Johnwaldmd is the channel (presumably the John Wald MD in the video footage although somewhat more advanced in years I would suggest). I’m guessing a great many of the people who watch the ASMR video compilations were probably as yet unborn when this video was first recorded.

There are only seven videos in this channel and it is obvious that we will not be looking at many of those; some of them appear to appeal to quite a narrow audience (probably family and friends).

I think we can consign four of these into the metaphorical ASMR bin without further review, leaving the above one and two others. Part two of the above presentation:

The Neurologic Examination part 2

This is the “review” section which effectively is giving instruction on how to perform the neurologic exam. In my view this is not as wonderful from an ASMR perspective so I think it won’t make the grade for the playlist.

There is also this video:

VTS 01 0

This is both silent and only 30 seconds long so it may have been some kind of test…

So one video only this time around folks.

On that basis I have not created a playlist for johnwaldmd.

The overall playlist containing all the videos featured in this blog is here:

I hope that you find it relaxing.

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Photo by Daniel-Eduard Doman on Unsplash

Sleeping With ASMR

I realise that for people who have not been following (the ASMR theme on) this blog since the beginning might find this to be nonsense. For such people, a bit of background. With each blog article I review a video (mostly videos located on YouTube) for its ability to either produce ASMR symptoms or to be restful enough to aid in sleep. At the end of which the video either gets added to The Procrastination Pen playlist or it does not. The assumption is that ASMR aficionados will just go straight to the playlist and listen, but some of you may like to read the material before doing that.

For an idea of where this all began take a look at the initial ASMR blog post which will give you an idea.

I think we are on more solid ground today as this one is back firmly in the medical exam area.

The channel is Ryann McCarty and sadly for us is not going to be a rich resource of ASMR material. In fact, there is one playlist of music videos entitled Rye and the video that we are featuring today entitled:

Ryann McCarty Student Nurse health assessment performance

So this is all you get today I’m afraid – look at it as an appetiser – keeping you keen to see yet more. (Yes, that didn’t sound that accurate to me either). Posted in 2017 and nothing posted on this channel subsequently. (The music playlist was last updated in 2020). Hopefully Ryann is out there doing more important things with her life. The sleeve badge seems to be for Suny Downstate College of Nursing, only sometime subsequently they’ve had a rebrand.

Ryann announces herself at the beginning so we’re pretty certain this is the Ryann we’re talking about. Initially her voice is a bit loud but once the examination starts it begins to settle down (although I don’t think she will ever be a Hollie Berry).

At intervals, (despite the constant air conditioning sounds in the background) I found myself quite calmed by it.

At one stage the person behind the camera starts laughing which is a little disconcerting. (It is easy to forget that there will always be a third person in each of these one-to-one encounters due to the presence of the camera).

I also liked the comment about cold hands – one feature of using alcohol-based hand sanitiser is that your hands get properly freezing – although in other videos I have featured in the past the medical professional does warn the patient about the incoming iceberg.

The notes state “Week 6 lab- Final health assessment performance”. I’m not sure how the education process works but if Ryann achieved this level of proficiency after merely 6 weeks of education then I am impressed.

In all quite a charming short piece at twenty minutes and fourteen seconds. Worthy of adding to the Procrastination Pen playlist I think.

The overall playlist of all videos featured so far in this blog is here:

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Photo by Hana Oliver on Unsplash

Sleeping With ASMR

Here I’m being completely unfair – I stick with the medical theme for ages and then change tack without warning.

What can I say? This was a YouTube suggestion I watched and I liked. That said it is outside the normal progress of ASMR blog items and so is a bit of a wildcard. I’ve included it because some readers may well like it.

There is also an associated website.

Woodblock Printing Process … in 3-D spatial audio

David has a reasonable ASMR voice not quite Dr James Gill, but still pretty good for ASMR. The video is not subdivided into sections and so it is to be hoped YouTube will not intrude with one of their noisier adverts.

There is a great write up in the notes about what was involved and the aim of the video – this is somewhat more than we have been used to of late – some of the videos reviewed recently having nothing in the way of notes (and sometimes just one sentence).

It is interesting to hear how much of a noise problem there is where David is trying to work. The sort of thing that makes me fear city breaks. That kind of outside noise would be enough to keep me awake for days.

I’m also in admiration that he can get up at 3am and still function. At that hour I would be an incommunicative zombie.

David obviously has a great deal more patience than I have.

After the intro there is no speech, so it’s an unusual one for me as I prefer people talking quietly. Think of this as a treat for people who get ASMR from brushing sounds, paper sounds, scrubbing sounds and so on.

There is a certain magic in watching the image emerge, a privilege I would not normally have as I’d be listening to the video rather than watching it.

As such I think this one is going to need special treatment as it does not really belong in the existing playlist. It’s more an ASMR item blogged for other people rather than myself.

At nearly one and one quarter hours this is a bit of a mammoth and probably stands on it’s own. However I am in the habit now of reviewing the channel on which it is found for any other ASMR-related content.

David Bull is the channel also the name of the person doing the carving.

I make it one hundred and thirty five videos at the current time, which is rather too many for a blog item. Given this is a diversion from the main subject I had better strongly limit this for fear of rebuke and shock-horror loss of reading public.

Sadly I can’t find a playlist (provided by David) that includes this one.

The playlists available include:

I think not to test your patience too much, I’m going to focus on the last one as it contains only four videos (however I fully intend to return to David’s channel in the future).

Creation of the Fox Moon woodblock print

Ukiyoe Heroes (11) : Fox Moon – preparation for carving

This video starts with David again, as we have established, he has quite a good voice. The printer though is not at all good in terms of ASMR.

This, unlike the previous one, is narrated and so is much more in keeping with our normal ASMR video.

Ukiyoe Heroes (12) : Fox Moon – carving the key block

David has a cold so less talking sadly. The carving is fascinating but of course usually I would not be watching it. There is persistent background noise – possibly air conditioning.

There is also a guest appearance from David’s neighbour.

The speed of the carving activity is quite extraordinary.

Ukiyoe Heroes (13) : Fox Moon – carving the colour blocks

This consists of initial impression taking. That is in which the key block is covered with black pigment and a test print taken. This is lovely to watch but for us that isn’t really the point. There is a radio or similar playing in the background at intervals.

This is quite chilled and quiet, much better with the narration – well until the hammering starts anyway.

Ukiyoe Heroes (14) : Fox Moon – proof printing

This is the more fun stage in terms of visuals in that you start to see the images building up. There is some kind of background fan type noise happening. It is again very calm and if it was on theme would probably be top of the pops. However carving wasn’t really what I was trying to achieve.

I think the way to manage this is to create a David Bull playlist and not to add these ones to the overall playlist.

The David Bull playlist is here:

The overall playlist (which this time does not include the items featured in this blog post, but does include those from previous blog posts) is here:

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Photo by Sarah Dorweiler on Unsplash