#which is very similar to a 3dio

[anime-scarves]

This is a little bit more DiY that I had anticipated but here is the mic I ordered. Just need to get a soldering iron and I can have it working.

[bilm-flog]

Research: ASMR - Part 1

Searching for ‘binaural audio’ on YouTube brings up a mass of videos some people might find pretty unusual. ASMR videos (Audio Sensory Meridian Response) are a new-ish phenomenon very popular on YouTube. They’re designed to provide a pleasing audio experience, with the ASMRtists themselves speaking softly or whispering into a camera, often tapping on or brushing things to create calming, hypnotic sounds. These videos are often used to help people sleep or relax, to soothe anxiety or stress, or just as a pleasing background noise. Some find them creepy, some find them relaxing. 

Here’s a quick video explaining what ASMR is, though it’s not very relevant to my point here. 

ASMR is useful in my own research because of its huge focus on audio, especially on creating a binaural audio experience. It’s interesting to look to these creators to see the equipment they work with and how effective that is. In effect, it’s doing my equipment and technique research for me, providing me with a wealth of secondary research sources. 

Therefore, ASMR can help me with several things; what equipment to use, what editing software to use, how to achieve the best audio quality and how to improve and edit this audio. 

Most ASMRtists use similar equipment to one another and alternate depending on the effect they wish to achieve, their audience and personal preference, affordability and professionalism, etc. The most popular kit used is one to two microphones usually rhode, ZoomH6, tascam and the 3DIO. 

Here’s a video of a guy rubbing his beard against a rhode microphone. He uses two microphones to create the illusion of him interacting with either ear and alternating. To create the gravelly, rubbing sound that he’s after, the ridges of the microphones are ideal for this situation. They also create a high quality sound due to their professional nature, but will also both have a separate audio channel that must be synced up both with one another and the visuals. This creates a challenge for editing as its a lot more to work with than many of the other methods would provide. 

Here’s a video of a lovely microphone tapping and whatever with a 3Dio. For ASMR, a 3dio is pretty much perfect. The microphones are within a rubber cast of an ear, which allows for really direct interaction and realistic sound creating. You’ll find plenty of very uncomfortable videos of people covering these ears with foam or bubbles, scraping away face masks and stuff because it literally sounds like everything is right in your ear. Therefore, this obviously creates the most realistic binaural experience possible, however, for the sake of actual filmmaking, its a little too intimate. For a more audio performance such as what I’m creating, it may be useful to a degree. Some also complain that the audio sounds too contained and tinny due to the casing of the microphones within. While the audio is crisp due to the complete lack of echoing, it also sounds unrealistic and, to some, claustrophobic. 

I’ll leave you with an hour long video of someone carving a 3dio microphone out of a wall to fully understand what I mean by crisp, but claustrophobic. 

Here’s a video of a woman combing her tascam, or whatever. Comments on the video remark that the quality of the audio is excellent and, indeed, it does sound pretty good. The tascam does have a double mic plug in thing on the side which allows for a binaural recording with two microphones, similar to the first set up with the rhode microphone. Similarly, the more compact, Zoom-esque tascam has two microphones built in, though it is designed for a much more up close recording due to its size and sensitivity. However, I also knwo from personal experience working with Shaun and the tascam that its volume and sensitivity can be very finnicky. When compared with the Zoom, the audio has always been far lower and more muffled, making it harder to work with in a filmmaking context as there is so much less room for maneuverability.