Newswise — SEATTLE, December 1, 2021 -- When singers generate beautiful notes, they can also release harmful particles like the coronavirus. Wearing a mask prevents virus transmission, but it also affects the sound.
Thomas Moore, from Rollins College, will discuss his observations of a professional soprano singing with and without six types of masks at the 181st Meeting of the Acoustical Society of America, which will be held Nov. 29-Dec. 3. The talk, "Aerosol propagation and acoustic effects while singing with a face mask," will take place Wednesday, Dec. 1 at 12:40 p.m. Eastern U.S. at the Hyatt Regency Seattle as part of a session on making music during a pandemic.
Moore found masks effectively block aerosols, forcing the breath to exit at the sides. From there, the aerosols travel upward, rising with the upward flow of body heat from the singer. The dispersal of breath likely dilutes the virus and prevents the spread of COVID-19.
At low frequencies, masks reduced volume but did not have other effects on the singing. However, masks did reduce the power of higher frequencies, which made the enunciation of words less clear and altered the timbre. Masks had no effect on the pitch.
One of the masks tested, a singer's mask, was designed specifically with singers in mind. All six masks blocked the forward flow of breath, but the singer's mask did so with the least change in sound.
"A normal cloth mask can reduce the high frequencies by as much as 10 times, but a singer's mask will reduce them by a factor of less than two," said Moore.
Diluting virus-causing aerosols is key to reducing infection and the spread of the COVID-19 virus. Although Moore found the breath still escaped the sides of the masks, its rise into the air and subsequent dispersal lowers the risk compared to singing without a mask. He said this emphasizes how good air flow in a room is critical for preventing viral risk.
###
----------------------- MORE MEETING INFORMATION -----------------------
USEFUL LINKS
Main meeting website: https://acousticalsociety.org/asa-meetings/
Technical program: https://eventpilotadmin.com/web/planner.php?id=ASAFALL21
Press Room: http://acoustics.org/world-wide-press-room/
Follow conference highlights with social media hashtag #ASA181
WORLDWIDE PRESS ROOM
In the coming weeks, ASA's Worldwide Press Room will be updated with additional tips on dozens of newsworthy stories and with lay language papers, which are 300-500 word summaries of presentations written by scientists for a general audience and accompanied by photos, audio, and video. You can visit the site during the meeting at http://acoustics.org/world-wide-press-room/.
PRESS REGISTRATION
We will grant free registration to credentialed journalists and professional freelance journalists. If you are a reporter and would like to attend, contact the AIP Media Line at 301-209-3090. For urgent requests, staff at [email protected] can also help with setting up interviews and obtaining images, sound clips or background information.
VIRTUAL MEDIA BRIEFINGS
Press briefings will be held virtually during the conference. Credentialed media can register in advance by emailing [email protected] and include your full name and affiliation in the message. The official schedule will be announced as soon as it is available and registered attendees will be provided login information via email.
ABOUT THE ACOUSTICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA
The Acoustical Society of America (ASA) is the premier international scientific society in acoustics devoted to the science and technology of sound. Its 7,000 members worldwide represent a broad spectrum of the study of acoustics. ASA publications include The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America (the world's leading journal on acoustics), Acoustics Today magazine, books, and standards on acoustics. The society also holds two major scientific meetings each year. For more information about ASA, visit our website at http://www.acousticalsociety.org.
###
RSS