Reconcile singing practice and respect for barrier gestures? Challenge taken up by a Toulouse aeronautic subcontractor, with the help of a choir director
The Aertec company created a special mask for singers
In the fall, the Chœur de la Pleïade offers a mask to Stéphane Ung, musical director of the Rambouillet masters. This mask is produced in Toulouse by Aertec. Last March, this company rushed into the manufacture of washable masks for the general public.
It has since offered a model in the shape of a parrot’s beak, very light and breathable, “but it slipped as soon as you opened your mouth” explains Stéphane Ung. The choir director then contacted Aertec and asked him to develop a product suitable for singers. The company accepts and its design office launches the tests.
Each sample is then sent to Stéphane Ung and Dominique Faugere-Forceville, salesperson at Aertec but also singer. She explains: “The junction with the chin had to be always made, a bit like a pelican’s beak pocket. But at the beginning, the masks were too big”. Everyone then focuses on the opening of the mouth, but the mask must also hold when the singer closes it. The design office had the idea of creating a bellows, which allows the mask to expand and close, hugging the jaw. “What poses a problem for singers is inspiration, continues Dominique Faugere-Forceville. The tissue should not enter the mouth.” Impossible with Aertec masks. Ultrasonically sewn through the middle, they form like a shell shape. After 17 tries, the singer’s mask is validated! “I had the impression that I had the almost perfect product – the perfect one would be to sing without a mask – which met all the criteria raised: being able to breathe, open your mouth, and as a bonus not having fog on the glasses. thanks to the nose bar “, rejoices Stéphane Ung. He and his students have since adopted him. Most ? There are three different sizes. “It’s day and night with the solutions tampered with before,” says the choir director of the Rambouillet conservatory.
Since then, the singers have given each other the word… Already, 6,000 masks have been made in the Toulouse workshop. “Today, we have a very classy mask which does not alter the sound very much”, concludes Stéphane Ung.
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