Hungarian Orchestra Conductor Invents Music-enhancing Face Mask

“I got to this idea that it should look like a hand because when we put our hands here…” he said, cupping his palms around his ears, “… we always understand the other person easier, we hear the consonants, and the music sounds much more beautiful.”

Speaking as the orchestra rehearsed for an evening of Beethoven and Strauss, Fischer – the chief of the Budapest Festival Orchestra – said his masks help to emulate church acoustics, with warmer undertones and clearer, sharper contours.

Fischer’s invention is proving popular with concertgoers, with dozens of people wearing the mask as they took their seats at Friday’s performance.

The acoustic mask, which costs 8,000 forints ($27) if ordered through the orchestra’s website, comes in glittery and black and white versions.