I wrote a review of the Buff Multifunctional Headwear for issue #138 of Tape Op, but based on a study done at Duke University and reported on by the Washington Post today, I am retracting that review and recommending that you do NOT use the Buff Headwear in the recording studio as it does not provide a safe barrier from Covid-19 particles and may actually be counterproductive. According to the Washington Post article, “The high droplet count reported in the Duke study could be linked to the neck gaiter’s porous fabric breaking up bigger particles into many little ones that are more likely to hang around in the air longer. This effect makes wearing them possibly counterproductive. It’s not the case that any mask is better than nothing, there are some masks that actually hurt rather than do good.”
I still like my Buff Multifunctional Headwear for physically distanced solo outdoor activities but I do not recommend that you use them in the studio. I apologize to anybody who purchased one for that purpose based on my recommendation. Thank you to the Duke University researchers for doing this study and I hope we see more science and fact based information like this in the coming weeks made public to help us deal with the Covid-19 Pandemic. Reliable and factual information made public like this would make this music recording magazine writer feel like I don’t need to try and give people advice on how to be safe. Links to the article and study are below.
- John Baccigaluppi
https://advances.sciencemag.org/content/early/2020/08/07/sciadv.abd3083
https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/wellness/mask-test-duke-covid/2020/08/10/4f2bb888-db18-11ea-b205-ff838e15a9a6_story.html
