Brass Chamber Music During Covid - Metropolitan Opera Brass and bell covers!!!

     One thing that being a student during the pandemic meant, especially as someone who relies on air to make my instrument work, was protective equipment was required to make playing my instrument safe around others in a time where being in close contact was still experimental and even a little taboo. The way this protective equipment, or PPE as it was called, manifested for me was in the form of a mask (pretty standard) and a bell cover, essentially a trumpet diaper. In the included video below, you can observe the musicians instruments adorned with these covers, which are Met branded meaning they are way cooler than the ones my undergraduate institution made us use! In all seriousness, outdoor rehearsals and bell covers were a new reality, at least for a little while, and they presented novel challenges. The bell covers, though made of a thin and stretchy material, totally changed the blow of the trumpet for me, and presented some serious calibration issues, especially in ensembles where projection was required. Over time, these articles were phased out and eventually no longer required, but they will always remain in the mind of music students from that period. The below video is of the Metropolitan Opera brass section, performing outdoors and with bell covers. They manage to still sound fantastic, but again, the branded bell covers tell the whole story.