A caveat: they need more microphones in the auditorium, especially when people are so spread out. Masks, and horn masks, do seem to impair sound quality a bit, but I think that was a lesser issue than not getting a clean mix now and then.
It was good to watch.
Handbells seem to be tricky things. I didn't know they could do some of the things the performers made them do. But all my life handbells have always seemed like a strange fit into the music. They tend to come out at Christmas--maybe they aren't ideal for the timing of choral-derived works, or maybe the precise deadening of them takes more practice than a once-a-year instrument gets. The smaller/higher bells don't fill the note very well--for my ear, anyway. The tubular bells seem to sound better, but it's harder to get them to shut up when the note's done.
Which sends me off on a rabbit track, of course. I assume somebody has already tried to put a piano-type action on a set of tubular bells--it would be easier than a carillon system and those aren't uncommon. It would be bigger more delicate than the bell set, since you'd want the bells exposed and that would expose the hammer and damper assemblies too.
Following the rabbit a little farther maybe solves my original puzzle. Maybe I'm hearing (with untrained ear) the difference between strike note and resonance and how they fit in the mix. The tubular bells are designed with clear pitches; the handbells inevitably provide several notes. I like bells; they just seem a bit out of place in some works.
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