 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Chris Hill
Date: 2006-01-24 02:23
I've discovered some of the positives and negatives of being a "Mature" (i.e. over 40 Y.O) clarinetist. As I was sitting down to practice Mahler 1, I saw "Schalltr. in die hohe." Being "mature", I know that it means bells up. That's a positive. The negative is that when I held my head up a little bit to have some control, I was looking under my bifocals. This meant that I saw a really neat design, which is a positive, but I couldn't read the music, which is a big negative. I thought about it, and realized that if I were to get some of those really big 1980's glasses and have them made into bifocals, I could see the music, which is a positive. These glasses are ugly, which is a negative. Being 45, I have a pair of 1980's glasses in my house, which is both a positive and a negative, for obvious reasons.
I thought I was going to be 25 forever! What happened?
Chris
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Author: Alseg
Date: 2006-01-24 04:05
Wait til you reach FIFTY.
Trifocals are worse.
Of course, at 55 you can use your AARP discount card.
(For those who have not met Chris, I can tell you......he does not look a day over 44!)
Former creator of CUSTOM CLARINET TUNING BARRELS by DR. ALLAN SEGAL
-Where the Sound Matters Most(tm)-
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Author: Bob Phillips
Date: 2006-01-24 05:44
Poseur!
You are at least 20-years short of being "mature." Heck, kid, I'll bet you don't even know what you'll want to be when you grow up.
BTW:
Many of my more mature colleagues have special mono-focals made up just for reading music. They get them set so that they can see a stand full of music shared with someone sitting alongside.
Of course, this makes the conductor look a little blurry; but we live with it.
This whole special glasses thing also challenges the rest of our maturity: we forget to bring them to rehearsals.
Bob Phillips
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Author: Alseg
Date: 2006-01-24 13:33
My trifocals were designed for "mid" vision set at focal distance for the music stand.
They work well for computer screen distance as well.
I tried astygmatic contact lenses (to please Mrs. S.) for social functions.
I still needed "reader" glasses (for playbill, menu, etc) and a separate pair set for mid distance for music.
Guess what.....the contacts usually stay in their little containers in a drawer and only see the light of my moo cow eyeballs when I am coerced into wearing them. I hate em.
At least no one on this thread mentioned the dreaded prostate as yet.
Former creator of CUSTOM CLARINET TUNING BARRELS by DR. ALLAN SEGAL
-Where the Sound Matters Most(tm)-
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Author: Don Berger
Date: 2006-01-24 13:40
Holy Smokes, fellas, where do we [few] over 80's retired-tooters fit into the age-pattern ??? Its still fun, but exasperating on occasion, difficult parts ! I have several eye-glass choices, sometimes am confuzed . Playing alto and bass cls, have no problems with the "bells-up" suggestion. Don
Thanx, Mark, Don
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Author: LarryBocaner ★2017
Date: 2006-01-24 13:52
Tried bifocals and progressives--neither worked well for orchestra playing. I finally settled for dedicated "music glasses" with a focal length of about 30 inches. Sure, the conductor is a little fuzzy, but what the hey!
I've been told that Alice Chalifoux, wonderful harpist of the Cleveland Orchestra for eons, was severely nearsighted. Glasses correcting her vision to be able to read the music left the conductor a mere blur! Worked for her!
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Author: John O'Janpa
Date: 2006-01-24 14:07
I had a pair of the monofocals made for me. They work well even with the conductor a little blurry. The first practice I used them, I forgot to switch back to my bifocals. When I started to drive home, all the trees and other cars were very blurry. It took me about 10 seconds to realize why.
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Author: BobD
Date: 2006-01-24 14:13
To paraphrase an old post, "Watching the conductor only encourages him."
Bob Draznik
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Author: J B Lansing
Date: 2006-01-24 14:25
Boy I don't know! As a retread I took 42 years Off! It can be an advantage to have a blurry conductor. Some are no matter what.
J B
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Author: Brenda Siewert
Date: 2006-01-24 15:14
Well, Allan, I haven't had any prostate problems, but do have the astygmatic condition you mentioned. After several years of trying to find contact lenses that worked for me, I gave up when the last pair stuck on my eyeball and I had to go in for emergency removal. It resulted in an eye infection that lasted over a year--so glasses are the ticket now.
I've found that bifocals (not trifocals yet, although I'm over 50), are more of a pain than I care for. They make you trip on the stairs and probably encourage drooling at dinner. I also didn't like the strain they put on my eyes when having to look down all the time. So, I work with two pairs of glasses; one for reading and music one for distance and driving. It's not the best situation, but one I work with. When on stage for concerts I have the reading glasses and everyone out in the audience is a blur. That doesn't bother me a bit.
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Author: Gandalfe
Date: 2006-01-24 16:00
I play with a group of saxophone players with the average age in the fifties. We each prefer our own stands and when we have to share a stand the youngsters (in their twenties) usually cut us some slack. I envy their ability to read out of the corner of their eyes.
BTW our youngsters are music majors in peformance. The rest of us are late bloomers who are more passionate about playing the music than we are good.
Jim and Suzy
Pacifica Big Band
Seattle, Washington
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Author: susieray
Date: 2006-01-24 17:18
I needed trifocals (I'm 51) but I didn't want to get the huge 80's frames, and the smaller styles just don't work too well for that. I tried the progressive lenses and they made me feel like I was gonna barf. So I ended up going with a pair of bifocals; the top part of the lens is for driving, and lower part for reading at music stand distance (about 32" from my eyes). I definitely need my own stand, since I need it to be at just the right distance, or else it's all out of focus. I've got astigmatism too so I really was having a terrible time reading music without glasses.
But then the bifocals don't work at all for just the usual around-the-house stuff, so I don't wear glasses at all most of the time at home.
I also have a separate pair for reading and close work, but I keep misplacing them. I guess I'll have to start wearing them around my neck.
Sue
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Author: Brenda Siewert
Date: 2006-01-24 18:32
Sue, I have a couple of pairs in various parts of the house so I can find them. An old pair stays on my computer desk and another on my nightstand by my bed so I can read myself to sleep at night. Gag--don't we sound old? When I was a kid in the 60s I'm the kind we worried about.
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Author: tictactux ★2017
Date: 2006-01-24 18:52
My mother too has progressive lenses. The first few days she always felt slightly nauseated but then got used to them. Took about one week. No problems since.
--
Ben
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Author: susieray
Date: 2006-01-24 19:48
Ben, One of the other problems I had with the progressive lenses was that it was pretty impossible for me to read music with them. To read from side to side, or from the bottom of one page to the top of the next, I had to move my whole head rather than just my eyes, and that got old really quick.
And Brenda, we ARE old! And not only that, but we are really stupid AND embarrassing to be around. Just ask my 17 year old daughter. ![[wink]](http://test.woodwind.org/clarinet/BBoard/smileys/smilie3.gif)
On the other hand, my 32 year old son has suddenly realized that as the years go by, he gets closer and closer to being in the same age group as I am. ![[grin]](http://test.woodwind.org/clarinet/BBoard/smileys/smilie5.gif)
Sue
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Author: Brenda Siewert
Date: 2006-01-24 19:55
Yeah, and my 3 granddaughters think I'm the greatest and wish they could live with me! My son can't figure it out.
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Author: Kel
Date: 2006-01-24 20:30
Those of us who were blessed with cataracts now just go to the discount store and experiment with cheap reading glasses to find the proper magnification and lense size for reading music. It's really nice to have good distant vision without glasses.
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Author: swkeess
Date: 2006-01-24 21:27
I'm another over-50 with monofocal music reading glasses who forgot to change back after rehearsal and found the drive back home to be rather fuzzy. I thought that my eyes had changed dramatically and that I would need a new pair of bifocals! It helps to have color-coded glass cases - now I have a purple case just for my music glasses. Of course, now that I have to write down everything that I need to remember, the music glasses have to be included. Hmm, if only I could remember where to find the list...
Susan Keess
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Author: David Spiegelthal ★2017
Date: 2006-01-24 21:43
One advantage I've found (at 48) to being "mature", is that I really can't hear how bad I sound. I'm comfortable with that............
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Author: Grant
Date: 2006-01-24 22:53
I too was "blessed" with cataracts, I have one set of cheap narrow drugstore glasses ($12) that fit in my clarinet case. The only problem I have is I need to use my regular bifocals to put on my reed or work on anything
close. The clear distance viewing was grat at the beach last summer though.Using narrow glasses gives me a good view of the conductor over the top.
Peace on Earth and May You always have a reed that PLAYS.
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Author: ghuba
Date: 2006-01-26 16:42
If you wear bifocals -- and especially progressive bifocals -- just about any optician these days can make you a pair of what are called "computer bifocals." The top part of the progressive lens is set to focus at about 22-36 inches (the distance to a computer screen) and the bottom part is your normal reading prescription. So, technically these are best used for distances from six inches to about 42 inches. These cost the same as other progressive lens. Just about any optician, including the one-hour folks at the mall, can make these.
Computer glasses work well for computer screens and music stands and also permit you to read fine print in front of your nose (think little tiny copyrights on the bottom of the page). I have used a pair for about 18 months. If you wear regular progressive bifocals as I do, it is virtually impossible to find the "sweet spot" for seeing a computer screen (or music stand) without tilting your head at an odd angle. Because of the special use of these glasses, you can also have special antireflective coatings put on them that are especially effective with indoor lighting.
George
Post Edited (2006-01-26 16:47)
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Author: dundee
Date: 2006-01-27 14:04
Just smiling at your replies. Been swabing out a clarinet for 70 yrs. since last September. Still play in the Central Az Community Band and the Prescott Az Chamber Music Society.
Howard Myers
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Author: bill28099
Date: 2006-01-27 14:22
I'm in the same situation as George having had a pair of computer bifocals made a number of years ago but do not use the progessive type. My first pair was set to focus at 18" which is great for computers but a bit too close for music, my current pair is 24" and is fine for the clarinet but too close for the bass. When these lenses get all scratched up I'm going to try a pair at 28" and hope they work well in all three applications.
A great teacher gives you answers to questions
you don't even know you should ask.
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Author: Don Berger
Date: 2006-01-27 14:43
Welcome Howard [dundee? Scotland??], we are of the same generation. Several years ago, our elder son gave me a [car] license frame, saying 70 Years of Woodwinds which I "show-off" proudly. Am in the stage of giving-away, selling-off parts on my collection [over the years], to be ready for "downsizing" to "retirement village" living space. Ah Memories, Don
Thanx, Mark, Don
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Author: ghuba
Date: 2006-01-27 15:15
You might want to try progressives. It took me about 20 minutes -- at most -- to get used to them the first time. Other folks I have known who wore standard bifocals for years have told me it took them a day or two to feel comfortable with progressives. The mall opticial outlets tend to do progressives fairly inexpensively.
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Author: amys
Date: 2006-01-27 19:22
I am extremely near-sighted and wear contact lenses. I just recently developed presbyopia (Old eyes) and now have to wear reading glasses over my contacts. You might want to try multifocal contact lenses. Each lens corrects for both problems. I tried them and they really do work.
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Author: tictactux ★2017
Date: 2010-10-07 08:54
I just attained the next level of maturity - finally went to see the eye doc and got me a prescription as my "traffic vision" was getting borderline irresponsible. ![[whoa]](http://test.woodwind.org/clarinet/BBoard/smileys/smilie10.gif)
As a short-term solution I ordered cheap single vision glasses, they're perfect for driving, and for the first time I noticed that each car has a different number on its back and that they actually put only one bulb in each of the traffic lights (and not some five as it seemed). There's an amazingly crisp world out there.
Now...bifocals or progressives? From what I gather, progressives don't do great with music on a stand. Or progressives plus special music glasses?
--
Ben
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Author: Bob Bernardo
Date: 2010-10-07 11:11
Chris you sure got me laughing! It's 4 AM here in Calfornia, I was half asleep before reading your great humor!
By the way remember when I was 24 and you were still in high school? Those were the good days! No glasses, we had hair on our heads, I was having fun playing in the Air Force Band, you were becoming a very gifted musician. We were dating cute girls....
What the hell happened to us Chris?
Designer of - Vintage 1940 Cicero Mouthpieces and the La Vecchia mouthpieces
Yamaha Artist 2015
Post Edited (2010-10-07 11:24)
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Author: Bob Bernardo
Date: 2010-10-07 11:19
Oh, I never thought in a million years I would need those plus 3 glasses to put a reed on the mouthpiece. Then you have to change the glasses to plus 2 so you can see the music! When your reed starts to need some attention you through on the plus 3's do some reed magic and go back to the plus 2's. Who says God doesn't have a sense of humor?
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Author: DavidBlumberg
Date: 2010-10-07 11:23
I had a choice when I was checking out contact lenses - see the music clearly, or see the conductor clearly.
Though there is/was an obvious choice of the two, it would have also made seeing signs at a distance harder, so I gave up on them.
;)
(that was back in the 90's - lenses have improved since)
http://www.SkypeClarinetLessons.com
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Author: ohsuzan
Date: 2010-10-07 13:14
Ben,
I agree with those who find the progressive lenses difficult to use when reading music. Unless you sit very, very still, the score is going to come in and out of focus all the time. Just doesn't work.
That said, I have eyeglasses with progressive lenses for "everyday" use, plus a pair of single-vision contact lenses that I use with readers for reading music. If you get half-lenses in the readers, you can peer over the top at the director, too.
But I still feel that I would like to have a pair of dedicated single-vision music-reading glasses, for those times when for reasons of tiredness or irritation I can't wear the contact lenses.
If practicality were the only consideration, I would say get a pair of progressives for general use, and a pair of single-vision music-reading glasses. The contact lenses are just for vanity.
Susan
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Author: William
Date: 2010-10-07 14:26
I've been "mature" for about 25 yrs--I'll be 70 in a couple of weeks--and what I have been using for a long time are simply those "reading" eye glasses you can buy at any drug store. They are cheap and come in various strengths, so all you have to do is pick a pair that let you read at your music's length and they will work just fine. I can see the whole page--a real problem with my progressive specs--and to see the conductor (at those rare times I need to, lol) I simply look over the tops. He/she is kind of blurry, but they are never that definative in their motions anyhow, so no problem. My specs also work well in "bells up" situations or for reading those ridiculously low danceband stands that our Retro Swing Band insists on using. I have a pair of these drugstore glasses--250+ strengths--in all of my instrument cases (4) so I am never caught without them on a gig. For all other vision enhancement, I rely on my prescription progressive glasses. BTW, I always assemble my instruments and put the reed on the mouthpiece using my prescription lens, then switch to my "readers" for the gig. This works well for me--hope it's useful for you.
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Author: Wes
Date: 2010-10-07 20:15
The cheap drugstore glasses don't fit my vision needs. However, I find that the online Zenni prescription glasses are great. Single vision prescription glasses can cost $8.95 plus $5 shipping with a better physical fit and wider range of styles and sizes than from the local optometrist. Dark sunglasses cost $5 more so I keep a supply of distance, music reading, and sun glasses in my car as well as at home. They are super but take two weeks for delivery.
Good luck!!
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Author: Caroline Smale
Date: 2010-10-07 21:01
At 70+ I guess I qualify for this thread...
I tried the varfocal lenses for music and found them a complete disaster. You need to look through a specific part of the lens all the time to focus on the music which means when a repeat takes you from bottom right to top left you have to swing your head and not your eyeball, obviously just not practical.
A few months ago I took my clarinet, stand and some music to the optician and set up and explained exactly where I needed to focus.
Having fixed that I then had him add just a very small lower section of close vision, just large enough to see for reed adjustment but not get in the way of the music.
This set up works really well for me.
If I ever want to look at the conductor (well just to humour them) I just look over the top of the lens.
OK just to keep Allan happy .... some scalpel happy surgeon stole my prostate a while back .. happy to report it doesn't seem to affect one's playing...
however ... the dreaded eye/brain/finger finger coordination doesn't mature in the same way as fine wine.
Post Edited (2010-10-07 21:07)
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Author: Bill G
Date: 2010-10-08 02:16
Being 83 years old, I wrestled with the eyeglass problem years ago, found an article specifically dealing with music reading glasses for musicians, took it to my optician and on the first try got a great pair of monofocal glasses for reading music. So much for that. What I have had less luck with is finding a stand light that doesn't produce severe glare. Any help out there for this problem?
Bill G
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Author: Bob Bernardo
Date: 2010-10-08 05:51
Soon someone will teach a seeing eye dog to read music for us! Wonder how the dog will do in the key of D#?
Designer of - Vintage 1940 Cicero Mouthpieces and the La Vecchia mouthpieces
Yamaha Artist 2015
Post Edited (2010-10-08 05:53)
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Author: Chris Hill
Date: 2010-10-08 14:28
Yeah, I remember those days, Bob! I doesn't seem like it was that long ago, but it was around 30 years ago! With statements like this, we're dating ourselves now.
Age is relative- I once had a 96 year old friend tell me, "Oh, to be 75 again."
I have too many pairs of glasses- progressives for routine wearing, clarinet glasses, which have the bifocal lenses up to the pupil, conducting glasses, which have a larger distance-viewing area, so I can see the musicians, and Mahler glasses, which are large, 1980-ish glasses where the music-reading portion is up to the pupils as well. Maybe I should wear them with a leisure suit-style tux!
Chris
PS Bill G: There are some stand lights that point more inward towards the music than others. I don't know the brands, but perhaps your local music store will be able to help you.
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Author: sfalexi
Date: 2010-10-08 20:52
I hear ya. I just turned 28 two.months ago. Getting old STINKS!!! LOL.
Alexi
PS - mark, GBK, PLEASE don't ban me!
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Author: GeorgeL ★2017
Date: 2010-10-08 23:23
"I hear ya. I just turned 28 two months ago. Getting old STINKS!!! LOL."
There is an alternative to getting older, but your choice of a musical instrument may be limited to a harp.
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Author: bekahs77
Date: 2010-10-08 23:45
I'm a few years young for this conversation, but it reminds me of an incident at our last community band rehearsal. The director held up his score and asked the first Trumpet if he could see it from his seat in the last row. Trumpet promptly replied, "I can't see YOU from here."
--
Bekah
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Author: Ed
Date: 2010-10-09 02:56
I don't really need anything for distance, but anything at an arms length or closer is an issue. I have been using progressives for general daily wear. Like others, I have been using an older pair of reading glasses that are perfect for music stand distance for playing.
For the last 6 weeks I have been trying various configurations of contact lenses. I have tried monovision and 2 or 3 configurations of multifocals. So far I have not had any luck. I end up sacrificing more than I gain. I am ready to call it quits on that option.
Post Edited (2010-10-09 11:17)
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Author: Ralph Katz
Date: 2010-10-10 03:03
I read Jerry Pournelle's comments some years ago in his "Computing at Chaos Manor" column some years ago, which has lead me to trifocal computer glasses, with an "executive" (large) patch, moved up, so that the intermediate correction is straight ahead. This is great for working on a computer, or at my desk, but I have to move my head down slightly to use the distance correction.
For music, I have like a pair of single-vision music glasses with the intermediate distance correction. Seeing the music from all angles is no problem. Near-sighted, I can take them off to adjust my reed. But, the conductor is a little out of focus (is this a disadvantage?).
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