Music on the road sans RV

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Tom

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We're currently at our place in OH, spending holidays visiting and hosting kids and grandkids. We don't bring the coach here this time of year, and drove the Burb 2,500 miles.

While here a couple of years ago, I joined the Buckeye Ukulele Society. Haven't attended any of their functions for almost a year, but last evening decided to attend one of their regular jam sessions.

Given the season, we played and sang holiday songs. I had lead sheets for some, but not all songs. For the others, sharing small-print lead sheets is tough on my eyes, partly thanks to my bifocals.

I came prepared with lead sheets for an arrangement of (Oh What A) Beautiful City by the New Christy Minstrels, a favorite of the Delta Strummers. But nobody else knew the melody last evening, so, it will have to wait for another time.
 
About the bifocals.  I find that a pair of plain old drug store reading glasses work best when working from a sheet.  I keep a pair of them in my kit at all times.

Also makes it harder to see the audience.  That can be a pro or a con depending on the audience.
 
Thanks for the tip. I've tried to find usable readers on several occasions, but was never successful. I have one or two pairs of single vision glasses that I might try, although they were originally prescribed for medium distance and might not work.
 
Call me lazy, but I like to read laying down, usually before I go to sleep.  Every ophthalmologist I've ever consulted recommended drug store glasses for reading while laying down.  You have to be really careful to approximate the distance away from the glasses to your copy when choosing the glasses.  Same might work for reading music a distance away from your eyes?
 
On the dimestore reading glasses, you want a weaker prescription than the close-up lens in your bifocals to let you read something at a medium distance.

I use a pair of  +1.25 diopter glasses for close reading and +1.0 diopter for computer screens and other medium distance work.  Your mileage may vary.  <g>
 
Thanks all, I'll take another look at readers. Understand the significance of distance. One of my pairs of single vision lenses were prescribed specifically for watching TV while laying in bed, a situation where neither prescription in my bifocals was correct.

Another factor for me is light. I knew there was relatively low ambient light in the venue where this group jams, and I consciously took along a music stand so I could correctly position my lead sheets, and a clip-on light. However, the music I was having trouble seeing was laid flat on a table, shared by someone else, and happened to be much smaller print. That combination didn't work for my bifiocals. When I arrived home, I ordered a table-top music stand and my own copy of the 'Christmas fake book' others had.

I've discussed the light issue with eye doctors and opthalmologists over the years, and again recently, but they all say it is what it is - a function of my personal response to light variations. Maybe I should get one of those head-mounted inspection/task lights  ???
 
One of my pairs of single vision lenses were prescribed specifically for watching TV while laying in bed, a situation where neither prescription in my bifocals was correct.

I've got a pair of "reading" glasses I specifically ordered for computer use, since I sit too far away from the screen for bifocals to work (not to mention head position). They're a great compromise and work in many situations, including music stands.
 
... not to mention head position

Aye Larry, that's equally important with bifocals, especially progressive. The first time I ordered bifocals (approx 25 years ago), the optometrist convinced me to go with "line" lenses. They lasted two weeks before I went elsewhere and ordered progressive lenses.

One potential issue I discussed with the second eye Doc was that, at that time, I did a lot of presentations and needed to instantly re-focus when switching between the large screen, hand held notes, and my audience. His advice was to move my head to consciously "look at" what I needed to see. For several months I looked and felt like a robot with binary/animated head positions  :-[ But it worked, and eventually I no longer had to think about it, and head position became a lot less exaggerated.

I still get surprised when someone unexpectedly emerges from behind or from my side; They're out of focus and effectively invisible. They cause me to jump, and I always apologize and say "my bifocals again". A worse scenario is not seeing sliding glass doors on  our patio; Chris had (and still has) a habit of closing them, and I'd run SMACK into them. Eventually, she hung stuff on the glass, so I had something in my line of sight and in focus, but I still occasionally have a bloody nose.
 
I get severe vertigo using progressive lens. Yes, I've been told before that I'm weird.
 
kdbgoat said:
I get severe vertigo using progressive lens. Yes, I've been told before that I'm weird.

Nope, not just you.  I tried them once, and within 24 hours had them replaced with conventional bifocals.  They not only induced vertigo, but they severely limited my peripheral vision.  As I was driving a van and using just the side mirrors, that was a real safety concern.
 
Punomatic said:
I read in Reader's Digest the other day that bifocals are God's way of telling you to keep your chin up.

My optometrist told me in would help my golf game by making me keep my head down :)
 
What's fun is to try target shooting with bifocals.  I've tried and tried but the best groupings I get are with plain old 1.5 ot 2.0 reading glasses.  Impossible to get hard focus on the front sight while tilting your head back enough for the bifocal and still maintain enough sight picture to stay on target.

Got to go practice our Christmas concert right now! 
 
Got to go practice our Christmas concert right now!

I skipped 6 Delta Strummers Christmas concerts to leave town for the holidays  :-[
 
Took another run at 'readers' this morning, only to confirm what I previously found, i.e. readers won't do anything for me. I subsequently talked at length with an optometrist who felt he could make a few small adjustments in my bifocal prescription to solve the issue. He also felt he could do it with a pair of single vision lenses.

Meanwhile, I'm going to experiment with a few ideas before committing to new glasses.
 
Let me know how that works for you Tom.  I have a vested interest.  A double interest.  For myself and for one of my band mates.  He works from sheets and his eyes are getting pretty bad.
 
Following some experimentation, I believe I have a solution to the eyewear issue, actually two options, for me (YMMV):

1.  I decided I could go with single vision lenses specifically for playing music while reading from a lead sheet or fake book. This morning, armed with my music stand and my self-made measurements, I had a new vision test. The Doc then set me up with a "test" pair of specs using the proposed prescription. Sold! I ordered the new eyewear, and should get them in a few days.

2.  While looking at frames and lens options a couple of days ago, I was shown "digital lenses". Best I can  tell, there's nowt digital about them (marketing hype), but they offer a wide 'window' (in bifocals), eliminating much of the peripheral issue mentioned by others. The Doc also confirmed he could make adjustments to the prescription and to the height of  the lower portion of the bifocal. This is the way I'll go if I decide to buy new no-line bifocals. I'm going to wait to see the results with the single vision specs.
 
Picked up the new single vision specs yesterday (great WalMart Optical service). So far so good. They really help with lead sheets on a music stand and laid flat on a table. Also work where my bifocals were always useless - standing up, looking down at music. They also work fine for reading a score while playing keyboard, and the bonus was looking at a computer screen while no longer needing to move my head to look through the right part of the lens. I like the "wide window".

Overall, well worth the few $$ they cost.
 

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