The pitfalls of playing for seniors

[1955]

I used to play assisted living, memory care, and rehab centers, etc. almost exclusively.

We are the distraction. I saw a lot of stuff over several years and a bunch of facilities.

When someone coughs, give them water. If they are crying or sneezing, give them tissues. If they need to talk on the phone, let them. If they are dizzy or really tired, maybe the nurse or aide can give them a piece of candy if they are diabetic. If they are extremely slumped down, ask an aide if they need lifting up. If they can’t drink their water, maybe they need a straw. If they can’t hear, ask if they have hearing aids and staff can fetch them. If they are extremely agitated, it might be a uti, etc.

With dementia, the behavior has a meaning. Read it, address it, redirect it, etc.

Blending in is everything. Listen to what they are saying with their facial expressions and body language.

That might mean turning down or up, being aware of when they last ate, or need to eat or nap/sleep.

Sometimes I would walk around a larger room with an acoustic. I would come to them, to the dining area, to their rooms even. Or they have been wheeled into a large area and have been sitting too long and need to use the restroom.

They deal with a lot including the loss of their loved ones, their house, their friends, their independence, their faculties. We must enter into their reality, which is a reality of loss, physical pain, and not much to look forward to.

A chat with them before and after the show matters more than a well executed musical performance. It is nice to play well and entertain, but to visit and connect with them is profound, especially considering that some have outlived most of their family and friends.

We are the ones who need to listen to what they are trying to communicate to us with whatever they have left to communicate with. Just to be with them, to encourage, to ask them about their life stories, that opens up their hearts that are often closed off after so many disappointments.

I got to the point where every little thing that happened in a room mattered during my show. But it didn’t matter in the sense that it was a distraction, but I was just part of their day, maybe to help ease the routine monotony for a little while.

If we play to hear them, then they have received the benefit of our intention, but we have only touched the tip of the iceberg.

We might be there because we have practiced and worked hard, maybe to come and play for an hour, or to be an escape or light at the end of the tunnel, but in the bigger picture, they are the stars of the show.

 

[Stubee]

I’ll only pass on what I know as I only played two senior facilities. I played my loudest acoustic, a Gibson AJRI, but it also responds well to a light touch. I never used a mic for my vocals. The crowd would sometimes ask for an older song I didn’t know and I’d try to put one in that was close. I talked to the residents as much as playing.

These were free gigs where my Dad lived and where my wife worked so I don’t pretend to represent what it’s like to play elsewhere. I don’t think my audience would be much different were the setup different?

 

[dogmeat]

well... thats me, but... the cloud started it

 

[burntfrijoles]

Mad props to you for performing for the old geezers! (I myself am an old geezer)
Seriously, it's commendable.
I've often thought of volunteering to do this. My daughter, who is a social worker, and one time worked in the field, encouraged me to do it but I'm not brave enough to do it.

 

[Colo Springs E]

I'm almost 60 myself, and don't think there's any way in the world I would do a gig like that.

 

[StoneFaceGrin]

I think I've mentioned before here in BDC that I volunteer at a local retirement community. I do a 90-minute show for them every Thursday, so I was there yesterday. My wife came, too, and she used my phone to take video footage of each song.

But it may very well be that none of the footage is usable…

But as a kid with parents in a place where people like you come and share music… they LOVE it. They talk about the people they really like and they still go sit and hear the people they don’t, just because it’s an excuse for them all to get together.

As I’ve watched my folks settle into their apartment, I’m struck by how the vibe is exactly very upscale college minus those pesky classes. Unless you want classes. They have classes! And music. And arts. And instead of moving my folks to “a home”, they are home - in part because people like you.

That you use your Logans… well, that makes it even more better (sic).

Keep it up, Larry! And I’m sure your peoples’ kids thank you, too.

 

[buster poser]

I used to play assisted living, memory care, and rehab centers, etc. almost exclusively.

We are the distraction. I saw a lot of stuff over several years and a bunch of facilities.

When someone coughs, give them water. If they are crying or sneezing, give them tissues. If they need to talk on the phone, let them. If they are dizzy or really tired, maybe the nurse or aide can give them a piece of candy if they are diabetic. If they are extremely slumped down, ask an aide if they need lifting up. If they can’t drink their water, maybe they need a straw. If they can’t hear, ask if they have hearing aids and staff can fetch them. If they are extremely agitated, it might be a uti, etc.

With dementia, the behavior has a meaning. Read it, address it, redirect it, etc.

Blending in is everything. Listen to what they are saying with their facial expressions and body language.

That might mean turning down or up, being aware of when they last ate, or need to eat or nap/sleep.

Sometimes I would walk around a larger room with an acoustic. I would come to them, to the dining area, to their rooms even. Or they have been wheeled into a large area and have been sitting too long and need to use the restroom.

They deal with a lot including the loss of their loved ones, their house, their friends, their independence, their faculties. We must enter into their reality, which is a reality of loss, physical pain, and not much to look forward to.

A chat with them before and after the show matters more than a well executed musical performance. It is nice to play well and entertain, but to visit and connect with them is profound, especially considering that some have outlived most of their family and friends.

We are the ones who need to listen to what they are trying to communicate to us with whatever they have left to communicate with. Just to be with them, to encourage, to ask them about their life stories, that opens up their hearts that are often closed off after so many disappointments.

I got to the point where every little thing that happened in a room mattered during my show. But it didn’t matter in the sense that it was a distraction, but I was just part of their day, maybe to help ease the routine monotony for a little while.

If we play to hear them, then they have received the benefit of our intention, but we have only touched the tip of the iceberg.

We might be there because we have practiced and worked hard, maybe to come and play for an hour, or to be an escape or light at the end of the tunnel, but in the bigger picture, they are the stars of the show.

What a great post.

 

[Alex_C]

I think I've mentioned before here in BDC that I volunteer at a local retirement community. I do a 90-minute show for them every Thursday, so I was there yesterday. My wife came, too, and she used my phone to take video footage of each song.

But it may very well be that none of the footage is usable.

I say that not because my playing and/or singing wasn't the best. (What else is new? ) I say that because of the distractions that can arise when you play in such facilities. The reality is I play to an audience in a community where the "younger" residents are basically my age.

Many of them are not comfortable with my volume levels. Not because I refuse to play any other way than too damn loud. Not because their hearing is so acute. But because their hearing aids perceive me as too loud. So I turn down. Even then, some of them won't come into the multipurpose room (MPR) where I play to hear me, but will sit in the seats in the lobby/foyer just outside the MPR. It's too big a room with too many people to play the gig unplugged, so each week is a balancing act.

(Oh, BTW, my rig is my Logan Custom acoustic/electric tele style plugged into my Fishman Loudbox Mini Charge amp.)

Another factor that came make for a distraction in the room and can actually ruin an otherwise useable video is that they will talk to each other while I'm performing. Of course, that happens at other gigs like at a coffee shop. But because seniors usually have their hearing issues, they don't know how loud they're talking, so often their conversational volume competes with the levels I set on my amp for voice and guitar. It's distracting, but not too distracting in the room, so I soldier on. However, it sure can be a major distraction in a video.

Closely related to this, they have the ringer on their respective cell phones set loud! And they don't mute their phones when attending such performances. And when it rings, they answer it. (My generation and before didn't grow up letting the phone go to voicemail.) And when they answer it, they speak even louder than their conversational volume.

Another distraction: it's not uncommon that a resident will be dealing with a cough, whether because of some ailment or just being old and phlegmy. They can't help it, of course, but it's still a major distraction to singing in the room, never mind hearing it on video.

I listened last night to each of the videos Beth recorded during my 90-minute show. Quite a few I've already deleted, because they were basically unusable, for one or more of the issues listed above. If I do decide to post any of the remaining vids to my YT channel, I'll share the links here.

Okay, rant over. And I don't really mean this post as a rant. To me a rant is an expression of some level of anger or bitterness, and I don't feel that towards these people. It just is what it is, the pitfalls of playing for seniors.

Maybe use 'in ears' and record audio via DI?

 

[old soul]

If they get unruly, I'd rather be pelted with little paper medicine cups than beer bottles, personally

 

[blowtorch]

My younger son has worked for a few years as an elderly resident care assistant, he started through a kind of temp agency where he worked at many different places, but was hired on peremanent about a year and a half ago to one of the better ones.
He quit just three days ago, as he is going into a different field (phlebotomy), and is now accredited sufficiently to start pursuing work in that area

But during the time he worked at these places, he gained plenty of insight into what goes on on a normal basis

As a result of the things he's shared with me-my mother will never set foot in any of those places

Under the best of circumstances, even the best of them are sorely lacking, simply through understaffing.
There were some places he refused to return to, after witnessing some real horror stories

 

[telel6s]

Sorry to say this, but the location and audience aren't the problem with your video/audio recording. First, while the reasons for the audience noise may be unique to a senior living facility, the resulting sound on your video recording is not much different than a bar, club, coffee shop, winery, brewery, park gazebo, etc.

The problem is the camera that you are using. The tiny little mics on a cell phone aren't directional enough to block out other sounds coming from all other angles. They also have a lot of built-in compression which keeps from getting distortion of a too-hot signal, but also amplifies the quieter sounds. Because of that , what you're hearing on the video is probably much worse than what is experienced by the people in the room. You'd get the same problem even if playing a so-called listening room where no talking is allowed during performances. A smart phone will still pick up the rustle of a coat, click of a fork on a plate, the scratch of chair legs on the floor.

Someone above mentioned using a Zoom Q2n-4K which is a very small video camera with stereo mics designed for easy capture of live music performance. I picked one up on a Thanksgiving sale and it definitely records much better audio than my cell phone or point & shoot digital camera (although I find the video to be no better or even worse than a lot of new cell phones).

But if you're just trying to capture your performance for yourself and quick shares on social media, there are small mics that attach directly to a smart phone which will be more directional and block out sounds from the side and rear. They start around $35 on Amazon. And of course having your wife hold the camera is awesome, but using a stand or tripod (for the camera, not your wife ) will give a more consistent sound. It's surprising how moving a mic even a couple of inches can change the levels, eq, and clarity of what's being recorded.

 

[Chester P Squier]

As I have posted before, my two brothers and I used to get our families together around Christmas every year. In the afternoon the guitars and amps would come out and we would jam on Beatles songs. We did this for 21 years. One of the brothers' daughters worked at a nursing home and got the bright idea that we would play our Beatles songs for them.

So we did that; twice in 2016 and once in 2018. The first two times we had music stands with lyric sheets on them. It appeared that the residents had had their medications when we were playing for them--medications that probably had warnings to not drive or use heavy machinery after taking.

In 2018, no music stands. We sang the words from memory. I didn't remember all the words, so one of my brothers sang that part of my lead vocals where I forgot the words. By looking the residents in the eye, we went over a whole lot better. Compared to the times before, it was like the Beatles at Shea Stadium.

I/we learned something that day--learn the words and look the people in the eye.

We haven't does anything like that since one of my brothers passed away in 2019.

These days, I use my acoustic guitar to lead music in worship services at a senior living center, about once per month. I hand out the hymnals and tell them several times what number to turn to, because they can't always hear. Plus, they are indeed notorious for keeping the sound of their phones on and actually answering them in the chapel. But you have the be tolerant and understanding.

So, instead of Beatle songs, we sing hymns, such as "How Great Thou Art."

 

[kbold]

Maybe they just think you're not a good player.
They're probably muttering between themselves that you can't even tune your instrument properly.

Or, putting it another way .... as you age your hearing changes so that a properly tuned instrument will sound flat in the higher registers.

 

[blowtorch]

we sing hymns, such as "How Great Thou Art."

Most hauntingly real songs ever?

There literally is no other song I've ever heard that reaches me harder than this one.... :cry: Supertramp literally laid out how our mindset transitions from being a kid to an adult in a song. How 'bout you guys?

www.tdpri.com

 

[jumpnblues]

I'm kind of surprised that no one here has had to deal with HIPPA regulations. Especially as they pertained to recording videos of patients. I've been retired from dentistry for 7 years now, but unless something has changed (and it could have) since my retirement, we couldn't even take full face photos of our patients or do anything that could reveal their identity.

I would like to play at our local nursing facilities but I'm a little unsure of the HIPPA "regs" and how they would specifically apply to nursing facilities. While they mostly apply to the handling of electronic records, in dentistry we had to be extremely careful not to run afoul of HIPPA laws. The penalties (for facilities and health care workers) could be severe.

 

[P Thought]

I've always been in awe of that thing you do, at times near to the point of taking action myself. I'm no sound engineer, but to me it does not sound like an ideal setting for recording.

 

[johnny k]

I'm kind of surprised that no one here has had to deal with HIPPA regulations. Especially as they pertained to recording videos of patients. I've been retired from dentistry for 7 years now, but unless something has changed (and it could have) since my retirement, we couldn't even take full face photos of our patients or do anything that could reveal their identity.

I would like to play at our local nursing facilities but I'm a little unsure of the HIPPA "regs" and how they would specifically apply to nursing facilities. While they mostly apply to the handling of electronic records, in dentistry we had to be extremely careful not to run afoul of HIPPA laws. The penalties could be severe.

it depends from where you shoot.If the camera is up and poiting toward the stage you shouldn't have many in views.

 

[johnny k]

I don't think i would care much about the coughs, maybe the phones going on is trickier.

 

[39martind18]

LG, what you say about playing for senior living centers is all true, IME. However I might add that there are certain advantages, as well: the residents REALLY appreciate the music, most of the gigs are afternoon or very early evening, and around Houston, they pay well- in the $150/hr range. I perform with a full electric kit (electric guitar, amp, and small PA), and occasionally do have issues with perceived volume, but a small reduction in volume usually does the trick. My major pet peeve/problem is when someone comes up and demands for me to turn it down in the middle of a song- totally ruins the groove, and I can't do anything until the song is over anyway. I started announcing that I'm happy to adjust after the song is over, but can't until then. Most are happy to oblige in that situation. All in all, playing for the seniors is a great thing,

 

[Blue Bill]

Wow, LG, eleven years, you're a saint. I feel like a jerk for presuming to give you advice; I've played at a local wrinkle farm only 4 times. Have a great Christmas and HNY!