Guerilla retunings

I got this idea reading some of the posts here-what if some of you would order or modify some instruments to different tunings as cheaply as possibly, and then sell to second hand music stores and pawn shops for the unsuspecting to pick up? This would also require the music store people to learn more about tuning... i dont know if this would work, since you would probably lose some money and work on it, but maybe...

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MATS �LJARE
http://www.angelfire.com/mo/oljare

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Mats,

I theory, and -- more to the point -- in spirit, I heartily applaud this idea! However...

{you wrote...}
>This would also require the music store people to learn more about tuning...

More basic than that: it would require music store people to learn more about *music*! The people that explore these areas, both on the various tuning lists and the world in general seem to have few points in common, but chief among those is the desire to not necessarily be part of the mainstream. Anything remotely doing with 'sales' will always skew towards the mainstream, and asking these people to understand what the tuning differences are, not to mention *why* you'd want a different tuning, is a long-shot.

But everything worth doing is worth doing, so why not?

What *I* think is that there has to be a groundswell (of which I hope CMM could be an infinitesimal ripple in the direction) of people engaged in these activities to stop calculating, stop programming, stop ruminating, and Get Out And Play This Music Live!

Not always possible, I agree. I daresay that if the vast bulk of new microtonal musics ends up simply for the recording arena, the change won't occur. It will need live playing, showing that it is both compelling and *can* be done, to convince others to follow suit in anything beyond puny numbers of bodies.

I'm happy, for the rest of my life, for all of this to be a little niche. It shouldn't have to be, but I don't have a problem with it. But if it is to grow, and if it is to change the way people hear and think, it's going to have to be a hell of a lot more involving than popping a CD into the system.

My only other thought is the club/dance scene. Jacky Ligon could lead a revolution in that arena, from what I've heard...

I'd be happy to tweak my old Sequential Circuits Pro-One and leave it on a nearby corner with a sign that says: "Free For An Adventurous Soul!"...

Cheers,
Jon