International Tuning Assoc

Regarding my comments that a "tuning co-op" would prove difficult,
somebody responded:

> Thanks for you comments re: the harmony farmers co:op, however
> pessimistic they may be.

Actually, I'm a really optimistic guy, and I'd be delighted to join and
support such an organization. But just be forewarned that such
organizations have a history of failure because of the geographic problem.
Even these days, it's simply very difficult to form a sense of comradery
across abysses like the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.

The other difficulty to overcome is that the majority of us are are
either amateur musicians who have to scrape for every minute they can in
musical pursuits, or are pros who have to spend the majority of their time
playing "normal" music to eek out a living. We just don't have a lot of
time for such things.

Also, here's another question to answer: If indeed it is valuable to
create such an organization, would starting yet another new organization
cause yet more fragmentation? That as opposed to ... "enhancing" (for lack
of a better word) ... an existing organization? Stichting Huygens-Fokker,
for example, has been resolved in recent years to branch out from their
originally-31TET roots to deal with unusual tunings in general. Would it
be more meaningful to have them handle it?

Above all, I'm glad to see that the reaction has been mostly positive
toward such an idea. That because, again historically speaking, such
organizations that are formed by 1-3 people have not fared well. Most of
them either dissolve over a handful of years. That or, like the JI Network
or Interval Foundation, become the blood, sweat, and tears of one or two
people, with a little bit of periodic effort from a handful of satellite
authors.

If on the other hand, we can get something like 5 active local chapters,
perhaps in Los Angeles, San Diego, around Stichting Huygens-Fokker, Denver,
and New York, along with annual dues and a significant monthly publication,
then I'd give it a definite chance of even more than just survival. But
less than that, I'd anticipate it being a really up-hill battle.