President’s Memo: Fundamental Frequency

No matter the weddings you attend or karaoke nights you’re dragged to, there’s no escaping the infamous power ballad or memorable rafter-raising solo anthem. (My go-to standard, if you must know, is Rush’s “Tom Sawyer” and, as an encore, “The Spirit of Radio.”) Those big vocal moments, from Queen’s “Somebody to Love” to Aerosmith’s “Dream On,” are celebrated for good reason. They stir the audience and transport us. At a concert, they’re often the moments most eagerly anticipated, with perhaps less attention being paid to the supporting cast behind them. This is a pity. Because while the soloist may initiate the experience, it’s the ebb and flow of sound from the larger group that actually moves an audience. There are, it seems, scientific reasons for this. When voices come together, individual imperfections blend into a more stable, powerful sound— something called “pitch averaging.”

Another concept I like is called, charmingly, “choral warmth.” Apparently, singing groups shift acoustic energy downward into what’s known as a “fundamental frequency.” While soloists achieve sharper peaks, fundamental frequencies favor a richer, deeper layer of sound. We feel the vibrations more because of choral warmth and the space a band occupies. The result is something a solo singer cannot replicate. In other words: The soloist may get us going, but it’s the group that gets us somewhere.

This July, NASBA kicked off an External Relations Assessment (ERA) Task Force. The acronym is no accident. If you’ve read 100 Years of NASBA, a book which chronicles NASBA’s history, you know that NASBA’s early days bear little resemblance to how it operates now. The organization has not only matured since 1908, but its mission has expanded, and so have its relationships. But do we know how those relationships have changed? More importantly, do we know how they should evolve from here? Like a good marriage, have our partners remained mindful of us and we of them? Do we still want the best for each other, and how do we avoid the detachment, negligence, or “take-for-grantedness” that puts any relationship— and its mutual benefits—at risk?

At the end of the day, NASBA is an organization defined by relationships. And increasingly I’m convinced our particular “choral warmth” is what makes us effective. Within our partnerships, yes, but more importantly—and because of those partnerships—for our members and to the public we are dedicated to protecting. That doesn’t mean we can’t have disagreements or make mistakes. But strong relationships help us work through them. If we as regulators occupy a solid, collective place in the rooms we enter, we can, like a musical group, transform them—even a tough crowd. Given the wariness that can sometimes greet regulators, we can never forget that choosing the humbler “band” over the attention-getting soloist can make us better understood, more influential and better able to further our common cause.

The ERA Task Force is taking a fresh look at NASBA’s external relationships to ensure they continue to support our mission and create value for our member boards. It’s identifying the best positioned people to give us candid insights and shaping the questions that will surface them. As we did with the Diagnostic process, we’re not shying away from the hard questions. Asking them gives us a better-informed path forward and makes us less likely to backtrack later.

You may have noticed this same spirit in our recent reworking of the mutual recognition agreement (MRA) with Canada, where a candid and timely outreach helped move an important partnership forward. NASBA has also begun exploring the concept of international membership categories that would provide a structured framework for engagement with peer regulatory bodies outside the United States. The proposal being discussed would include both affiliate and full membership categories, recognizing that not every regulatory relationship is the same. The intent is not membership growth for its own sake, but to create appropriate pathways for collaboration, information sharing and engagement that strengthen NASBA’s ability to serve its member boards. Or, to keep with our musical metaphor, these relationships can help broaden the perspectives that inform our work and strengthen the collective voice of the boards we serve.

When we announced the ERA Task Force at the 2026 Regional Meetings, several people approached me after to say this was a good project and a timely one. There is a real energy within NASBA and its wider community, to examine things with fresh eyes and pursue the “responsible reinvention” described at last year’s Annual Meeting.

In these and other areas, NASBA has heard the solo note that’s inspired us to start moving. Now comes the shared work of turning that first note into something larger, richer, and more enduring.

Daniel J. Dustin, CPA
NASBA President and CEO