The informations concerning performance practice(s) of medieval music are still scattered in a multitude of textual, notational and iconographical sources. Quite a number of such sources have not even been translated from their original language into English (or another modern language), some remain unedited. It goes without saying that this situation is not a good basis for making medieval music in a truly "historically informed" way: The only way to establish such a basis would be to edit ALL sources, translate them (preferably into English) and to excerpt all informations regarding performance practice(s) from them and to arrange these informations in the form of an online database (which would be searchable thematically, chronologically etc.). Such an online database should also include a section which makes available iconographical sources with informations concerning performance
practice. This would be a long-term project which requires the cooperation of many interested and capable people (not necessarily only musicologists).
In my view it is simply IMPOSSIBLE to reach the desirable degree of profoundness for "historically informed" performances without such a project: We will largely and in many cases remain in the realm of pure opinion, guessing, speculation on matters of performance practices, because we simply do not have a comprehensive OVERVIEW over the still existing informations. After the completion of such a documentary project, many questions will still remain open of course - but THEN we can really see what informations we still HAVE to a hitherto never reached degree of completeness.
The big advantage of an online database would of course also be that new informations can always be added if such were to be found. I hope some of you will see the same NECESSITY of such a project as I do.
Christoph Dohrmann
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Indeed, but for theoretic sources I recommend this page:
http://www.lml.badw-muenchen.de/info/
Here you may find as well a list of the sources for each treatise, of the digitised sources, of various editions and translations online (tml—a splendid collection of editions—announced even a new homepage). When I find other resources, I usually announce them here (like the commented Garlandia for instance).
Concerning the discussions here, it is evident that some mix centuries and treatises which are not even compatible (like the Guido enchiriadis cocktail, Guido's polemics against the early treatise are well-known), but I try to confront you also with sources which are rather rarely the reference (you are welcome to inscribe and become active in my groupe "microtones" which is mainly about tonaries and other treatises).
All this indicates, that some discourses here illustrate well your problem, but sometimes their discussion is very enlightening concerning common misunderstandings.
If you would like to know about new digitised chant sources, this forum is quite useful, thanks to Dominique's groupe.
Another exaggeration would be to say that we all together are already in the process of making these databases in sites like Musicologie Médiévale and Wikipedia.
At least in the case of the medieval liturgical chant traditions I think you are very right. The amount of work to be done however seems impossible for one person or institution. And that's of course where 'political' motives also come into question. I guess there are many medievalists that are not willing to revise their opinions.