the parts you don't hear (making other people sound good)

'the french revolution might be described as the remote but inevitable result of the invention of the art of printing.' - william hazlitt, the life of napoleon. 

a similar idea is professed by the coming storm. that the populist delusions and the madness of the crowds of the last few years are driven by the internet. and of course the internet changes the nature of work as well (or at least where it can be done). 

and so we come to the world in action theme music (this, and mountain's nantuckett sleigh-ride being used as the theme for weekend world) led to horsemouth's interest in current affairs as a child. it is the site of a dust up between  john shepphard, (producer for world in action who paid for the recording sessions) who actually got all the royalties from the recording, shawn phillips (who you may remember from playing sitar on donovan's 'three kingfishers', who wrote the descending guitar part (the tune) and thus should have got the lion's share of the royalties), and mick weaver (who, horsemouth guesses, is actually playing the organ on this track - which is the thing that makes it, who got nothing, not even the bus fare to the session). 

it's a lift from bach's toccata and fugue in D minor anyway.

the studio was the place of work where the recordings were done. how people got paid was based on a notion of copyright derived from when sheet music sales were the main earner. 

the home studio and the internet have utterly altered it but not in as complete a fashion as one might think. 

rose simpson's father was involved in amateur dramatics (and so was she when she was a child). to escape the dullness and difficulty of her english degree at york she used to go rock climbing. she's a yorkshire lass anyway. it was from these sources that she derived the power to go out on stage before tens of thousands. and there she is (decades later, in another century) on the settee surrounded by beautiful cushions holding forth about the incredible string band. 

she argues that she can't play but that robin was such a good player he could make anyone sound good. and indeed making other people sound good was what musicians spent their time doing. 

horsemouth had a quick look for the parts you don't hear: the untold story of sound techniques (the recording studio where the great and good of folk rock recorded).  

horsemouth had a quick look at mike heron's autobiography as well.

earlier horsemouth had listened to webb david's techno-dub show on new river radio (and very good it was too).  there's an archive. 

it's a grey morning. outside it's appalling (a pouring). horsemouth can see a bull finch from the window.