Opinion

There is a nice irony to the fact that the most silent musicians of all are required to be the best with words. Orchestras may like the conductors who speak the least, but explanation, correction and encouragement can’t entirely be done at the tip of a baton. Meanwhile, the public is perennially fascinated by the power dynamic at play when a single figure seems to conjure unity from the talents of a hundred individuals.

Barry Fox went from making music with Bill Ashton to watching him establish the National Youth Jazz Orchestra. Fifty years later, he worries Ashton’s ‘experience matters’ ethos has been lost

From Dylan and Baez to Geldof and Sting there’s a long history of music and activism – now artists including Coldplay and Jacob Collier have climate change in their sights, says Steve Harris

As digital equipment offers an increasing range of setup options, Andrew Everard says ‘enough is enough’. He wants to buy what the designers believe in, not do half the work himself

Jim Lesurf salutes the mechanical engineers who have made vinyl playback possible despite its inherent complexity – and stopped our LP collections falling prey to the ‘Dansette effect’

Artificial Intelligence appears to be here to stay, despite its ‘hallucinations’. When it comes to music, however, Barry Fox is yet to be convinced it knows how to write a catchy tune