Editing Quadrophenia (section)

== Recording ==
[[File:Serge modular synthesizer + ARP 2500.jpg|thumb|left|[[Pete Townshend]] used the [[ARP 2500]] synthesizer extensively on ''Quadrophenia'', and several tracks include the instrument [[overdubbed]] many times.]]
In order to do justice to the recording of ''Quadrophenia'', the group decided to build their own studio, [[Ramport Studios]] in [[Battersea]]. Work started on building Ramport in November 1972, but five months later it still lacked an adequate [[mixing desk]] that could handle recording ''Quadrophenia''.{{sfn|Marsh|1983|p=410}} Instead, Townshend's friend [[Ronnie Lane]], bassist for [[Faces (band)|Faces]], loaned his mobile studio for the sessions.{{sfn|Neill|Kent|2002|p=324}} Lambert ostensibly began producing the album in May,{{sfn|Neill|Kent|2002|p=329}} but missed recording sessions and generally lacked discipline. By mid-1973, Daltrey demanded that Lambert leave the Who's services.{{sfn|Marsh|1983|p=412}} The band recruited engineer [[Ron Nevison]], who had worked with Townshend's associate John Alcock, to assist with engineering.<ref name=nevison>{{cite interview|url=http://www.richieunterberger.com/nevison.html|title=Interview with Ron Nevison by Richie Unterberger|access-date=26 January 2015|archive-date=4 December 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141204045918/http://www.richieunterberger.com/nevison.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

To illustrate the four-way split personality of Jimmy, Townshend wrote four [[theme (music)|themes]], reflecting the four members of the Who. These were "Bell Boy" (Moon), "Is It Me?" (Entwistle), "Helpless Dancer" (Daltrey) and "Love Reign O'er Me" (Townshend).{{sfn|Atkins|2000|p=206}} Two lengthy instrumentals on the album, the title track and "The Rock", contain the four themes, separately and together. The instrumentals were not demoed but built up in the studio.{{sfn|Atkins|2000|p=181}} Who author John Atkins described the instrumental tracks as "the most ambitious and intricate music the group ever undertook."{{sfn|Atkins|2000|p=206}}

Most tracks involved each of the group recording their parts separately;{{sfn|Neill|Kent|2002|p=329}} unlike earlier albums, Townshend had left space in his demos for other band members to contribute, though most of the synthesizers on the finished album came from his [[ARP Instruments|ARP]] 2500 synthesizer and were recorded at home.<ref name=nevison />{{sfn|Marsh|1983|p=413}} The only song arranged by the band in the studio was "5:15".{{sfn|Atkins|2000|p=181}} According to Nevison, the ARP 2500 was impossible to record in the studio, and changing sounds was cumbersome due to a lack of [[Synthesizer#Patch|patches]], which required Townshend to work on these parts at home, working late into the night.<ref name=nevison /> To obtain a good [[string section]] sound on the album, Townshend bought a [[cello]] and over two weeks learned how to play it well enough to be recorded.{{sfn|Unterberger|2011|p=186}}

[[File:Goring & Streatley station geograph-2400086-by-Ben-Brooksbank.jpg|thumb|250px|Townshend recorded the whistle of a [[Diesel locomotive|diesel train]] near his home in [[Goring-on-Thames]] as one of the album's sound effects.]]
Entwistle recorded his bass part to "The Real Me" in one take on a [[Gibson Thunderbird]]{{sfn|Unterberger|2011|p=203}} and spent several weeks during the summer arranging and recording numerous multi-tracked horn parts.{{sfn|Marsh|1983|p=414}} Having been forced to play more straightforwardly by Johns on ''Who's Next'', Moon returned to his established drumming style on ''Quadrophenia''. He contributed lead vocals to "Bell Boy", where he deliberately showcased an exaggerated narrative style.{{sfn|Fletcher|1998|pp=345–346}} For the finale of "Love, Reign O'er Me", Townshend and Nevison set up a large group of percussion instruments, which Moon played before kicking over a set of [[tubular bells]], which can be heard on the final mix.{{sfn|Marsh|1983|p=414}}

During the album production, Townshend made many [[field recording]]s with a portable [[reel-to-reel]] recorder. These included waves washing on a Cornish beach and the [[doppler effect|doppler]] whistle of a diesel train recorded near Townshend's house at [[Goring-on-Thames]].{{sfn|Neill|Kent|2002|p=317}} The ending of "The Dirty Jobs" includes a musical excerpt from ''[[The Thunderer]]'', a [[March (music)|march]] by [[John Philip Sousa]], which Nevison recorded while watching a [[brass band]] play in [[Regent's Park]].<ref name=nevison /> Assembling the field recordings in the studio was problematic; at one point, during "I Am the Sea", nine tape machines were running sound effects.{{sfn|Marsh|1983|p=414}} According to Nevison, Townshend produced the album single-handedly, adding that "everything started when Pete got there, and everything finished when Pete left".<ref name=nevison /> Townshend began mixing the album in August at his home studio in Goring along with Nevison.{{sfn|Neill|Kent|2002|p=331}}