Editing Remain in Light (section)

==Recording and production==
[[File:B.eno.PNG|thumb|alt=A balding man speaking into a microphone is standing in front of an abstract painting containing blotches of orange and lime green and corrugated lines.|[[Brian Eno]], here photographed in 2007, produced ''Remain in Light'' using stylised methods and sonic experiments.]]
Recording sessions started at Compass Point Studios in July 1980. The album's creation required additional musicians, particularly percussionists.<ref name="inlay">{{cite AV media notes |title=Remain in Light |year=1980 |type=LP sleeve |publisher=[[Sire Records]] |location=London}}</ref> Talking Heads used the [[working title]] ''Melody Attack'' throughout the studio process after watching a Japanese game show of the same name.{{sfn|Bowman|2001|p=169}} According to Harrison, the band's ambition was to blend rock and African genres rather than simply imitate [[African music]].{{sfn|Pareles|1982|p=39}} Eno's production techniques and personal approach were key to the record's conception. The process was geared to promote the expression of instinct and spontaneity, not overtly focusing on the sound of the final product.<ref name=brog166 /> Eno compared the creative process to "looking out to the world and saying, 'What a fantastic place we live in. Let's celebrate it.'"<ref name=NPR />

Sections and instrumentals were recorded one at a time in a discontinuous process.<ref name="RSLIST" /> Loops played a key part at a time when computers could not yet adequately perform such functions. Talking Heads developed ''Remain in Light'' by recording jams, isolating the best parts, and learning to play them repetitively. The basic tracks focused wholly on rhythms and were all performed in a minimalist method using only one chord. Each section was recorded as a long loop to enable the creation of compositions through the positioning or merging of loops in different ways.{{sfn|Bowman|2001|p=168}} Byrne likened the process to modern [[Sampler (musical instrument)|sampling]]: "We were human samplers."<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last=Lewis|first=John|date=November 2007|title=The Making Of ... Once in a Lifetime by Talking Heads|journal=[[Uncut (magazine)|Uncut]]}}</ref>

According to Frantz, the band had met with Jamaican reggae producer [[Lee "Scratch" Perry]] in New York and arranged to record with him at Compass Point, but he did not show up to the sessions.<ref name="quiet" /> After a few sessions at Compass Point, engineer [[Rhett Davies]] left following an argument with Eno over the fast pace of recording, and [[Steven Stanley]] stepped in to replace him.{{sfn|Bowman|2001|p=168}} Frantz credited Stanley with helping to create "[[Once in a Lifetime (Talking Heads song)|Once in a Lifetime]]".<ref name="quiet" /> A [[Lexicon (company)|Lexicon]] 224 digital [[reverberation]] unit, one of the first of its kind, was obtained by engineer [[Dave Jerden]] and used on the album.<ref>{{cite book |last= Droney, Maureen|title=Mix Masters Platinum: Engineers Reveal Their Secrets to Success|year=2003 |publisher=[[Berklee College of Music|Berklee Press]]|isbn=0-87639-019-X |page=51}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=September 2006 |title=1978 Lexicon 224 Digital Reverb |url=http://www.mixonline.com/news/news-products/1978-lexicon-224-digital-reverb/383667 |access-date=April 30, 2015 |website=[[Mix (magazine)|Mix]]}}</ref> Like Davies, Jerden was unhappy with the fast pace at which Eno wanted to record, but he did not complain.{{sfn|Bowman|2001|p=168}}

The tracks made Byrne rethink his vocal style and he tried singing to the instrumental songs, but sounded "stilted". Few vocal sections were recorded in the Bahamas.{{sfn|Bowman|2001|p=169}} The lyrics were written when the band returned to the U.S., in New York City and California.{{sfn|Bowman|2001|p=374}} Harrison booked Talking Heads into Sigma Sound, which focused primarily on [[Rhythm and blues|R&B]], after convincing the owners that the band's work could bring them a new clientele. In New York City, Byrne struggled with [[writer's block]],{{sfn|Bowman|2001|p=169}} Harrison and Eno spent their time tweaking the compositions recorded in the Bahamas, and Frantz and Weymouth often did not show up at the studio. Doubts began to surface about whether the album would be completed, which were assuaged only after the recruitment of guitarist [[Adrian Belew]] at the request of Byrne, Harrison, and Eno. Belew was advised to add guitar solos to the Compass Point tracks, making use of numerous [[effects unit]]s and a [[Roland Corporation|Roland]] [[guitar synthesizer]].{{sfn|Bowman|2001|p=170}} Belew performed on the tracks that would become "Crosseyed and Painless", "The Great Curve", "Listening Wind" and "The Overload"; in 2022, he recalled that "all of [his] parts were done in one day".<ref name=gp10252022>{{cite web |url=https://www.guitarplayer.com/players/its-still-a-record-that-stands-up-today-very-very-well-adrian-belew-and-jerry-harrison-talk-remain-in-light |last=Bosso |first=Joe |title="It's Still a Record That Stands up Today, Very, Very Well:" Adrian Belew and Jerry Harrison Talk 'Remain in Light' |website=[[GuitarPlayer]] |date=October 25, 2022 |access-date=October 26, 2022}}</ref> Singer [[Robert Palmer]], who had recorded his album [[Clues (Robert Palmer album)|Clues]] at the same studio shortly before Talking Heads used the facility, contributed additional percussion to ''Remain in Light''.

Byrne recorded the rough mixes to a cassette tape and improvised over them on a portable tape recorder. He tried to create [[Onomatopoeia|onomatopoeic]] rhymes in the style of Eno, who believed that lyrics were never the center of a song's meaning. Byrne continuously listened to his recorded [[Scat singing|scatting]] until convinced that he was no longer "hearing nonsense".{{sfn|Bowman|2001|p=171}} After he was satisfied, Harrison invited Nona Hendryx to Sigma Sound to record backing vocals for the album. She was advised extensively on her vocal delivery by Byrne, Frantz, and Weymouth, and often sang in a trio with Byrne and Eno.{{sfn|Bowman|2001|p=175}} Brass player [[Jon Hassell]], who had worked with Byrne and Eno on ''My Life in the Bush of Ghosts'', was hired to perform [[trumpet]] and [[French horn|horn]] overdubs.{{sfn|Bowman|2001|p=176}} In August 1980, half of the album was mixed by Eno, engineer John Potoker, and Harrison in New York City, while the other half was mixed by Byrne and Jerden at [[Eldorado Recording Studios|Eldorado Studios]] in Los Angeles.{{sfn|Bowman|2001|p=179}}