Most tracks involved each of the group recording their parts separately; 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 2500 synthesizer and were recorded at home. The only song arranged by the band in the studio was "5.15". According to Nevison, the ARP 2500 was impossible to record in the studio, and changing sounds was cumbersome due to a lack of patches, which required Townshend to work on these parts at home, working late into the night. 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.