American composer, arranger, conductor, and musician
Michael Kamen, who had contributed to
The Wall, co-produced, oversaw the orchestral arrangements, and mediated between Waters and Gilmour. Along with
Andy Bown, Kamen also stood in for keyboardist
Richard Wright, who had left the band under pressure from Waters during the recording of
The Wall.
James Guthrie was the audio engineer and co-producer, while Mason's drumming was supplemented by
Ray Cooper on percussion; when Mason was unable to perform the complex time changes on "Two Suns in the Sunset", he was replaced by session musician
Andy Newmark. Mason also suggested the repeated reprises of "Maggie, what have we done" be rendered instrumental rather than sung.
Raphael Ravenscroft was hired to play the saxophone, which was used in place of guitar solos on two tracks. Recording took place in the latter half of 1982 across eight studios, including Gilmour's home studio at
Hook End Manor in
Oxfordshire, and Waters' Billiard Room Studios in
East Sheen. Waters said that "a lot of that aggravation came through in the vocal performance, which, looking back, really was quite tortured." Like previous Pink Floyd albums,
The Final Cut used sound effects combined with advances in audio recording technology. Mason's contributions were mostly limited to recording sound effects for the experimental
Holophonic system, an
audio processing technique used to add an enhanced three-dimensional effect to the recordings;
The Final Cut is the second album ever to feature this technology. The technique is featured on "Get Your Filthy Hands Off My Desert", creating a sound of a rocket flying by and exploding which surrounds the listener, especially when
headphones are used. Sound effects are reused from the Pink Floyd albums
Meddle (1971),
The Dark Side of the Moon (1973),
Wish You Were Here (1975),
Animals (1977) and
The Wall (1979). After months of poor relations, and following a final confrontation, Gilmour had his name removed from the credit list as producer, although he was still paid production
royalties. Waters later said that he was also under significant pressure and that early in production believed he would never record with Gilmour or Mason again. He may have threatened to release the album as a solo record, although Pink Floyd were contracted to EMI and such a move would have been unlikely to succeed. In an August 1987 interview, Waters recalled
The Final Cut as an "absolute misery to make", and that the band members were "fighting like cats and dogs". He said the experience forced them to accept that they had not worked together as a band since their ninth studio album
Wish You Were Here (1975). == Packaging ==