Recording
The album's title was inspired by the Carl Jung book Synchronicity: An Acausal Connecting Principle, going so far as to quote the book's title in the lyrics of the albums first song Synchronicity I, singing "Synchronicity...a connecting principle...".
The album marked a significant reduction in the reggae influences that were a part of the band's first four studio albums, instead continuing the trend of production-heavy textures and liberal use of synthesizers featured in their previous album's hit single Spirits in the Material World. This direction sometimes drove entire songs ("Synchronicity I", "Wrapped Around Your Finger"). The influence of world music can also be heard in songs such as "Tea in the Sahara" and "Walking in Your Footsteps". As opposed to the band's previous effort, Ghost in the Machine, the songs have no overdubbed saxophone(s). Sting explains:I enjoyed making Ghost in the Machine and playing with the tools of the studio, just building things up and sticking more vocals on. Great fun. But listening to it, I thought. "Hey, my voice on its own sounds as good as fifteen overdubs, so I'll try it on its own." And I've done the saxophone section bit now, I'm bored with it; and Andy [Summers] was into just plunking down one guitar part. I'm glad we did 'Ghost'. I don't regret it. But it was time to change the regime again.As with Ghost in the Machine, the recording for Synchronicity took place over a period of six weeks, at AIR Studios in Montserrat with the Neve 8078 console beginning in December 1982. The three band members recorded the basic tracks live in separate rooms: Stewart Copeland with his drums in the dining room (connected to the control room via video link), Sting in the control room, and guitarist Andy Summers in the actual studio. According to co-producer and engineer Hugh Padgham, this was done for two reasons: to obtain the best sound for each instrument and "for social reasons." Sting explained how this setup worked for him:In my case, it's because there is nothing worse than hearing a bass through a set of headphones. Basically, it sounds like a frog farting. I play much better when the sound coming out of the instrument is rich and warm. If we played together like that in the same room, we wouldn't be able to hear anything except the drum, because the guitarist has to have a lot of volume to hit a certain level of distortion or passion or emotion. I play in the studio next to the engineer [Hugh Padgham] so I can hear the instruments balanced and mixed roughly as they'll sound on the record.While tracking live, the band would do multiple takes of each song. Alongside Padgham, they would listen through each take and select the best parts, which would be edited together into one 'master backing track' before they recorded overdubs (including vocals, which were often bounced down to make room for other overdubs on the 24-track).
During the recording of "Every Breath You Take", Sting and Copeland came to blows with each other, and Padgham nearly quit the project. The song was originally attempted with the live method, but due to numerous failed takes the song had to be assembled entirely from overdubs, including all drum parts.
This album also marked Sting's first time using a sequencer, which features heavily on "Walking in Your Footsteps" (said to be the first track he programmed with it) and "Synchronicity I". It was an Oberheim DSX sequencer, which Sting seemed to enjoy pushing to its limits, and he likened it to HAL in 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968).
Final overdubs and mixing were done within two weeks at Le Studio in Morin-Heights from mid-January to February 1983 using the SSL console with automated mixing. Summers reflects on the transition from recording to mixing:"It was only after we'd taken a week off [after recording the album on Montserrat] and started hearing it back in Canada, almost for the first time, that we realized it was good. When you're recording there's this terrible, terrible doubt that goes through your mind – 'we just can't do it anymore'. It's unbelievable. Then you finally come out of the studio and the whole thing begins to assume a life and identity of its own."As recalled in an interview with Studio Sound magazine, Padgham described the routine during the mixing sessions: in the mornings, he would do much of the mixing work while the band were off skiing, then they would return to the studio to help fine-tune the mix by suggesting a few changes and so on. Contrary to this, however, in later interviews he recalled that due to tensions within the group, at least one member of the band would be present at the studio while the other(s) would be skiing. Of the tensions, Padgham remarked that although the tension in the room was sometimes horrible, "in many ways, that tension is what ended up making such a good album."
