with Visconti stating: "It was only in very recent years, around the time he made contact again, that I realised how much I missed him. We both had grown and changed, so the time was right to open the channels again." Bowie spent the spring of 2001 writing compositions alone at New York City's Looking Glass Studios. Wanting to utilise songwriting techniques he had used across his entire career, he aimed to create a collection of "serious songs to be sung" and "a personal, cultural restoration". Visconti was impressed with Bowie's expanded knowledge of melodic and harmonic structures. The writing stint resulted in his first solely-written album since 1993's The Buddha of Suburbia. Personal events in Bowie's life, including the birth of his daughter Alexandria in August 2000, and the deaths of his mother Margaret and friend Freddie Buretti in April and May 2001, respectively, deeply affected him and influenced some of the new material. In June, Bowie moved into Visconti's home in West Nyack, New York, where the two spent time working on songs using Pro Tools. Recording and production Initial sessions At the suggestion of guitarist David Torn, Bowie and Visconti chose Allaire Studios in Shokan, New York to record the album. Located on the estate of Glen Tonche on top of Mount Tonche in the Catskill Mountains, the studio had 40-foot tall ceilings and a view of the Ashokan Reservoir. Although Bowie had preferred more urban areas, such as New York City or Berlin, the location's isolationism influenced the tracks "Sunday" and "Heathen (The Rays)". He told Interview magazine: Recording commenced in August 2001 and continued into September. The lineup consisted of Bowie, Visconti and drummer Matt Chamberlain, whom the two had met while scouting at the studio; Torn contributed guitar parts in September. The trio finished 19 pieces in about two weeks, one of which was a remake of the Toy track "Uncle Floyd", now titled "Slip Away". Bowie explained to Time Out magazine that he was adamant about working with musicians he nor Visconti had yet to work with. Bowie himself contributed more instrumentation on Heathen than any studio album "since Diamond Dogs [1974] or maybe Low [1977]"; he played guitar, saxophone, stylophone, keyboards, drums and the same EMS AKS synthesiser he used on Low. Visconti also brought back the vocal effect previously utilised on "Heroes" (1977) for "Sunday" and "I Would Be Your Slave",