Ben Liebrand - Intro Grandmix	1999	TECHNICAL INFO The GRANDMIX of the MILLENNIUM was digitally edited from the original digital 12" masters, on the AKAI DD1500 Digital Audio Workstation. This DD1500 has 28 hours of recording time at 44.1 KHz 16 bit stereo. And can record up to 16 tracks simultaneously. The DD1500 does not use any audio mp3 or other destructive data compression. The DD1000's used for the previous mixes where limited to 1,5 hours. First off all, all tracks were gathered on CD where much attention was paid to selecting the original long dance mixes where possible. All tracks were then digitally recorded form a Philips 850 CD player into the Akai DD1500. After this task was completed the CD versions were no longer needed, as every track was ready for use in the DD1500 library. Some rare masters were transferred from the analog master tapes,using the Studer A80 master recorder, or from Sony F1 digital recordings. If nothing else was available, vinyl copies were used which were recorded into the DD1500 from a technics SL1200mkII turntable fitted with a new Stanton 681EEE stylus, running through a Studer turntable preamplifier. All tracks were then checked for there exact BPM using a Roland SBX80 sync-box as reference. The tracks were entered in a database and sorted by tempo and key. The first of december 1999 the playlist was finalized and editing could begin. The DD1500 proved to be an excellent choice as the system did not crash once during the 4 weeks of editing that followed. The mix was completed on the 24th of december, after which the Intro and outro was made on the 26th and 27th. The intro was inspired by Ben being absent from the music scene for many years. It has the atmosphere of the spaceship in Alien 1 where the boardcomputers restart themselves and the crew aboard after a long period of hibernation. The ships systems include 4 processor Irix servers, PC's and Macs (boing) The intro was also made with the DD1500 and naturally, the famous vocoder The 28th was used for mastering the CD versions incorporating a countdown at the end of CD 1 and 2, and a count-in at the beginning of CD 2 and 3, enabling a seamless transition from CD1 to CD2 to CD3 in a Club/Disco situation. The CD was mastered and P&Q coded at Sony by Paul Adema. This is the process of actually adding all the track ID's on the CD master to make it possible to locate each song individually. On the 30th of december the broadcast version was mastered. As the mix runs for 3 hours nonstop, a way had to be found to broadcast it in one piece, without using any datacompression or unreliable playback devices. The solution was broadcasting the full 3 hours from an Akai DR8 digital multitrack recorder, kindly supplied by Okke van Bergen of Helios (Professional Recording Equipment) in Haarlem. After connecting the Akai DR8 in the Radio 538 studio, the system was checked, and the playback level was set. Two minutes past 18:00 hours, I pressed play on the DR8, 10 minutes later I was in my car driving home to a new millennium's eve with friends and family, listening to my mix on the car radio. Feeling relaxed, not a worry on my mind, confident that the Akai DR8 would do it's job, and so it did........ Here are some pics taken during the mix DD1500 setup, with SBX80 as BPM counter Stretching CeCe's Acappella Welcome to digital mixing.... Use the artwork as wallpaper on your desktop Special thanks to Rob Lunenburg, Jack v't Westeinde, Arie den Ouden en Rob Weijers, for sending those ancient 1MB simms within 80 nanoseconds. And Okke van Bergen for supplying the Akai DR8 which was used to broadcast the entire mix GRANDMIX is a registered trademark of Ben Liebrand
Milli Vanilli - Girl You Now I'ts True	1988
Wee Papa Girl Rappers - Wee Rule	1988
Stock, Aitken & Waterman - Roadblock	1987
Bill Withers - Lovely Day	1988
Lisa Stansfield - All Around The World	1989
Jocelyn Brown - Somebody Else's Guy	1984
Imagination - Just An Illusion	1982
Nu Shooz - I Can't Wait	1986
Pasadenas - Tribute	1988
Odyssey - Going Back To My Roots	1981
Miquel Brown - Close To Perfection	1986
People's Choice - Do It Any Way You Wanna	1975
Herbie Hancock - Rock It	1983
Stephanie Mills - Medicine Song	1984
Bar Kays - Sex-O-Matic	1984
King Bee - Back By Dope Demand	1990
Linda Lewis - Class Style	1984
Rick Astley - Never Gonna Give You Up	1987
London Beat - I've Been Thinking About You	1990
Gloria Gaynor - I Will Survive	1979
Marrs - Pump Up The Volume	1987
Dazz Band - Let It All Blow	1984
Alisha - Babytalk	1986
Five Star - All Fall Down	1985
Jacksons - Shake Your Body Down Slow	1979
Sueno Latino - Sueno Latino	1989
Loleatta Holloway - Love Sensation	1983
Santa Esmeralda - Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood	1977
First Choice - Let No Man Put Us Under	1984
Weeks & Company - Rock Your World	1982
Robin S - Love 4 Love	1993
Pointer Sisters - Fire	1979
Hithouse - Jack To The Sound Of The Underground	1988
Raze - Brake For Love	1994
Mc Star & The Real Mc Coy - I'ts On You	1990
CD 2
2 In A Room - Do What You Want	1990
Crystal Waters - Gypsy Woman	1991
Ce Ce Peniston - Finally	1992
Jenny Bee - Wanna Get Your Love	1993
Fun Fun - Happy Station	1983
Peter Brown - They Only Come Out At Night	1984
Carol Jiani - Hit & Run Lover	1981
Dan Hartman - Relight My Fire	1979
Herbie Hancock - Tell Everybody	1979
Michael Zager Band - Let's All Chant	1978
Poussez - Come On And Do It	1985
Viola Wills - If You Could Read My Mind	1981
Lipps Inc - Funkytown	1979
Moloko - Sing It Back	1999
Twenty 4 Seven - I Can't Stand It	1990
Mousse T - Horny '98	1998
Black & White Brothers - Put Your Hands Up	1995
The Limit - Say Yeah	1984
Haddaway - What Is Love	1992
Snap - Rythym Is A Dancer	1992
Technotronic - Get Up Before The Night Is Over	1990
Course - Ready Or Not	1995
M People - Moving On Up	1993
Goodmen - Give It Up	1992
Wamdue Project - King Of My Castle	1998
Jacksons - Can You Feel It	1981
Anita Ward - Ring My Bell	1979
Alisha Bridges - I Love The Nightlife	1978
Moby - Go	1991
Powerhouse Ft Duane Harden - What You Need	1999
Dominica - Gotta Let You Go	1995
Kristine W Feel - What You Want	1994
Faithless - Insomnia	1995
T99 - Anastasia	1991
Dead Or Alive - You Spin Me Around	1985
Ultra Nate - Free	1997
CD3
Dr Alban - It's My Life	1992
Gala - Freed From Desire	1996
Run Dmc Vs Jason Nevins - It's Like That	1997
Jaydee - Plastic Dreams	1992
Quadrophonia - Quadrophonia	1991
Earth Wind & Fire - September '99	1999
Phats & Small - Feel Good	1999
Tag Team - Whoomp There It Is	1993
Avantgarde - Get Down	1999
Ann Lee - 2 Times	1999
Tina Cousins - Killing Time	1997
ATB - 9PM	1999
2 Eivissa - Oh Lalala	1997
Earth Wind & Fire - Boogie Wonderland	1979
Sash! - Encore Une Fois	1997
Sunclub - Fiesta	1997
Cappella - Move On Baby	1994
Atlantic - Ocean Waterfall	1994
Mark Van Dale & Enrico - Water Verve	1997
Culture Beat - Mr. Vain	1993
R.O.O.S. - Instant Moments	1997
T-Spoon - No Time To Waste	1993
Dj Jean & Peran - I Give My Life	1996
La Bouche - Be My Lover	1995
De Bos - On The Run	1997
Scatman - John Scatman	1994
Vengaboys - We Like To Party	1998
DJ Jean - The Launch	1999
Jam & Spoon - Right In The Night	1993
Robert Miles - Children	1996
BBE - 7 Days & 1 Week	1996
Gouryella - Gouryella	1999
Kadoc - The Nighttrain	1996
System F - Out Of The Blue	1999
Ben Liebrand - Outro Grandmix	1999