How It Was Recorded

Robbie Williams · I've Been Expecting You, 1998

Millennium

Lead vocalProgrammed bassProgramming and trackingMixVerified6Reported5

What the sources do and do not say

One Sound On Sound interview (November 1998) with producer Steve Power about this song. It covers vocal recording, the programmed backing track, tracking and the mix; the string and live percussion microphones are not named, so no rows for them. Software and sampler rows are the journalist's narrative, not Power's own words.

Lead vocal

Robbie Williams

Microphone

Neumann 149

Verified

Main lead vocal microphone, used for nearly all of the vocal recording at Jacobs Studios.

Source: Sound On Sound, accessed 15 Nov 2026

No plugin suggested. Microphone-modelling plugins only work with their own matched hardware microphone, so there is no plugin to link. Placement and the room matter more than the model.

Input chain

Focusrite Red mic preamp

Verified

Mic preamp on the lead vocal, alongside the microphone.

Source: Sound On Sound, accessed 15 Nov 2026

Close match

Plugin Alliance bx_console Focusrite SC

channel strip

Models the Focusrite Studio Console channel with its ISA 110 transformer-coupled preamp, the Rupert Neve design the Red preamps were built on; it is not a model of the Red unit itself.

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Focusrite Red compressor

Verified

Compressor on the lead vocal while tracking, alongside the microphone and preamp.

Source: Sound On Sound, accessed 15 Nov 2026

Emulation of this unit

Focusrite Red 2 & Red 3 Plug-in Suite

compressor

Focusrite's own plugin model of the Red 3 compressor.

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Programmed bass

Steve McNichol (programmer)

Instrument

Clavia Nord Lead

Verified

Supplied the synth part of the programmed bass sound, combined with a sampled bass.

Source: Sound On Sound, accessed 15 Nov 2026

Close match

discoDSP Discovery

instrument

A virtual-analogue synth modelled on the Nord Lead 2, the direct successor that kept the same design with more voices.

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Akai S3000

Reported

Samplers used in programming the backing track; Power says one of the Akais held the bass sample used in the bass sound.

Source: Sound On Sound, accessed 15 Nov 2026

Approximate

TAL Software TAL-Sampler

instrument

A sampler plugin with vintage-style converters. It is not a model of this unit, and you load your own samples.

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Programming and tracking

Input chain

Emagic Logic Audio

Reported

Used by the programmer, running on a Mac, to program the backing track.

Source: Sound On Sound, accessed 15 Nov 2026

No plugin suggested. This is already software, so the stand-in is the thing itself. No product link has been added for it yet.

Avid Pro Tools

Reported

Used by the programmer, together with Logic Audio, to program the backing track.

Source: Sound On Sound, accessed 15 Nov 2026

The plugin used on the record

Avid Pro Tools

DAW

The DAW used on the record.

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Unidentified Tape machine (model not stated)

Verified

The multitrack recorder was a 48-track analogue machine; the session came close to filling it.

Source: Sound On Sound, accessed 15 Nov 2026

Approximate

Slate Digital Virtual Tape Machines

tape

Models two Studer machines, not this recorder. It gives the general behaviour of analogue multitrack tape.

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Also worth a look: Universal Audio Studer A800 Tape Recorder (Models a Studer A800, not this recorder. It gives the general behaviour of analogue multitrack tape).

Mix

Steve Power

Mix effects

Prism Maselec MLA2

Reported

Compressor that everything was put through during the mix.

Source: Sound On Sound, accessed 15 Nov 2026

Covers this kind of unit

Plugin Alliance Millennia TCL-2

compressor

A clean, transparent stereo compressor used for the same mastering-grade job; it is not a model of this unit.

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Prism Maselec MEA2

Reported

Equaliser that everything was put through during the mix.

Source: Sound On Sound, accessed 15 Nov 2026

Emulation of this unit

Relab Development Maselec MEA-2

equaliser

Relab's model of the MEA-2, developed with its designer Leif Mases.

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Unidentified Plate reverb (model not stated)

Verified

Plate reverbs available at Battery were used for the reverb on this mix.

Source: Sound On Sound, accessed 15 Nov 2026

Close match

Universal Audio EMT 140 Classic Plate Reverberator

reverb

Models EMT 140 plates. The source does not name the plate used.

Get the plugin ↗What else it stands in for

Also worth a look: Waves Abbey Road Reverb Plates (Models the EMT 140 plates at Abbey Road. The source does not name the plate used).

Sources

  1. Guy Chambers & Steve Power: Recording Robbie Williams' 'Millennium', Sound On Sound, 1998-11. Accessed 15 Nov 2026.
Verified

Stated by the engineer, producer or artist, or by the manufacturer.

Reported

Stated by a reputable secondary source.

Inferred

An educated suggestion, not a documented fact.

Disclosure: plugin links currently go straight to the maker and earn us nothing. If that changes, affiliate links will be marked here. Suggestions are chosen on fit, never on commission, and are kept separate from the recording facts. More.