Producers Galore
The core of Dancefair is electronic music. With a fully packed program with 200 masterclasses, 22 areas, 160 artists, 70 labels and 200 music brands Dancefair is simply an event you have to attend. Dancefair offers a wide range of production masterclasses in different musical genres.
- Armada Music, Spinnin’ Records, Revealed Recordings, Mixmash Records, Musical Freedom
- KLASH, Pagara Music Group, Cloud 9 Music, Hardstyle.com, 50:Hertz Techno
- Abbey Road Institute, The School of House, Future House Music
- Adam Audio, Kii Audio, KRK Systems, Pioneer DJ and Ableton Live 10
With top artists as Armin van Buuren, Laidback Luke, Secret Cinema, Brooks, CMC$, RetroVision, Ibranovski, David Gravell, Mike Mago, Joran van Pol, D-Sturb, Warface, Mightyfools, Dirtcaps, Capital Candy. GLOWINTHEDARK, Trobi, Spanker, Justin Mylo, Kill the Buzz, Olly James, Matt Nash, Luca Pretolesi, Maddix, Jewelz & Sparks, Mesto, Dante Klein, Dastic, Bougenvilla, Blasterjaxx, Mike Williams, Deepend, Rancido, Tinlicker, Weska, Man With No Shadow and many many more. Dancefair offers production masterclasses in the widest possible spectrum of electronic music. To make your life easy we have made a selection 10 masterclasses that you don’t wanna miss.
Mixing & Mastering with John Christian:
Area 1 – Mainstage – 11:00 – 11:45 – Saturday
Don’t think for a minute that seeing too much of John is, well, too much. Each and every time he finds new topics and angles on one of the most important topics for a Producer: Mixing and Mastering your track. Expect another new and fresh view on this subject by the master himself: John Christian.
What you will learn
- Stunning tips & tricks to upgrade your sound
- What mixing is and what it can do
- What mastering is and what it can do
- How to avoid the pitfalls
Young talents and pitfalls with Laidback Luke & Mark Villa:
Area 1 – Mainstage – 12:15 – 13:00 – Saturday
Get your inside knowledge on how to survive the first years after your big break!
All that hard work in the studio is finally paying off! You have your first track signed, you are getting more popular by the month and maybe you even do some shows – or you play Tomorrowland at 15 like Mark Villa did. But then what? Laidback Luke – label owner, DJ/Producer, vlogger and dance industry encyclopedia – is questioning Mark Villa on how he experienced his first years in the industry and gives some top notch advice for talents who are on the verge of making it big. Be amazed by the crazy anecdotes from Luke touring the world for over two decades and be prepared for when you make your own big break.
What will you learn:
- How to avoid the most obvious pitfalls as a talent
- The Do’s and Don’ts when you just start performing
- First hand knowledge on how to survive and thrive as a talent
- All from one of the industry’s biggest players – Laidback Luke
Mixing & Mastering Major Lazer with Luca Pretolesi:
Area 13 – KLASH Bass – 14:30 – 15:15 – Saturday
Luca will talk you through the process of mixing and mastering. As an engineer Luca has worked with Major Lazer, Diplo, Steve Aoki, Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike, DVBBS, Fedde Le Grand, Morgan Page, Dillon Francis, KSHMR, and TJR. What Luca does when mixing and mastering is nothing short of musicianship, taking tracks to an entirely new level. His approach is artistic, bringing a fresh perspective to songs and releasing the emotion that can be buried beneath unpolished sounds. Learn from Abbey Road Institute and Luca himself how he enhances the music and create a masterpiece beyond the original vision of the artist/producer.
What you will learn:
- Insight in the creative process of mixing
- An artistic approach to mastering
- Tips & tricks for in your home studio
- How to get a professional sound into your productions
Production Masterclass with Brooks:
Area 1 – Mainstage – 14:45 – 15:30 – Saturday
Pioneering his own blend of electronic dance music over the past two years, Dutch burgeoning producer Brooks has made a name for himself with a selection of outstanding originals and remixes. Hand picked by Dutch heavy weights, Showtek, Brooks stood out from the masses and gained recognition for his innovative style of rhythmic Electro House & hard melodic Future House.
What you will learn:
- Deconstructing one of Brooks latest tracks
- Insight in the FL Studio workflow
- How to get that phat convincing sound
- How to combine melody and rhythm
Production Masterclass with Secret Cinema:
Area 1 – Mainstage – 16:00 – 16:45 – Saturday
Jeroen Verheij aka Secret Cinema needs little introduction. He is Holland’s Techno father for over two decades and a ‘producer-producer’. In this Techno production masterclass Secret Cinema will show you his workflow as he calls ‘Organised Chaos’. Letting his gear flow with a talent of knowing what sounds great and captivates the listener. Bitwig is his choice of DAW, but for other DAW Producers this is a must-go masterclass to learn from one of the Techno’s Producer around.
What you will learn:
- How to use Bitwig in the studio and on stage
- How to captivate great sounds from your surroundig
- How to create empowering live sets
- How to do the tricks in the studio
Production Masterclass with CMC$:
Area 1 – Mainstage – 17:15 – 18:00 – Saturday
From hosting his own parties to teaming up with Martin Garrix in Ibiza, it will not be long before you will see him featured on all the international main stages. Looking at the overall progress CMC$ has made over these past years, the quality of his original productions, hosting his own parties and combining this with his relentless on stage presence, there is no saying when his rollercoaster of success will be halted
What you will learn:
- A deep look into Logic Pro X
- How to arrange drums, vocals and melody
- Deconstruction of a CMC$ track
- How to stay faithful to your own sound and keep pleasing your audience
Q&A with Armin van Buuren:
Area 12 – Armada Music – 17:30 – 18:15 – Saturday
This is a man driven by an unbridled and relentless passion for music. Armin van Buuren is a born perfectionist, striving to stay on top of the scene he’s helped build. As the flag-bearer of the trance movement, he’s one of the most influential figures in EDM worldwide. Even though he lives an extraordinary life as one of the world’s most popular DJs, he has always remained a down-to-earth guy. Armin van Buuren is constantly on the move, whether creating music in his studio or en route to his next high-end club or festival show around the globe.
Armin: “It’s not just love for music, it’s my passion. It goes beyond liking, and beyond a hobby. It’s about a way of living. Music is essential to my life.”
Armin van Buuren is a man driven by an unbridled and relentless passion for music. The five-time DJ Mag champion is a born perfectionist, always striving to stay on top of the scene he’s helped build. In this Q&A, we dive deep into the musical mind of Armin to uncover the true formula to success.
Production Masterclass with Mesto:
Area 12 – Spinnin’ Records – 11:15 – 12:00 – Sunday
Mesto is back with another brand new masterclass! Mesto has made a strong name for himself due to his unique ways of music production. Mesto will be showing you how he made Chances, and much more!
What you will learn:
- Deconstructing “Chances feat. Brielle Von Hugel”
- The Mesto sound. Making lead sounds and basslines.
- Working with a vocalist. From instrumental to vocal track.
- Adding live instrumentalists to your track. From MIDI to live guitar.
- FL Studio pro tips and tricks
Production Masterclass with Kill the Buzz:
Area 1 – Revealed Recordings – 12:15 – 13:00 – Sunday
Kill The Buzz is what you call a producer-producer. Always starting out from a piano, he writes his songs from scratch. “Harmonics and melodies, that’s my strength in the studio, reveals Kill the Buzz, and I believe the most important element of your track.”
What you will learn:
- Sound designing
- Creating melodies
- Harmonics
- Layering
F#cking Genres with Tinlicker:
Area 4 – 50:Hertz Techno – 14:15 – 15:00 – Sunday
What happens when you get in the studio and let music take its course freely. Without aiming for a specific genre, who knows what it might evolve towards. That must be exactly what the guys of Tinlicker think every time they get started on a project. The one project results in something, which deserves to be pounded throughout the Gashouder at Awakenings, and the other project leads them to Deadmau5 or nd even to the more progressive oriented mainstage of Mysteryland. These guys are taking their sound upstream without caring for the rules of any genre…and guess what…everybody is loving it! And so will you, so come learn from these amazing trendsetters and be inspired!
What will you learn:
- How will your way of working be influenced when you stop focussing on a certain genre?
- How can you positively influence your workflow when you stop copying tracks from a certain genre?
- What problems will you face when producing genre free music?
- How do you deal with the “what people think” factor in this process?
- How do you present yourself as an artist when you choose to play a wide variety of music?
Sound Synthesis Production Masterclass with Phuture Noize:
Area 5 – Hardstyle.com – 14:45 – 15:30 – Sunday
One of the most difficult parts about modern electronic music production is creating usable instruments from scratch. Most people tend to use an instrument preset or simply edit these presets to get something they might like, but how do you actually create new sounds that make musical sense and fit in your mixdown? In this masterclass you will learn how digital audio is actually made up and how to use sound synthesis techniques to usable instruments from scratch.
What you will learn:
- How does digital audio processing works.
- Basic synthesis techniques to use for creating instruments that are usable in hardstyle/electronic music.
- Special synthesis techniques to create more realistic and more natural sounding instruments and sounds.
- How to actually use sound design to create useable instruments for your hardstyle.
Production Masterclass with GLOWINTHEDARK & CityLights:
Area 18 – Urban/Hiphop – 15:00 – 16:00 – Sunday
GLOWINTHEDARK travels the whole wide world and this DJ/Producer duo does exactly know what it takes to merge urban and dance, hiphop and vocals to get that modern urban sound. Join this masterclass to get an exclusive insight in the studio workflow of top level producers with strong roots in both dance as well as urban.
Citylights has chosen music as his ultimate instrument to show his emotions to people. He intends to make for as long as possible: atmospherical soundscapes, combined with raw and aggressive elements. CityLights’ next big project is already in the pocket; the entire production of Dutch rapper DiceCream’s third studio album.
What you will learn:
- How to make that urban vibe ready for the club
- How to use vocals and lyrics that excite and go deep
- What it takes to create vibrant bass and beats
- How to mashup vocals and stay true to lyrics
Production Masterclass with Sick Individuals:
Area 1 – Revealed Recordings – 16:00 – 16:45 – Sunday
After numerous #1 singles worldwide to their credit, full support from the biggest names in the industry, and a tour schedule of some of the world’s most alluring festivals like Tomorrowland, Ultra, Sensation, Mysteryland, Electric Zoo, Ushuaïa and Creamfields, NL’s own Sick Individuals sit down and give you an exclusive insight into their studio workflow
What you will learn:
- An insight into the techniques they use to come up with such unique sounds
- In-depth tutorial about their own Focus One audio plug-in
- Practical tips and tricks that will motivate you and inspire your creativity
- Find out what makes an artist like Sick Individuals carve a path in a crowded industry
Production Masterclass with Mike Williams:
Area 12 – Spinnin’ Records – 16:15 – 17:00 – Sunday
Mike Williams is one of those artists that defines his own unique sound. Who better to teach you the Mike Williams style than Mike himself? We’re glad to have him back at Dancefair with a brand new production masterclass. Mike will show us his production workflow, and deconstructs one of his latest tracks. We’re diving into the workflow of Mike Williams, so get ready!
What you will learn:
- Deconstructing “You & I”
- Vocal chopping in Logic Pro X
- Songwriting. Writing catchy melodies
- The Mike Williams sound. How does he do it?