[MUSIC] "I want to be in that moment."

So we've used a human voice as a synthesizer.

There's pads coming there.

There's all sorts of excitement going on.

You want to suck the crowd into that moment.

Now it comes-- the payoff.

Everything in dance music revolves around the kick drum.

It's your guidance.

It's the holy grail.

When you roll off all the low end,

it just adds to the transience.

If your kick is not working, it won't rock the crowd.

You'll find that out the hard way.

So I've done a gain automation of my tracks, 3 dBs softer.

So that's an arrangement trick to tell people, OK, guys, It's

coming, it's coming, it's coming.

Bam.

So that's how you build a drop.

I started to DJ in this really, really small club.

Sometimes I even had to bartend while I was spinning.

I put on my new song, and then nothing

happens on the dance floor.

So you go back into the studio, until it's perfect.

Are you ready to do a couple of takes?

[SINGING] She woke up in the morning.

I want to create a track completely from scratch,

especially for this MasterClass, with my good friend, Benno.

Keep it at the same note.

You want to make it shorter?

Well, let' see.

Let's try and see.

It was really my passion, you know, making little mix tapes

for my friends.

I'm still that little kid, you know.

That hasn't changed.

If that passion is real, it will come across.

It's about you.

You are your own sound.

If you're standing behind the decks, and you're shining,

and you're having an amazing time,

it will have an effect on people.

You can get there.

Trust me.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

I'm Armin van Buuren, and this is my MasterClass.