Genre and sub-genre
Name the lane first. “Lo-fi hip hop”, “cinematic trailer cue”, or “80s synthwave” sets instrumentation, groove, and mix conventions in one phrase.
A good music prompt names the genre, the mood, the tempo, the instruments, and the shape of the track. This guide shows the exact parts to include, with copy-paste examples for the styles people generate most.
You do not need all six every time, but the more of them you describe, the closer the first take lands.
Name the lane first. “Lo-fi hip hop”, “cinematic trailer cue”, or “80s synthwave” sets instrumentation, groove, and mix conventions in one phrase.
Describe the feeling and how it moves: warm and nostalgic, tense and rising, bright and celebratory, or dark and restrained.
Give a BPM when the track has to sit under an edit, and name a key or mode when you want a specific colour, such as A minor or D dorian.
List the players you want to hear: dusty drum break, upright bass, Rhodes chords, muted trumpet, analog pad, or a string section.
Describe the shape over time — four-bar piano intro, drums in at 0:12, chorus lift, stripped-back outro — so the arrangement has a direction.
Ask for an instrumental, a hummed topline, or a lead vocal, and paste your own lyrics when you want specific words.
Template: [genre] at [BPM] BPM in [key], [mood], featuring [instruments]. [structure]. [vocals or instrumental].
Swap the instruments and tempo to make each of these your own.
| Style | Prompt |
|---|---|
| Lo-fi study loop | Warm lo-fi hip hop at 82 BPM in A minor, dusty vinyl crackle, soft Rhodes chords, upright bass, laid-back kick and brushed snare. Piano intro for four bars, drums enter after that, instrumental only. |
| Cinematic trailer cue | Cinematic trailer cue in D minor, 90 BPM, rising string ostinato, hybrid percussion, low brass swell and a single piano note at the start. Build for 30 seconds, full hit at 0:40, tail out by 0:55. |
| Synthwave night drive | Neon synthwave at 110 BPM in F minor, analog arpeggio, gated reverb drums, wide detuned bass, shimmering pads and a nostalgic lead melody. Instrumental, steady energy throughout. |
| Orchestral game theme | Looping orchestral game theme in C minor, 100 BPM, heroic brass motif, pizzicato strings, taiko hits and choir pad. Seamless loop, memorable four-bar motif, instrumental. |
| Acoustic brand spot | Uplifting acoustic brand spot at 104 BPM in G major, fingerpicked guitar, hand claps, glockenspiel accents and light shaker. Fifteen seconds, warm and optimistic, instrumental. |
| Vocal pop hook | Bright pop at 118 BPM in E major, punchy drums, plucked synth, warm bass and a female lead vocal singing the lyrics I pasted. Chorus lands at 0:22 with stacked harmonies. |
| Ambient background bed | Slow ambient bed at 60 BPM in C major, evolving pads, soft piano notes, subtle tape hiss, no drums. Calm and spacious, minimal movement, instrumental. |
| Boom bap beat | Boom bap hip hop beat at 88 BPM, swung MPC-style drums, vinyl texture, filtered soul sample chop, deep upright bass and no vocals. |
References are optional. Add them when you already have the raw idea and want Lyria 3.5 to follow it.
Attach a photo, artwork, or storyboard and its mood, colour, and pacing guide the score. One image per generation.
Attach a short WAV or MP3 clip up to 15 seconds and carry its instrumentation, groove, or melodic idea into the new track. A hummed line works.
Type @ in the prompt to drop an uploaded file into the instruction, so the model knows exactly which reference to follow.
Limit per request: 1 image (JPG, PNG, WEBP, HEIC, or HEIF, up to 30 MB), 1 audio clip (WAV or MP3, 2-15 seconds, up to 15 MB), plus plain-text lyrics inside the prompt.
Single generations run up to about a minute. Describe the timeline so the arrangement develops instead of looping.
Give the model a running order: “four-bar piano intro, drums in at 0:12, chorus lift at 0:30, stripped back at 0:45.” Mentioning where a section starts is usually enough to keep the parts glued together.
For anything longer than a minute, generate the sections separately with the same prompt, tempo, and key, then arrange them in your editor. Keeping those three values identical is what stops a long-form track from drifting.
Ask for a seamless loop when the music will sit under a game menu, a podcast bed, or a product video, and ask for a hard ending when you need the track to land on a final chord.
Lyria 3.5 can render an instrumental bed, a hummed topline, or a lead vocal singing lyrics you supply.
Say “instrumental only” and the model leaves space for a voiceover or a topline you add later.
Describe the vocal delivery — soft, breathy, belted — and let the model write the topline.
Paste the lyrics into the prompt and mark the chorus so the hook repeats where you want it.
Ask for stacked harmonies or octave doubles on the chorus to make the hook read louder.
Most disappointing generations come from one of these five problems.
| Mistake | Fix |
|---|---|
| Naming a genre and nothing else | Add tempo, key, instruments, and structure so the arrangement has somewhere to go. |
| Stacking contradictory moods | "Aggressive and gentle" gives the model no direction. Pick one and describe how it changes. |
| Ignoring length | Say how long the track should be and roughly when each section enters. |
| Uploading a long reference | References are trimmed to 15 seconds. Use the moment that actually carries the idea. |
| Expecting a finished master | Generate the arrangement here, then finish the mix in your own tools if you need release-grade polish. |
A repeatable workflow for tracks that need more than one section.
Write a short prompt for the core genre, tempo, and mood. Ignore structure at this stage.
Generate a couple of versions and keep the one whose groove and harmony are closest to the idea.
Reuse the same prompt and add an intro, a lift, or an outro so every section stays in the same key and tempo.
Drop the sections into your editor in order, then export the stereo mix for your release or edit.
Keep a plain-text file with your prompt, tempo, and key. Reusing the exact same values is the fastest way to get consistent results.
Open the generator, paste one of the prompts above, and adjust from there. The FAQ covers credits, formats, and billing.
Start from a genre, a mood, and a tempo, then refine the arrangement one generation at a time.