Make an afrobeats beat for your vocals
To make an afrobeats beat for your vocals, upload or record the vocal in Lyro Music, choose Afrobeats as the style and press Generate. Lyro reads the tempo and key of your voice in the browser, and its studio tools write a bouncing syncopated groove, shakers and warm guitar or synth chords around your phrasing, returned as an instruments-only track. Your vocal stays untouched on its own track, and the two open together in the mixer.
It costs one credit per started minute, with a minimum of 2 credits, on every plan.
What should the beat sound like?
Sign up and Lyro builds on your vocal.
Write an afrobeats beat around this vocalNo file at hand? Start from a description, or generate a prompt.
At a glanceAfrobeats
| Tempo (BPM) | 95 to 115 |
|---|---|
| Keys | major or minor, often B minor, A minor or G major, over simple loops of two to four chords |
| Feel | syncopated kick and snare with a clave-like bounce, steady shakers, accents between the beats |
| Signature sounds | a bouncy syncopated kick and snare pattern, shakers and talking drum accents, bright highlife-style guitar licks, and a smooth lead with group backing chants |
| Song form | usually a short intro on the guitar or keys hook, drums within a few bars, then verse and chorus alternating over one chord loop, ending on the groove and ad-libs |
Lyro follows your vocal’s own tempo and key, so the usual afrobeats range is a guide to how it will feel, not a setting.
How it goesThree steps
- Upload or record your vocalUse a WAV, MP3 or M4A file, or record from your microphone in the browser. Record it dry: no reverb and no music in the room.
- Pick Afrobeats and describe the soundCheck the tempo and key Lyro reads, choose Afrobeats, and add style words, for example: Afrobeats beat: syncopated kick and snare, shakers, rim clicks, talking drum, congas.
- Get the beat, then mixThe instruments come back as their own track beside your vocal. Balance them in the studio, master and export WAV.
Style words to pasteIn English, as the Style box reads them
Afrobeats beat: syncopated kick and snare, shakers, rim clicks, talking drum, congas
Tips for this genre
Afrobeats is recognised by a bouncy syncopated kick and snare pattern, shakers and talking drum accents, bright highlife-style guitar licks, and a smooth lead with group backing chants. Describe it the way you would brief a producer:
- Write Afrobeats with an s, because Afrobeat without it means 1970s big-band funk with long horn-led jams.
- Describe the drums as bouncy and syncopated, and add shakers, rim clicks and talking drum accents.
- Avoid: Asking for a four-on-the-floor kick turns the groove into afro house and removes the bounce.
Where the limits are
- Free-tempo singing, with no steady pulse, is hard to build a beat around; sing to a click or a simple loop.
- Tempo detection can land on half or double the real value, and key detection on the relative key: check both before you generate.
- Background music, room echo or noise in the recording confuses the detection and the model.
- The instruments are new and written for your vocal; Lyro does not copy an existing beat or an artist’s sound.
Questions
Will Lyro change my vocal when it makes the afrobeats beat?
No. Your recording is the input, and it stays on its own track, untouched. The beat comes back as a separate, instruments-only track, and the two meet only in the mixer, where you set the balance.
What tempo is an afrobeats beat?
The usual tempo of afrobeats, in BPM: 95 to 115. Its keys: major or minor, often B minor, A minor or G major, over simple loops of two to four chords. Lyro builds the beat on your vocal’s own tempo and key, which it reads in the browser and you can correct, so sing at the tempo you want the song to have.
What should I write in the style box for afrobeats?
Name the sounds, not an artist. For example: “Afrobeats beat: syncopated kick and snare, shakers, rim clicks, talking drum, congas”. Lyro does not take a real artist’s name as a style, and describing the drums, bass and one lead instrument gets you closer than a name would.
What does an afrobeats beat for my vocal cost?
One credit per started minute of your vocal, with a minimum of 2 credits, so a three-minute vocal costs 3 credits. It is on every plan, and mixing and mastering in the studio cost no credits. Failed generations are refunded in credits automatically.
What if afrobeats is not quite the sound?
The neighbouring genres differ in clear ways:
- Amapiano: overlaps in tempo at 108 to 115 BPM, but is led by the log drum and piano chords and takes far longer to unfold
- Afro house: faster at 118 to 125 BPM, with a club kick on every beat and sparse chants in place of full songs
- Reggaeton: a little slower at 88 to 100 BPM and built on the dembow pattern
Related
More for this genre: A vocal for your beat, Mix and master
Other genres: Pop, R&B, Hip-hop, Trap, Drill, Reggaeton, Amapiano, Lo-fi, Rock, Acoustic folk, K-pop