Make an R&B beat for your vocals
To make an R&B beat for your vocals, upload or record the vocal in Lyro Music, choose R&B as the style and press Generate. Lyro reads the tempo and key of your voice in the browser, and its studio tools write electric piano chords, a deep 808 and slow swung drums 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 R&B beat around this vocalNo file at hand? Start from a description, or generate a prompt.
At a glanceR&B
| Tempo (BPM) | 60 to 100, most often 65 to 90 |
|---|---|
| Keys | minor keys with extended chords (sevenths, ninths, elevenths), often E minor or F minor |
| Feel | laid-back and swung, snare or snap on two and four, hi-hats often in triplets or rolls |
| Signature sounds | a close, breathy lead with melisma, stacked harmonies and ad-libs, extended electric piano chords, a deep 808 or sub bass, and slow swung drums with snaps |
| Song form | usually verse, pre-chorus and chorus with subtle changes between them, a bridge that strips back to keys and voice, and a last chorus full of ad-libs |
Lyro follows your vocal’s own tempo and key, so the usual R&B 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 R&B and describe the soundCheck the tempo and key Lyro reads, choose R&B, and add style words, for example: R&B beat: 808 sub bass, electric piano, lush pads, finger snaps, rimshots.
- 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
R&B beat: 808 sub bass, electric piano, lush pads, finger snaps, rimshots
Tips for this genre
R&B is recognised by a close, breathy lead with melisma, stacked harmonies and ad-libs, extended electric piano chords, a deep 808 or sub bass, and slow swung drums with snaps. Describe it the way you would brief a producer:
- Name the chords as well as the instrument, for example "electric piano with minor ninth chords", to get the rich harmony.
- Ask for a laid-back or behind-the-beat drum feel, since stiff timing removes the groove.
- Avoid: Asking for high energy turns the track into dance-pop, because the genre works through restraint.
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 R&B 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 R&B beat?
The usual tempo of R&B, in BPM: 60 to 100, most often 65 to 90. Its keys: minor keys with extended chords (sevenths, ninths, elevenths), often E minor or F minor. 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 R&B?
Name the sounds, not an artist. For example: “R&B beat: 808 sub bass, electric piano, lush pads, finger snaps, rimshots”. 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 R&B 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 R&B is not quite the sound?
The neighbouring genres differ in clear ways:
Related
More for this genre: A vocal for your beat, Remix your song, Mix and master
Other genres: Pop, Hip-hop, Trap, Drill, Afrobeats, Reggaeton, Amapiano, Lo-fi, Rock, Acoustic folk, K-pop