Add a sung vocal to your instrumental
Upload your instrumental, a piano piece, a guitar track or a band take, then paste your lyrics or let Lyro write them. Lyro’s vocal model listens to your music, sings the words over it and returns the vocal as its own track, so your recording is never changed. It suits a steady tempo best; a take that speeds up and slows down is harder to sing over. A vocal costs 7 credits for up to a minute of music.
Plans from $14 a month, enough for about 11 vocals on 1-minute instrumentals. No free trial. Cancel in two clicks.
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How it goesThree steps
- Bounce a section with a clear pulseExport the verse and chorus, or the whole piece, as WAV or MP3 without any vocal on it. Start on the downbeat. If the tempo wanders in the intro, start where it settles.
- Check the reading, then add the wordsLyro reads the tempo and key in your browser. Fix a half or double tempo and a relative key, then paste your lyrics, or say what the song is about and Lyro writes words sized to your music. Pick a voice type.
- Place the vocal and mixThe vocal opens in the studio beside your recording. Slide it so the first word sits where you want it, nudge any word that lands early or late, then balance, add reverb and master.
The details
A played instrumental is not a programmed beat
Lyro’s vocal model sings on the grid of the music it hears. A programmed beat has one tempo from the first bar to the last. A performance has a pulse that breathes, so the same job needs a few more checks.
| Programmed beat | Played instrumental (piano, guitar, band) | |
|---|---|---|
| Tempo | One number, locked | An average. Rubato, a held chord or a rit. moves it |
| Best part to upload | The whole beat, or only the chorus bars | The section with the clearest pulse, usually a chorus or a verse with the drums or the left hand steady |
| Tempo and key reading | Usually right; watch for half or double | Check against your ears; a tempo change or a modulation is read as one value |
| Sizing the words | A line every two bars at most tempos | The same sum, but count seconds as well if the pulse is loose |
| Likely fix | Nudge a word | Nudge a word, or upload a steadier take or a shorter section |
The vocal comes back on its own track, lined up with the file you uploaded. Your recording is not rewritten: the two meet only in the studio, and you can download the vocal alone as a WAV for your own session.
Before you upload: a checklist for played music
- Take the vocal off first. If there is a scratch vocal, a guide melody or a lead line that sings, mute it before you bounce, so the model does not have a second voice to follow.
- Pick the steadiest part. Intros played freely, fermatas and slowing endings are the hard bits. Upload from the first bar of the verse to the last bar of the chorus and join the rest in your own session.
- Check the tempo. The BPM and key finder shows the reading. A slow ballad at 72 BPM can be read as 144. Tap along and correct it before you write the words.
- Check the key. A piece in A minor can be read as C major. Both are the same notes, so the reading is not wrong, but know which one your chords feel like.
- One key, one tempo per file. If the piece modulates or changes tempo halfway, upload each part as its own file and generate each vocal separately. The voice will differ between the two, so decide where you want the change to show.
- Leave room. A busy solo guitar or piano line in the same range as a voice fights the vocal. A thinner chorus gives the voice somewhere to sit.
- Length. A file needs at least 10 seconds, and Lyro works on up to 3 minutes of it. Upload only the part that needs a voice.
Writing words that fit your music
Sung, a line lasts about four seconds: two bars when a bar is short, one bar when it is long. Lyro does this sum for you when it writes lyrics, and the Create page shows how many seconds of your music your words fill. Two examples, using the same plan the lyric writer follows:
- A two-minute piano ballad at 72 BPM. A bar lasts 3.3 seconds and a line one bar. The plan: Verse 1 (4), Pre-Chorus (2), Chorus (4), Verse 2 (4), Pre-Chorus (2), Chorus (4). That is 20 lines, about 110 words.
- A 90-second strummed guitar song at 110 BPM. A bar lasts 2.2 seconds, so a line takes two. The plan: Verse 1 (8), Pre-Chorus (2), Chorus (4). That is 14 lines, about 90 words.
Two cautions. The sum counts four beats to a bar, so for a waltz in 3/4 or a 6/8 song, count in seconds and keep lines to about four. And a loose tempo means the average is only a guide: write a little short rather than long, since the model fills empty bars with hums and lines of its own. The syllable counter checks the lines you write, and lyrics written to your beat explains the plan in full.
When the vocal does not sit on your playing
- One word lands early or late. Split the phrase in the studio and move it. Do not stretch the whole take. See AI vocals off beat?
- The whole vocal drifts away from the piano. The tempo of your take probably wanders more than the grid allows. Upload a shorter section, or a take played to a click. If you can still play the part, play it again to a click track in headphones: it is the change most likely to help.
- A note clashes with your chords. Check the key reading first, then run it again. See fix an AI vocal that is out of key.
- The voice is not right. Each run is new. Describe the delivery in a line (“close and breathy, little vibrato”, “plain and warm, folk”) and try two or three takes. A new run costs the same credits again.
Where the limits are
- The melody is the model’s, new on every take. You steer it with the words, the voice and a line of style, not note by note. It cannot sing a tune you hum or write out.
- It sings exactly the words it is given. With only a few lines, it fills the rest of the music with hums or lines of its own.
- You choose a voice type, not a singer. Lyro has no voice cloning and does not take an artist’s name as a style.
- One lead vocal comes back. Harmonies, doubles and ad-libs are not stacked for you; add your own on extra tracks in the studio.
- No MIDI and no sheet music: the result is audio.
- Turkish lyrics take a different route: Lyro High sings them over music it generates at your tempo and key, and only the vocal is kept. That is a poorer fit for a played recording, so expect to line the vocal up by hand.
- A loose tempo, a mid-piece tempo change and a modulation are harder than a steady take. We have not measured how much harder, so treat the first result as a draft and plan on two or three tries.
- Only upload music you made or have permission to use.
Credits, plans and rights
A vocal with lyrics costs 7 credits for up to a minute of music and 11 credits for three minutes, on every plan. Starter is $14 a month for 80 credits, enough for a three-minute instrumental 7 times. Writing the words uses writing-assistant requests, not credits. The studio, mastering and WAV export come with every plan, and a failed job gives back every credit automatically. See the pricing page.
Your instrumental stays yours and is never altered. As between you and us, you own whatever rights exist in the vocal, and every paid plan includes a commercial licence for what Lyro generates, so you can release a song or use it in a film or game. Lyro’s licence covers the generated vocal, not the music you bring: you need the rights to that. Every download carries an ID3 tag declaring it AI-generated, so say the vocal is AI-made when a platform, a client or a distributor asks. See music rights and the acceptable use policy.
Questions
Can AI add vocals to my instrumental?
Yes. Upload the instrumental, paste lyrics or let Lyro write them, and choose a voice type. Lyro’s vocal model listens to your music, sings the words over it and returns the vocal as a separate track, so the recording is not changed. It costs 7 credits for up to a minute of music, on every plan.
Does it work on a piano or guitar recording with no click track?
It can, but a steady tempo helps. The vocal model sings on the grid of the music it hears, and a performance that speeds up and slows down gives it a moving grid. Upload the section with the clearest pulse, check the tempo reading, and expect to nudge a word or two. Played to a click, the same part is easier.
If someone sent me a music track, how do I add vocals to it?
Ask them for the instrumental without any vocal, as WAV if possible, and check what you are allowed to do with it before you upload. Then upload it to Lyro, add lyrics and generate. If they own the track, a short written yes about vocals and release is worth having. Lyro’s licence covers the vocal it makes, not their music.
Can I add vocals to a famous instrumental or a backing track?
Not unless you have permission. A karaoke or backing track of a released song, a film score or a library cue belongs to someone else, and our acceptable use policy asks you to upload only audio you made or may use. If you need music of your own to write to, make an instrumental with Lyro instead.
How do I add lyrics to an instrumental?
Paste them into the lyrics box, tagged [Verse] and [Chorus], or say what the song is about and Lyro writes lyrics sized to your music. Write every repeat out in full, because the model sings exactly what it reads. Sung, you need about a line every two bars at most tempos, or a line a bar on slow music. See lyrics written to your beat.
What if I only want a melody, with no words?
Leave the lyrics empty and Lyro writes a few lines for your music and sings them, for 6 credits for a beat of up to 5 minutes. The words are Lyro’s, not yours, so use it to find a hook, then write your own to the part you like. See AI topline generator.
What does it cost?
7 credits for up to a minute of music and 11 credits for three minutes, on every plan. Starter is $14 a month for 80 credits. Writing the lyrics uses writing-assistant requests, not credits. See the pricing page.
Related: Add vocals to a beat, Lyrics written to your beat, An acapella for your own track, Fix AI vocals that are off beat, Fix an AI vocal that is out of key, AI topline generator
Guides: How to add AI vocals to your beat, Finish a song with AI: start from what you already have