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# Lyria prompt guide

The Gemini API offers two ways to generate music with Lyria:

* **Lyria 3.5 & Lyria 3 Clip**: Non-streaming generation for 30-second clips or full-length songs with lyrics and vocals. See [Generate music with Lyria 3.5](/docs/music-generation).
* **Lyria RealTime**: Real-time, interactive music streaming and live steering over WebSockets. See [Real-time music generation with Lyria RealTime](/docs/realtime-music-generation).

Both models respond to descriptive text prompts, musical terminology, and structural directions. This guide covers how to write effective prompts for both batch generation and real-time steering.

## Prompt fundamentals  {% id="prompt-fundamentals" %}

Your prompt can be a short phrase:

```none
A folk song about cute cats avoiding puddles, female vocals, acoustic guitar, sound of rain
```

Or a structured, detailed description:

```none
A 1980s-style synth-pop track with a driving beat, shimmering synthesizers, and a catchy, anthemic chorus. The song should have a retro-futuristic feel with modern production polish. Upbeat tempo around 120 BPM, clear verse-chorus structure, and a memorable instrumental hook. The lyrics describe getting ready for a party.
```

Both short and detailed prompts produce strong results. Use the following strategies to guide the model toward the exact sound you want.

## Genre and style  {% id="genre-and-style" %}

Lead your prompt with the primary genre. You can combine genres to create unique hybrids:

* A fusion of metal and hip-hop
* Death metal combined with operatic vocals
* Classical chamber music with dark electronic drone elements
* Modern electronic dance music (EDM) mixed with Europop

You can also specify a musical era or regional variant:

* Early 1990s boom-bap hip-hop
* 1960s French yé-yé pop
* 1980s post-punk and new wave
* 2000s mainstream R&B
* Berlin minimal techno or Bay Area hyphy

### Genre keywords  {% id="genre-keywords" %}

Use these recognized genre terms in your prompts for Lyria 3.5 and Lyria RealTime:

* **Electronic & Dance**: `Acid House, Breakbeat, Chillout, Chiptune, Deep House, Drum & Bass, Dubstep, EDM, Electro Swing, Glitch Hop, Hyperpop, Minimal Techno, Moombahton, Psytrance, Synthpop, Techno, Trance, Trip Hop, Vaporwave`
* **Hip-Hop & R&B**: `808 Hip Hop, Boom-Bap, Contemporary R&B, G-funk, Grime, Lo-Fi Hip Hop, Neo-Soul, New Jack Swing, Trap Beat`
* **Rock & Alternative**: `Alternative Country, Blues Rock, Classic Rock, Funk Metal, Garage Rock, Indie Folk, Indie Pop, Post-Punk, 60s Psychedelic Rock, Shoegaze, Surf Rock`
* **Jazz, Soul & Funk**: `Acid Jazz, Afrobeat, Bossa Nova, Disco Funk, Funk, Jazz Fusion, Latin Jazz`
* **Folk & Traditional**: `Bengal Baul, Bhangra, Bluegrass, Celtic Folk, Cumbia, Indian Classical, Irish Folk, Merengue, Polka, Reggae, Reggaeton, Renaissance Music, Salsa`
* **Classical & Acoustic**: `Baroque, Orchestral Score, Piano Ballad`

## Instruments and textures  {% id="instruments-and-textures" %}

Lyria selects appropriate instrumentation for the requested genre automatically. If you want specific instruments or unusual combinations, declare them explicitly:

```none
A dance track with a driving beat, shimmering synthesizers, and a catchy, anthemic chorus. A saxophone solo enters during the bridge.
```

Describe how instruments sound and interact to set mood and texture:

* A distorted 303 bassline cutting through crisp, tight hi-hats
* Warm, analog synth pads swelling beneath a dry, intimate acoustic guitar
* A wall of sound built from multiple layers of fuzz guitar, with distant, reverb-soaked vocals

### Instrument keywords  {% id="instrument-keywords" %}

* **Keyboards & Synths**: `Buchla Synths, Clavichord, Dirty Synths, Harpsichord, Mellotron, Moog Oscillations, Ragtime Piano, Rhodes Piano, Smooth Pianos, Spacey Synths, Synth Pads`
* **Bass & Drums**: `303 Acid Bass, 808 Hip Hop Beat, Boomy Bass, Conga Drums, Drumline, Funk Drums, Precision Bass, Tabla, TR-909 Drum Machine`
* **Guitars & Strings**: `Banjo, Balalaika, Bouzouki, Cello, Charango, Dulcimer, Fiddle, Flamenco Guitar, Guitar, Harp, Koto, Lyre, Mandolin, Pipa, Shamisen, Shredding Guitar, Sitar, Slide Guitar, Viola Ensemble, Warm Acoustic Guitar`
* **Wind & Brass**: `Alto Saxophone, Bagpipes, Bass Clarinet, Didgeridoo, Harmonica, Ocarina, Trumpet, Tuba, Woodwinds`
* **Percussion**: `Bongos, Djembe, Glockenspiel, Hang Drum, Kalimba, Maracas, Marimba, Mbira, Steel Drum, Vibraphone`

## Song structure and timing  {% id="structure-and-timing" %}

For Lyria 3.5, define song progression using tags or arrows:

* `[Intro] -> [Verse 1] -> [Chorus] -> [Verse 2] -> [Chorus] -> [Bridge] -> [Outro]`
* Start with a quiet piano intro, build into an energetic verse, pause for a moment of silence, then explode into the chorus.

You can direct energy dynamics and transitions:

* Build tension through the pre-chorus, then drop to silence before an explosive chorus
* Gradual crescendo throughout the song, adding one instrument per section
* A sudden stop after the bridge, followed by an a cappella chorus

You can also prompt specific timing markers:

* Build to a beat drop at 12 seconds
* Vocal sample repeats every 4 bars
* The chorus kicks in at 22 seconds

## Lyrics and vocals  {% id="lyrics-and-vocals" %}

Lyria 3.5 generates vocal tracks with lyrics by default. You can provide your own lyrics, ask the model to generate them, or request an instrumental track.

### Using your own lyrics  {% id="own-lyrics" %}

Include your lyrics directly in the prompt beneath a `Lyrics:` header. Tag each section to guide vocal delivery:

```none
Lyrics:

[Intro]
Ooooh, yeah

[Verse 1]
Early morning rain on the window pane
City lights wash away the pain
Walking down this empty street again

[Chorus]
We keep moving on (moving on)
Until the morning light
Everything will be alright
```

Use parentheses for backing vocals, echoes, or ad-libs, like `(moving on)`.

### Directing generated lyrics  {% id="generated-lyrics" %}

When asking Lyria 3.5 to write lyrics, outline the narrative, emotion, or key phrases:

```none
The lyrics describe driving down the Pacific Coast Highway at sunset. The mood is nostalgic and reflective. Include an uplifting, anthemic chorus about second chances and starting over.
```

For electronic and dance genres, request short repeating vocal hooks:

```none
An upbeat dance-pop track with a repetitive, high-energy vocal hook: "Feel the rhythm all night long."
```

### Vocal delivery and singer profiles  {% id="vocal-delivery" %}

Specify gender, vocal range, and timbre for precise delivery:

* **Female Soprano**: Clear, crystalline timbre with an agile, soaring delivery. Bright tone capable of airy, breathy textures.
* **Female Alto**: Rich, warm, and husky lower range. Smoky timbre with a soulful, resonant chest voice.
* **Male Tenor**: Bright, piercing, and energetic. Youthful timbre with high belting power that cuts through dense mixes.
* **Male Baritone**: Deep, velvet-smooth chest voice with a warm, soothing, crooning delivery.
* **Weathered Rocker**: Raspy, gritty timbre reminiscent of 1990s alternative rock. Raw emotional intensity with strained upper notes.

### Non-lyrical vocal effects  {% id="vocal-effects" %}

You can also prompt for spoken dialogue, vocal chops, and sampling effects:

* A vintage radio broadcast voice introduces the song before the beat kicks in
* A spoken voice whispers right before the drop, followed by high-energy synths
* Chopped, pitch-shifted vocal samples looping as an instrumental rhythm element

## Musical parameters  {% id="musical-parameters" %}

Refine your prompt with standard musical properties:

* **Tempo (BPM)**: Set the tempo directly (e.g. `120 BPM`, `slow tempo around 72 BPM`, `fast 160 BPM`).
* **Key and Scale**: Specify the root key and tonality (e.g. `in G major`, `in D minor`, `in C pentatonic`).
* **Mood and Atmosphere**: Use descriptive emotional adjectives:
  `Ambient, Bright, Chill, Dark, Dreamy, Emotional, Ethereal, Euphoric, Funky, Groovy, Melancholic, Nostalgic, Ominous, Psychedelic, Relaxed, Soulful, Triumphant, Upbeat, Whimsical`

## Prompting Lyria RealTime  {% id="realtime-prompting" %}

Lyria RealTime uses **weighted prompts** rather than a single monolithic prompt string. This lets you blend multiple musical influences dynamically and steer music continuously over a WebSocket connection.

### Weighted prompt structure  {% id="weighted-prompts" %}

Each weighted prompt consists of a descriptive text phrase and a floating-point weight:

```python
prompts = [
    types.WeightedPrompt(text="minimal techno", weight=1.0),
    types.WeightedPrompt(text="deep sub bass", weight=0.6),
    types.WeightedPrompt(text="shimmering hi-hats", weight=0.4),
]
```

### Real-time steering strategies  {% id="steering-strategies" %}

* **Blending genres**: Blend distinct styles by assigning balanced weights:  * `ambient synth pads (weight: 0.8)` + `lo-fi hip-hop drums (weight: 0.6)`
  * `flamenco guitar (weight: 0.7)` + `deep house groove (weight: 0.5)`

* **Dynamic transitions**: To transition the music smoothly, adjust prompt weights over time:  1. Start with `chill jazz piano (weight: 1.0)`.
  2. Gradually add `electronic breakbeat (weight: 0.3)`.
  3. Increase `electronic breakbeat` to `0.8` while lowering `chill jazz piano` to `0.3`.

* **Layering elements**: Keep instrument tags and mood tags separate so you can adjust them independently:  * Prompt 1: `bossa nova guitar (weight: 0.9)`
  * Prompt 2: `warm acoustic bass (weight: 0.7)`
  * Prompt 3: `subtle vinyl crackle (weight: 0.3)`


## Example prompts  {% id="example-prompts" %}

### Lyria 3.5 examples

* **Lo-Fi Study Beat**:  ```none
  A 30-second lofi hip hop beat with dusty vinyl crackle, mellow Rhodes piano chords, a relaxed boom-bap drum groove at 82 BPM, and a warm upright bassline. Instrumental only.
  ```

* **Pop Anthem**:  ```none
  An upbeat, feel-good indie-pop song in G major at 122 BPM. Bright acoustic guitar strumming, driving kick drum, handclaps, and warm female vocal harmonies. The lyrics describe an unforgettable summer road trip with friends.
  ```

* **Cinematic Cyberpunk**:  ```none
  Dark, cinematic cyberpunk synthwave at 110 BPM in D minor. Heavy distorted bass, ominous arpeggiated analog synthesizers, distant metallic percussion, and an ethereal female vocalise swelling during the climax.
  ```


### Lyria RealTime steering set

```python
# Initial high-energy groove
await session.set_weighted_prompts(
    prompts=[
        types.WeightedPrompt(text="techno groove", weight=1.0),
        types.WeightedPrompt(text="acid 303 bass", weight=0.8),
    ]
)

# Transition to a melodic breakdown
await session.set_weighted_prompts(
    prompts=[
        types.WeightedPrompt(text="ambient synth pads", weight=1.0),
        types.WeightedPrompt(text="subtle reverberant piano", weight=0.7),
        types.WeightedPrompt(text="techno groove", weight=0.2),
    ]
)
```

## What's next  {% id="whats-next" %}

* [Generate music with Lyria 3.5](/docs/music-generation): Generate full songs and 30-second clips using the Interactions API.
* [Real-time music generation with Lyria RealTime](/docs/realtime-music-generation): Build real-time, interactive music streaming applications over WebSockets.