Picking a genre in the composer does more than add a word to your prompt. Each genre carries a written brief that goes to the model with your words: a tempo range, a default drum kit, the instruments that suit each role, and a description of how the style is built, down to its signature move.
There are 60 genres in 11 families. The composer shows 17 of them as chips (chiptune, synthwave, techno, house, deep house, uk garage, drum & bass, dubstep, trap, lo-fi, trance, amapiano, afrobeats, disco, ambient, solo piano, orchestral) and the rest under all 60 genres. Star a genre there and it moves to the front; see favorite genres.
#How to read the tables
- bpm is the range the model picks a tempo from. Set bpm in advanced to override it.
- default kit is the drum kit the genre starts from. The names are on the sounds page. Set drum kit in advanced to override it.
- how it is built is taken from the genre’s brief: the sentence that describes the style. The full brief is longer and ends with the genre’s signature move.
A genre is a starting point. The prompt can pull away from it (“house, but half-time and dark”), and what you set in advanced replaces its tempo and kit. One genre is always selected.
synth
| genre | bpm | default kit | how it is built |
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| electro | 124 to 134 | boom | Broken beats on the boom kit, never four on the floor: kick on 1, the “and” of 2 and around 3, snare on 2 and 4, 16th hats with accents, cowbell and clap as punctuation. |
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| synthwave | 84 to 118 | arena | 1980s night drive. arena with a big snare on 2 and 4 drenched in short bright reverb, straight 8th or 16th pulsebass on the root of each chord, wide synthbrass or ensemble chords in a four-chord minor progression, an arpeggiated synthpluck, and a soaring sawlead melody with delay that slides into its long notes (:slide, or legato with glide 60ms). chorus 40% on the chords is the sound of the era. |
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| synth pop | 108 to 126 | funk | Song-shaped: a verse groove and a bigger chorus with a different chord progression. |
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| vaporwave | 60 to 90 | arena | Slowed-down 1980s smooth jazz and mall music: lush epiano and glasspad chords in major sevenths and ninths, a slap-style fmbass, a sax or fmbell melody, soft gated drums, chorus on the keys. |
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| chiptune | 120 to 160 | fm | Four voices, like the hardware: a chip pulse lead, a second pulse for harmony or echo, a triangle bass, and noise drums (short white bursts for hats and snare, a pitch-dropping triangle or the fm kit for the kick). |
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| hyperpop | 150 to 180 | fm | Maximal, glossy and broken on purpose. Metallic fm drums with a clipped boombass (drive 60%), huge hypersaw chords in bright major progressions, sugary glass and chip melodies pitched high, and abrupt edits: bars that cut to silence, a section at half speed, bitcrushed fills (bitcrush 5bits). |
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techno
| genre | bpm | default kit | how it is built |
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| techno | 128 to 136 | club | Four-on-the-floor kick with a short lowpassed rumble tail underneath, offbeat open hats that cut the closed 16ths off, a rolling 16th pulsebass locked under the kick, one terse minor stab, and 16-bar filter movement. |
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| detroit | 125 to 132 | club | A lighter touch on the drums and real swing (swing 56%). Lush ensemble strings and epiano playing jazz-inflected voicings, a melodic fatbass line that moves instead of a static sub, a high glass motif, and space for the chords to breathe. |
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| acid | 126 to 138 | club | The acid line is the whole track: a 16-step pattern on three or four pitches, with accents written as a velocity list (velocity [110 55 55 110 55 80 55 55]), a few notes slid into the next (a ~ after the pitch, glide 60ms), and the filter worked by hand over 16 and 32 bars with lowpass sweeps and ramps on top of the patch. |
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| minimal | 124 to 130 | analog | Very few elements, each one tiny and exact: a soft round kick, a clicky blip or pizz figure of two or three notes, dry percussion placed off the grid by a few milliseconds, a subbass that plays one note and one variation. |
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| dub techno | 118 to 126 | analog | A soft, low kick and a deep subbass under one minor-seventh or minor-ninth dubchord hit, drowned in feedback delay (delay 60%, time: 3/16, feedback: 75%) and a long dark reverb, with a slow phaser (phaser 0.2hz) turning under it. |
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| industrial | 128 to 140 | hard | Distorted, clanging and mechanical. The hard kit pushed further with drive, struck metal (anvil, brakedrum, metal) as the percussion section, a brown noise bed through a slowly moving filter, and a darkpad drone a semitone or a tritone off the root. |
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| hard techno | 142 to 155 | hard | Fast and relentless: the hard kick on every beat with its tail filling the gap to the next one, offbeat open hats loud and bright, a rolling offbeat bass, a detuned hoover or stab rave riff of two notes, snare rolls into every 16-bar change. |
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| gabber | 165 to 190 | hard | The kick is the bassline: the hard kick on a stem of its own, driven again (drive 80%) and given a notes row so it carries pitch, sometimes pitched up through the bar. |
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| hardstyle | 150 to 160 | hard | Two halves that alternate. The drop: a distorted hard kick on the beat with a pitched offbeat bass answering it (the reverse bass), and a screaming detuned sawlead or hypersaw melody. |
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house
| genre | bpm | default kit | how it is built |
|---|
| house | 120 to 128 | club | Four-on-the-floor club kit with a clap on 2 and 4, shuffled closed hats and an offbeat open hat, a bouncing fmbass or organbass line that leaves the downbeat to the kick, and off-beat houseorgan or piano chords in a major-seventh or minor-ninth progression. |
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| deep house | 116 to 124 | tight | Slower, softer, late at night. A rounded kick, a rimshot and shaker groove with a light swing (swing 55%), a sustained subbass or a soft fmbass, and epiano chords in rich minor ninths and elevenths (voicing smooth, a little chorus) that hang over the bar line. |
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| disco | 112 to 124 | live | The live kit: four-on-the-floor kick, snare on 2 and 4, open hat on every offbeat, tambourine on 16ths. |
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| uk garage | 128 to 136 | club | The kick skips: beats 1 and the “and” of 2 or 3, never four on the floor. |
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| amapiano | 108 to 115 | analog | The logdrum is the lead instrument: a tuned, knocking bass that plays a syncopated melody low in the register, with slides, and leaves big gaps. |
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| afro house | 118 to 125 | analog | A steady four-on-the-floor kick under layered hand percussion: conga, bongo, shaker and agogo in interlocking 16th patterns with accents that imply 3 against 4. |
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trance
| genre | bpm | default kit | how it is built |
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| trance | 136 to 142 | club | A driving kick with an offbeat pulsebass (the bass plays between the kicks), a 16th-note synthpluck arpeggio through a slowly opening filter, and a wide hypersaw chord progression in a minor key, four chords, one per bar or two. |
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| psytrance | 140 to 148 | analog | The engine is one bar of kick and bass: kick on the beat and three short 16th pulsebass notes after it, all on the root, for the entire track. |
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| progressive | 120 to 126 | club | Patient and melodic. A steady kick, soft shaker and offbeat hat, a warm sustained bass, and a synthpluck arpeggio whose filter opens over 32 bars. |
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bass
| genre | bpm | default kit | how it is built |
|---|
| drum & bass | 170 to 176 | live | Two-step drums at 174: kick on 1 and the “and” of 3, snare hard on 2 and 4, fast hats and ghost snares between them with only a trace of shuffle (swing 52% at most). |
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| jungle | 160 to 170 | live | Chopped breakbeats written out by hand on the live kit: a two-bar pattern of kick, snare, ghost snares and hats, then the same hits re-ordered, doubled with rolls (2 to 4 in a step) and re-pitched with speed in a block so it sounds cut up. |
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| dubstep | 138 to 142 | sub | Half time at 140: kick on 1, a huge snare on 3, sparse hats, and space. |
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| footwork | 155 to 165 | sub | 160 bpm with the kick in stuttering triplet and dotted patterns that fight the grid, claps and rimshots in fast offbeat bursts, toms used as melody, and a long boombass under it. |
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| trap | 130 to 150 | sub | Felt in half time: clap or snare on beat 3, a sparse kick, and hi-hats in steady 8ths that break into rolls (2, 3, 4 or 6 in a step). |
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| drill | 138 to 144 | sub | Half-time feel with the snare landing late: on beat 3 of one bar and the “and” after it in the next. |
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| phonk | 125 to 145 | sub | The hook is a cowbell melody: the cowbell lane of the boom kit on a stem of its own, given a notes row so it plays a minor riff as a pitched instrument, with drive. |
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| future bass | 140 to 160 | sub | Half-time drums and big hypersaw chords in lush major-seventh and ninth voicings, chopped into a syncopated rhythm and ducked hard against the kick, with the filter swelling across the chops (a lowpass sweep one bar long). |
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hip hop & breaks
| genre | bpm | default kit | how it is built |
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| breakbeat | 125 to 138 | live | A syncopated funk drum pattern on the live kit, pushed with drive: kick on 1 and the “and” of 2, snare on 2 and 4, busy ghost notes, open hat pickups. |
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| boom bap | 84 to 96 | live | A head-nod drum loop on the live kit (or grit for the sampler version): heavy kick, cracking snare on 2 and 4, 8th hats on their own stem with an uneven velocity list (velocity [96 58 82 50 100 62 78 46]), a swung 16th ghost here and there and a hat left out once a bar, real swing (swing 60%) with the snare dragged (behind 8ms), a ghost snare before the kick, a kick pattern that changes in the second bar, a touch of bitcrush 12bits for sampler grit. |
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| lo-fi | 70 to 88 | live | Soft, slow and worn. The live kit played quietly (low takes, low velocity), or the brush kit, lowpassed around 4 khz, with lazy swing (swing 59%) and the snare dragged a little (behind 8ms). |
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| trip hop | 78 to 96 | live | A slow, heavy break on the live kit with dubby space around it, a deep subbass or upright line, and a noir mood: minor keys, ensemble strings in slow two-note figures, a reedpiano or harp motif with long delay, a vinyl surface and distant rain. |
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| g-funk | 88 to 98 | live | A laid-back swung groove: fat kick, snare with a clap on 2 and 4, 16th hats played soft. |
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global
| genre | bpm | default kit | how it is built |
|---|
| afrobeats | 98 to 112 | analog | The groove is a 3-2 clave feel: kick on 1 and the “and” of 2 (and often 4), rimshot or snare on the off-beats of the clave, constant shaker, congas filling in. |
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| reggaeton | 88 to 100 | analog | The dembow rhythm, unchanged all track: kick on every beat, snare on the “a” of 1 and the “and” of 2, repeated each half bar. |
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| dancehall | 90 to 108 | fm | A digital riddim: kick on 1 and 3 with the 3+3+2 pattern in the snare and rim, sparse and bouncy, on a cheap-sounding digital kit. |
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| dub reggae | 68 to 90 | live | One-drop drums on the live kit: nothing on beat 1, kick and rimshot together on beat 3, hats in swung 8ths. |
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| baile funk | 126 to 134 | sub | The tamborzão beat carries everything: a boomy kick on 1, the “a” of 1 and the “and” of 2 with tom or conga hits answering in a 3+3+2 feel, repeated every half bar, loud and distorted. |
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| bossa nova | 116 to 138 | live | Quiet and intimate. The nylon guitar plays the rhythm: syncopated chords in the bossa clave against a thumb bass on 1 and 3, in rich major-seventh, minor-ninth and diminished harmony with real ii-V-I movement, the chords plucked together or barely rolled (strum 8ms). |
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funk & jazz
| genre | bpm | default kit | how it is built |
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| funk | 96 to 114 | live | Everything is rhythm and everything hits “the one”. A tight 16th groove on the live kit with ghost snares and an open hat pickup, a syncopated fingerbass line with octave pops and rests, clav and mutegtr playing interlocking 16th parts that never land together, and a horn section as punctuation: sax, trumpet and trombone on separate stems in tight staccato stabs (technique staccato) with a :fall off the long ones. |
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| jazz | 110 to 170 | live | Swing feel throughout (swing 66% 8ths): ride cymbal on every beat with the skip note, on its own stem with a velocity list that leans on 2 and 4 and keeps the skip note softest (velocity [84 100 58 88 106 62], with a second bar a little different), hi-hat on 2 and 4 (the drummer’s left foot on the pedal). |
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| neo soul | 68 to 94 | live | A drunk, behind-the-beat pocket: kick a touch early (ahead 4ms), snare and hats late (behind 10ms), soft hits, and a deep swing (swing 60%). |
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rock
| genre | bpm | default kit | how it is built |
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| rock | 100 to 150 | rock | A band in a room: the rock kit, electric_bass, two guitars on powerchord, a lead on overdriven_guitar. |
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| alternative | 84 to 138 | rock | Quiet verse, loud chorus, and the contrast is the point. The verse is sparse: an electric_guitar_clean or crunch_guitar figure of 8ths picked across a chord with one note that does not belong to it (an added second or fourth, an open string ringing through the changes), the electric_bass carrying the tune in 8ths, and the rock kit held back (velocity 70, closed hats, rim in place of the snare). |
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| indie rock | 112 to 168 | rock | Bright, wiry and danceable. Two guitars that never play the same thing: crunch_guitar stabs chords of three notes high on the neck (c4 and above, written with +) in a choppy rhythm with rests, and electric_guitar_clean picks a hook of single notes over it, a short figure that repeats while the chords change underneath. |
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| metal | 96 to 190 | rock | Heavy, tight and exact. The riff is 16ths and gallops (an 8th and two 16ths: o.oo) palm-muted on the lowest root (e2, or d2 or c#2 for a lower tuning) on powerchord, broken by open chords (X) that land with the snare or an 8th ahead of the bar and move by semitones and tritones: e2 against f2 and bb2, in a minor or phrygian key. |
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ambient & experimental
| genre | bpm | default kit | how it is built |
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| ambient | 60 to 90 | none | No drums, or almost none. Slow overlapping layers with long attacks and releases: a warmpad and an airpad moving at different speeds, a sparse kalimba, harp or piano phrase that never repeats exactly (use chance and rows of different lengths), a subbass note every few bars, and one bed of place far back: stream, waves, rain, birds at dawn, crickets at night, or soft wind. |
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| idm | 100 to 160 | fm | Intricate, shifting drum programming on the fm kit: hits spread unevenly across the bar (3 in 8, 5 in 16), sudden rolls, hits pitched and retriggered, a beat that restructures itself every few bars while staying danceable in the head. |
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| downtempo | 85 to 105 | live | A relaxed mid-tempo groove with soft drums and hand percussion, a warm rounded bass, epiano chords with gentle movement, and organic melodic colour: kalimba, harp, vibraphone, a clean steel guitar figure with delay. |
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| kosmische | 110 to 126 | analog | A sequencer pattern is the spine: eight or sixteen pulsebass or synthpluck notes that repeat for minutes while the filter, the note length and one or two pitches change slowly. |
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| minimalism | 96 to 132 | none | Pulsing mallet and keyboard patterns: two or three marimba, vibraphone and piano parts play short repeating cells in steady 8ths or 16ths, and the piece moves by process. |
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classical & acoustic
| genre | bpm | default kit | how it is built |
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| solo piano | 60 to 132 | none | One stem on piano and nothing else: no drums, no pads, no second instrument. |
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| chamber | 60 to 140 | none | Three to five solo instruments, each a stem with one line, written in score blocks so the parts stay aligned: strings (two violin stems and a cello; there is no viola, so the second violin takes the middle), a wind group (flute, oboe, clarinet, with bassoon as its bass and french_horn in the middle), or a soloist with piano or harp. |
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| orchestral | 60 to 150 | none | Families of instruments, not soloists. Strings: violins carry the tune, violas the middle, cello the tenor line and the bass, contrabass the same bass an octave lower; string_ensemble_1 is the whole section on one stem for chords. |
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| baroque | 60 to 132 | none | Counterpoint over a walking bass, written in score blocks. harpsichord alone in two parts (an invention, a prelude), church_organ, or a small group: violin, recorder, flute or oboe on top, cello or bassoon on the bass line, harpsichord filling the harmony. |
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| folk | 80 to 132 | none | A tune you could whistle, played by people in a room: violin as the fiddle, or recorder, pan_flute or harmonica, on the melody; steel or nylon guitar keeping time with a bass note and then the strummed chord (strum 20ms, direction: alternate); accordion holding long chords; double_bass on roots and fifths; a framedrum, a tambourine or the brush kit at most. |
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#A style that is not here
Pick the nearest genre and describe the difference in the prompt. The model knows far more styles than this list. It has no Songcode brief for them, so how close it gets depends on the model and on how well the style can be played by synths and drum machines.