A real brief where the menus disagreed
The sentence asked for a smooth bossa nova about a lazy Sunday in Rio, with nylon guitar, brushed drums and a warm upright bass. Under the box, the same visitor had set Genre to Bachata, Tempo to Upbeat, Mood to Romantic, Voice to Female and Lyrics language to Spanish, and all of it went into one prompt.
The prompt that made it
“A smooth bossa nova about a lazy Sunday in Rio — nylon guitar, brushed drums, soft breathy vocals, warm upright bass, and a sun-dappled café mood”
It came back labelled “Bachata · Romantic”, with Spanish lyrics that open on “Domingo lento en Río” because of the language setting, and it runs 2:52. Listen for which of the two requests won the rhythm; the point is that the brief asked for both.
The menus are not a separate channel: each pick is added to your description. For jazz, either set Genre to Jazz, Swing or Bossa Nova and leave the rest empty, or leave every menu empty and let the sentence carry it all.
Describe the band
Five decisions make a jazz brief, a few words each.
| Decide | Write it like this |
|---|---|
| How many players | “a piano trio”, “a quartet with tenor sax”, “a big band with a brass section” |
| Who leads | “tenor saxophone”, “muted trumpet”, “vibraphone”, “a crooner” |
| The rhythm section | “walking upright bass”, “brushes on the snare”, “a swinging ride cymbal” |
| The feel | “swing”, “bossa nova”, “a slow ballad”, “bebop”, “Latin jazz” |
| The room | “a smoky late-night club”, “a sunny café”, “a hotel bar at 2 a.m.” |
Speed decides the style
Jazz styles are, to a large degree, speed ranges, and the Tempo menu covers them: pick a range, or write the number.
| Style | Usual speed | Tempo menu |
|---|---|---|
| Ballad | 60–80 BPM | Slow, or 60-80 BPM |
| Bossa nova | about 120–140 BPM, played gently | 120-140 BPM |
| Medium swing | 120–160 BPM | 120-140 or 140-160 BPM |
| Up-tempo swing, bebop | 200 BPM and up | 180+ BPM |
A lazy-Sunday bossa nova with Tempo set to Upbeat, as in the example above, is two instructions pulling in different directions.
Standards, singers and solos
Four things people ask for in jazz, and how each one works.
- Standards. The lyrics of well-known standards are copyrighted and are declined before generation. Write your own words, or describe the song you have in mind (“a wistful autumn ballad about leaves falling past the window”) and let it write new ones.
- Singers. Naming a jazz singer does not get you the voice: the name is rewritten into a description of the style. Describe it yourself: “a warm baritone crooner”, “a smoky alto with a little scat”.
- Solos. Ask for them where they belong: “a tenor sax solo over the bridge”, “a short scat break after the second chorus”. It is a request rather than a guarantee, so listen to both takes.
- Instrumental jazz. Tick Instrumental, just above the Create button. Nearly everything made on Tunely is sung, so the box is easy to forget.
Length, background use and rights
Described songs here land between 2:38 and 3:49 half the time; on Pro and Ultra, the Length setting in Custom mode picks it for you. Playing the music in a business, a café, a shop, a video you sell, is commercial use: Pro and Ultra license every song in your library for it, each with a certificate and a licence code. On the free plan, songs are for personal use.
Before you press Create
- The band: how many players, who leads, what the rhythm section does.
- The feel: swing, bossa nova, ballad or bebop.
- A speed that matches the feel.
- Menus either empty or saying the same thing as the sentence.
- No lyrics from a standard: your own words, or a description.
Sources
Written and fact-checked by the Tunely team · Updated