Lofi is one of the friendliest genres to make with AI. Its defining features, a slow tempo, jazzy chords and a worn, hazy texture, are easy to name in a prompt, and the style forgives a little looseness. What separates a usable beat from a forgettable one is mostly what you do around the prompt: the takes you compare, the loop you cut and the parts you pull out.
Here is the full process, step by step.
Step 1: Decide what the beat is for
A beat for a study stream, a beat for a rapper and a beat under a reel need different things. A study bed should be steady with no surprises. A rap beat needs space in the middle frequencies for a voice and a clear snare to land words on. A reel needs a strong first few seconds. Write the use into your prompt; it changes the arrangement.
Step 2: Set up an instrumental
In the Autunes song creator, switch on Instrumental only. This is what keeps the beat free of singing; writing 'no vocals' in the prompt helps, but the switch decides. Then pick the Lo-fi Hip Hop genre preset, which fills the style box with a solid starting point: lo-fi hip hop, vinyl crackle, mellow, chill, 85 BPM, jazzy, relaxing, beats. Edit it from there.
Step 3: Write the prompt
Build the prompt from five parts: genre, tempo, harmony instrument, drums and texture. Add a mood word and the use. A prompt steers the result; it does not guarantee each element on every take, which is why Step 5 matters.
- Classic: lofi hip-hop, 78 BPM, jazzy electric piano chords, dusty boom-bap drums, round bass, light vinyl crackle, warm and nostalgic
- Rainy night: lofi, 72 BPM, muted guitar and soft Rhodes, brushed drums, rain ambience, sleepy and calm, for studying
- Indian lofi: lofi hip-hop, 80 BPM, sitar phrases over jazzy chords, soft tabla and kick, tape hiss, peaceful evening
- Bansuri lofi: lofi, 75 BPM, bansuri melody, mellow keys, soft swung drums, gentle and reflective
- Rap-ready lofi: lofi boom-bap beat, 88 BPM, crisp snare, warm bass, sparse keys, space for a vocal
Step 4: Pin the tempo and key
Most lofi hip-hop sits between 70 and 90 BPM. In Custom mode you can set BPM, key and time signature directly; leave the key on Auto unless you need it to match something else. Knowing the tempo also makes looping easier later, because the length of one bar in 4/4 is 240 divided by the BPM.
- 70 BPM: one bar is about 3.43 seconds
- 75 BPM: one bar is 3.2 seconds
- 80 BPM: one bar is 3 seconds
- 85 BPM: one bar is about 2.82 seconds
- 90 BPM: one bar is about 2.67 seconds
Step 5: Choose the engine and generate takes
Zori5 Turbo costs 10 credits a track and suits lofi well, since the style does not need maximum polish and Turbo is quick to iterate with. Zori5.5 XL costs 15 credits and gives a richer sound for a final version. On the free plan, an instrumental runs on Turbo. New accounts get 15 credits once, enough for one track.
Generate more than one take. Pro gives up to 2 takes per generation and Creator up to 3. A track is usually ready in 2-4 minutes.
Step 6: Pick the take by ear
Listen to each take all the way through at low volume. For a beat, consistency beats surprise.
- Does the groove stay steady, or is there a sudden fill or volume jump?
- Is the texture present but quiet, or does crackle cover the keys?
- Does the bass sit round and soft, or boom?
- Is there a stretch of at least eight bars with no change that would loop cleanly?
Step 7: Refine without starting over
If a take is close, refine it rather than regenerating from scratch.
- Variation (5 credits): choose Subtle, Fresh take or Reimagine. Select part of the waveform first and only that section changes, which is how you replace a clumsy fill. Free includes one variation; Pro and Creator are unlimited.
- Cut (Pro and Creator): drag over a passage you do not want and remove it; the sides are joined with a crossfade.
- Layer Studio (5 credits a layer, Pro and Creator): add a guitar, strings or tabla part on top.
Step 8: Trim a clean loop
AI tracks come with an intro and an ending, so a raw download will not loop seamlessly. Download the beat and, in any audio editor, pick a start point on the first beat of a bar, then count a whole number of bars (8 or 16 is typical) using the table in Step 4. Cut there, add a very short fade at each end, and play the loop across the seam several times. If you hear a bump, move the end point by a bar rather than by a fraction.
Step 9: Take it further, and the licence
On Pro and Creator, stems (5 credits) split the beat into drums, bass, guitar, piano, other and vocals, so you can rebalance it or swap the drums. MIDI export, also on Pro and Creator, brings the notes into your own music software. Creator downloads lossless FLAC as well as MP3.
Free-plan beats are for personal use and need the ₹9 licence to download, which also grants commercial use of that track. Pro (₹599 for 30 days) and Creator (₹2,999 for 30 days) include a commercial licence on every track, good for streams, YouTube, reels and releases, with no royalty.
Common mistakes
- Saying only 'slow'. Give a BPM.
- Stacking crackle, rain and tape hiss at full strength.
- Taking the first take without comparing.
- Cutting a loop at an arbitrary point instead of on a bar line.