Lofi has become the sound of late-night playlists, study sessions and calm reels. In India it often means a Hindi or Punjabi song sung softly over a slow, warm beat, though plenty of lofi is purely instrumental. Both are easy to make with AI once you know the handful of details that define the sound.
This guide is about making a complete lofi song, with or without a voice. If you only want a looping beat, the step-by-step lofi beat guide on this blog goes deeper into that. Turning a song you already have into a lofi version is a different job, done with Remix on Pro and Creator, and is not covered here.
The sound of lofi, in plain words
Lofi is a set of small choices that add up to a relaxed, slightly worn sound. Naming them in your prompt works better than the word 'lofi' alone.
- Tempo: usually 70-90 BPM, with a lazy, slightly swung groove.
- Harmony: jazzy chords, often sevenths, that never quite resolve.
- Instruments: electric piano or Rhodes-style keys, muted or clean guitar, round soft bass, sometimes a sitar or bansuri for an Indian touch.
- Drums: a soft kick, a quiet snare or rimshot, loose hi-hats. Nothing that punches.
- Texture: vinyl crackle, tape hiss, rain, the sound of a room. A little goes a long way.
- Vocals: soft, close and low in intensity, as if sung to one person late at night. Few words, lots of space.
- Length and shape: short and repetitive, two to three minutes, with no big build or drop.
Lofi with vocals or instrumental?
Choose before you start, because it changes how you set up the song. A lofi song with vocals needs lyrics and a language, and suits playlists, reels and anyone who wants something to sing along to softly. An instrumental lofi track suits study streams, background music and content where a voice would compete with speech.
For vocals, write or generate lyrics and leave Instrumental only off. For a study bed, switch Instrumental only on. Do not rely on writing 'no vocals' in the prompt while lyrics sit in the lyrics box; the switch is what decides.
Prompts you can copy
Paste one into the style box, then adjust the instruments and tempo. A prompt steers the song but does not guarantee every detail on every take, so expect to try more than one.
- Hindi lofi song, soft male vocal, warm electric piano, mellow bass, dusty drums, light rain, 78 BPM, nostalgic and calm
- Punjabi lofi, gentle female vocal, acoustic guitar, soft tumbi accents, vinyl crackle, 82 BPM, late-night and tender
- English bedroom lofi, close soft vocal, clean guitar, Rhodes keys, brushed drums, tape hiss, 75 BPM, quiet and honest
- Indian lofi, sitar melody over jazzy chords, soft tabla groove, 80 BPM, peaceful evening mood
- Lofi study instrumental, warm keys, muted guitar, soft kick and snare, rain and vinyl texture, 72 BPM, steady and unobtrusive
Writing lofi lyrics
Lofi lyrics sound like a diary entry, not a speech. Use short lines, everyday images (chai, rain, a window, an old photo, the last metro) and a chorus that repeats one feeling. Leave gaps; a lofi vocal needs room to breathe. Mark sections with [Verse] and [Chorus] so the song repeats the right part. Here are original lines to adapt:
- [Verse] खिड़की पे बारिश, हाथों में चाय / Khidki pe baarish, haathon mein chai
- तेरी पुरानी बातें, फिर से याद आईं / Teri purani baatein, phir se yaad aayi
- [Chorus] धीरे धीरे रात ढले, यादों के दीप जले / Dheere dheere raat dhale, yaadon ke deep jale
- Punjabi: Kalli baithi chann vekhaan, tere bina raat lammi
- English: Streetlights hum, the kettle's on, I keep your voice note playing till dawn
Step by step in Autunes
The process runs in the browser at www.autunes.com. New accounts get 15 credits once, enough for one song.
- Open the song creator. Choose Custom mode if you have lyrics, or describe the idea and let Autunes write them.
- Pick the language (Hindi, Punjabi, English or another of the 50+ supported).
- Start from the Lo-fi Hip Hop genre preset or paste your own style prompt. In Custom mode you can set a BPM.
- Choose Zori5 Turbo (10 credits) or Zori5.5 XL (15 credits, richer). On the free plan, pasting your own lyrics gets you XL.
- Generate. A song is usually ready in 2-4 minutes, up to 3 minutes long on Free and Pro.
- Listen on headphones at low volume, the way most people will hear it.
Getting the vocal and the groove right
The vocal makes or breaks a lofi song. The creator has a vocal variation slider: lower settings give steadier words and a flatter voice, higher settings are more expressive but the words vary more. The middle setting is the best starting point; nudge it lower if words come out unclear.
If one line is sung wrong, every finished vocal is checked against your lyrics and mismatches are flagged. On Pro and Creator you can re-sing just that line (edit section, 3 credits) or run auto-fix pronunciation (10 credits). If the groove is off, a variation (5 credits) gives a fresh take; choose Subtle to stay close to what you have. The free plan includes one variation, and Pro and Creator are unlimited.
On paid plans, stems (5 credits) let you turn down the crackle or the drums in an editor, and Layer Studio can add a soft guitar or strings layer for 5 credits.
Where to use it, and the licence
Lofi songs end up on study playlists, Instagram reels, YouTube channels and streaming services. Free-plan songs are for personal use and are public on Autunes by default. To download one, buy its ₹9 licence (US$1.79 or €1.59 outside India), which also gives you a commercial licence for that song forever.
On Pro (₹599 for 30 days) or Creator (₹2,999 for 30 days) every song can be downloaded and used commercially, including on a monetised YouTube channel or released on Spotify and JioSaavn through any distributor. There is no royalty and no credit to Autunes required.
Common mistakes
- Too many words. Long lines push the vocal to rush, which breaks the calm.
- Tempo too fast. Above about 95 BPM it starts to sound like pop.
- Heavy crackle and rain that bury the music. Ask for 'light' texture.
- Asking for a big chorus or a drop. Lofi stays level.
- Confusing lofi with slowed-and-reverb edits, which are a sped-down copy of an existing song rather than a new lofi production.