◤ ComposerDeck · Lo-fi
How to make Lo-fi music with creative constraints
Stuck on a Lo-fi track? Pull a random Lo-fi creative constraint, accept the brief, and ship a sketch. 19 Lo-fi prompts from the ComposerDeck deck.
▲ Draw a Lo-fi briefLo-fi constraint cards
- Challenge Phone Microphone Recording Element Record at least one audible element of your track using only your phone's microphone (e.g., a percussion sound, a vocal snippet, an ambient texture). Embrace lo-fi quality.
- Style Emulation Lo-fi Hip Hop Beat Create a chill, atmospheric Hip Hop beat with characteristic lo-fi aesthetics (e.g., vinyl crackle, tape hiss, mellow samples, relaxed tempo). Focus on nostalgic warmth and imperfection.
- Style Emulation Vaporwave Aesthetics Create a piece with vaporwave characteristics: slowed-down samples, chopped and screwed techniques, reverb-heavy processing, and nostalgic references to 80s/90s commercial music.
- Production Minimalist Processing (Max 2 Effects per Track) Limit yourself to using no more than 2 effects plugins (e.g., EQ, reverb, delay) on any single track in your mix. Focus on careful selection rather than complex processing chains.
- Tempo Classic Boom Bap Tempo (80-95 BPM) Create a beat within the classic Boom Bap Hip Hop tempo range, focusing on a laid-back, head-nodding, often swung groove. Aim for that golden-era hip hop feel.
- Harmony Soulful/Jazz Chord Sample Loop Find or create a 2-4 bar chord progression with a soulful or jazzy vibe (e.g., Rhodes, piano, guitar samples) and loop it as the harmonic foundation. Focus on warmth and harmonic richness.
- Production Lo-fi Aesthetics: Vinyl Crackle & Warm Saturation Incorporate lo-fi production elements like vinyl crackle, tape hiss, wow/flutter, and aim for a warm, analog-like saturation in your mix. Create nostalgic imperfection as a stylistic choice.
- Chord Jazzy M7 and m7 Chords with Tape Saturation (Lo-fi) Use major 7th and minor 7th chords typical of Jazz harmony, but process them with tape saturation, wow/flutter, and vinyl crackle for a Lo-fi Hip Hop aesthetic.
- Note Sampled Piano Note as Melodic Fragment (Lo-fi) Take a single sampled piano note (or a very short phrase) and use it as a recurring, slightly off-kilter melodic fragment in a Lo-fi beat.
- Scale Muted Trumpet Solo Snippet (Lo-fi Jazz Hop) Incorporate a short, melancholic melodic line played by a muted trumpet sound (or similar mellow brass) often found in Lo-fi Jazz Hop, typically using bluesy or minor pentatonic phrases.
- Rhythm Slightly Off-Grid Drum Programming (Lo-fi) Program your drum beat (kick, snare, hi-hats) with intentional slight deviations from perfect quantization (slightly early or late hits) to give it a human, relaxed Lo-fi feel.
- Form Short Looping Beat (16-32 Bars) (Lo-fi) Create a complete Lo-fi Hip Hop beat that is relatively short (e.g., 16 or 32 bars) and designed to loop effectively, common for study/chill playlists.
- Roman Numeral Sampled Jazz Progression Analysis (Hip Hop) Find a short (2-4 bar) sampled loop from a Jazz track used in Hip Hop. Analyze and identify its underlying chord progression using Roman numerals relative to its key.
- Roman Numeral ii-V-I in Minor with Lo-fi Processing Create a short loop using a minor key ii-V-i progression (e.g., Bm7b5 - E7alt - Am7) with jazzy voicings, then process it with typical Lo-fi effects (vinyl crackle, wow/flutter, filtering).
- Time Signature Slightly Swung 4/4 Beat (Lo-fi) Program a Lo-fi Hip Hop beat in 4/4 time with a subtle swing applied to the 8th or 16th notes, creating a relaxed, non-rigid feel, often around 70-90 BPM.
- Instrument Mellow Sampled Electric Piano (Lo-fi) Find or create a short, mellow phrase played on an electric piano (Rhodes/Wurli style) and use it as a central sampled element in a Lo-fi Hip Hop beat.
- Dynamics Compressed and "Ducked" Dynamics (Lo-fi) Use heavy compression on your Lo-fi track elements, particularly the drums and samples, and sidechain compression ("ducking") from the kick to create a cohesive, "glued-together" sound with a pumping feel.
- Melodic Short, Repetitive Melodic Loop (Lo-fi) Compose or find a very short (1-2 bars) melodic phrase (e.g., from a piano, guitar, or synth) that can be looped continuously as a core element of a Lo-fi beat, often with a melancholic or nostalgic feel.
- Lyrical Lo-fi Instrumental: "Rainy Day Contemplation" Compose an instrumental Lo-fi Hip Hop track that evokes the mood of a rainy day spent in contemplation, using mellow chords, soft textures, and a relaxed, introspective beat.