🎨 Creative
Music Production Prompt: Arrangement Map and Mix Checklist
Turn your song's tempo, key, parts, and rough mix notes into a bar-by-bar arrangement map, an energy plan, a mix checklist, and a focused next session plan.
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Prompt
Act as a music producer and arranger who turns a songwriter's demo details into a bar-by-bar arrangement map and a practical mix checklist, working only from the parts and problems the artist describes, since you cannot hear the track. Inputs: - Song tempo (BPM), time signature, and key: [TempoKey] - Genre and reference feel in words, without naming artists to copy: [Vibe] - Parts I have recorded or programmed: [Parts] - Current structure or loop length: [CurrentDraft] - Target length and where it will be released: [TargetLength] - Problems I hear in the rough mix: [MixProblems] - My DAW and plugins I own: [DAW] Generate: 1. Arrangement map: a table of sections with bar count, start bar, and start time calculated from TempoKey, adding up to about TargetLength, with the math shown. 2. Energy plan: for each section, which Parts play, which drop out, and one change that makes the next section lift (a fill, a riser, a filter sweep, a new layer). 3. Transitions: what happens in the last bar before each chorus and after the bridge. 4. Mix checklist for MixProblems: for each problem, the likely cause, two moves to try with stock tools in DAW, and how to check the result (mono check, level-matched A/B, listening on small speakers). 5. Gain staging and housekeeping: track naming, color groups, bus routing for drums, music, and vocals, and leaving headroom on the master before any limiting. 6. Next session plan: the three tasks to do first in a 2-hour session, in order. 7. Questions: anything about the parts or sound that you would need to hear to answer well. Rules: - Never claim to hear the audio; base every suggestion on what the artist describes. - No imitating named living artists' voices or copying melodies or lyrics; describe the feel instead. - Settings are starting points, not rules; trust level-matched listening over numbers. - Check each streaming platform's current loudness guidance yourself rather than relying on a number here.
Instructions
Describe your song's tempo, key, parts, and the problems you hear, since ChatGPT cannot listen to the audio. Use the arrangement map as a starting layout in your DAW and judge every mix move with level-matched listening. Do not ask it to copy a living artist's voice, melody, or lyrics. Do not reproduce copyrighted lyrics or melodies, and do not use samples you have not cleared with the rights holders. Describe the sound you want instead of naming an artist to imitate.
Generated Output
This image was generated using the prompt above.
Examples
Example Input
TempoKey: 104 BPM, 4/4, A minor Vibe: warm indie pop with a dreamy chorus and a tight, dry verse Parts: drum loop plus my own kick and snare, bass synth, Rhodes chords, lead vocal, two vocal doubles, clean electric guitar riff CurrentDraft: one 8-bar loop with all parts playing, plus a rough vocal over a verse and a chorus TargetLength: under 4 minutes, for streaming MixProblems: lead vocal gets buried in the chorus; low end sounds muddy; the chorus does not feel bigger than the verse DAW: Ableton Live with stock plugins
Example Output
1. ARRANGEMENT MAP At 104 BPM in 4/4, one bar = 4 x 60 / 104 = 2.31 seconds. | Section | Bars | Start bar | Start time | | Intro | 4 | 1 | 0:00 | | Verse 1 | 16 | 5 | 0:09 | | Pre 1 | 8 | 21 | 0:46 | | Chorus 1 | 16 | 29 | 1:05 | | Verse 2 | 8 | 45 | 1:42 | | Pre 2 | 4 | 53 | 2:00 | | Chorus 2 | 16 | 57 | 2:09 | | Bridge | 8 | 73 | 2:46 | | Chorus 3 | 16 | 81 | 3:05 | | Outro | 4 | 97 | 3:42 | Total: 100 bars x 2.31 s = about 3:51, under your 4-minute target. 2. ENERGY PLAN Intro: Rhodes and guitar riff only, filtered. Verse 1: tight and dry, your kick and snare, bass synth, lead vocal. No Rhodes for the first 8 bars, then Rhodes enters. Pre 1: add the drum loop and the guitar riff; bass plays longer notes. Chorus 1: everything plays, vocal doubles enter, Rhodes opens up wider. This is the first time the doubles appear, so the chorus lifts. Verse 2: drop back to kick, snare, bass, and vocal, and keep one guitar riff phrase. Pre 2: short, 4 bars, same build as Pre 1. Chorus 2: as Chorus 1. Bridge: drums out, Rhodes and vocal only, then the drum loop returns in the last 2 bars. Chorus 3: as Chorus 2 plus the guitar riff an octave higher. Outro: Rhodes and riff, filter closing. 3. TRANSITIONS Last bar before each chorus: mute the kick for the final beat and add a snare fill or reverse cymbal into beat 1. After the bridge: one bar of silence on everything except the vocal, then the full Chorus 3. 4. MIX CHECKLIST Vocal buried in chorus. Likely cause: Rhodes, guitar, and doubles sit in the same range as the lead. Try: (a) EQ Eight on the Rhodes and guitar with a gentle cut where the lead vocal is clearest; (b) turn the doubles down and pan them left and right so the lead stays center. Check: level-matched A/B with the cuts on and off. Muddy low end. Likely cause: bass synth, kick, and the Rhodes low notes overlap. Try: (a) high-pass the Rhodes, guitar, and vocals so only kick and bass own the lowest range; (b) a sidechained Compressor on the bass from the kick. Check: mono and small speakers. Chorus not bigger. Likely cause: every part plays in the verse loop. Fixed mostly by the energy plan; also try wider stereo on the chorus Rhodes and a slightly longer reverb send on the chorus vocal. 5. GAIN STAGING AND HOUSEKEEPING Name and color tracks: drums red, bass orange, music blue, vocals green. Group buses for drums, music, and vocals. Keep the master peaking well below 0 dBFS with no limiter while mixing. 6. NEXT SESSION PLAN (2 hours) 1) Build the arrangement map in Arrangement View from the 8-bar loop. 2) Record or comp vocal doubles for all three choruses. 3) Apply the low-end and vocal EQ moves and do a mono check. 7. QUESTIONS Is the drum loop also playing a kick? If so, layering it with your own kick may be part of the mud.