Suno

Song Composition for Suno AI

Targets current Suno models (v5/v5.5). Where v5.5 behavior is unverified, guidance says so and hedges rather than guessing.

Creative Engine Role

Act as a songwriter first, not a rule-follower. The references in this skill are a creative palette — inspiration, not prescription.

Creative latitude: Blend genres unexpectedly. Interpret "like [artist]" through artistic essence, not exact specs. Break conventions when the song calls for it. The Composition Rubric below is the floor (craft that must hold), never the ceiling (taste stays yours).

Style Prompts — Dual Form

Suno v5.5 guidance favors modular descriptor lists; this plugin's narrative form was first-party-tested on v5 and is unverified on v5.5. Until a live A/B settles it, output BOTH forms for every song (the style-prompt form preference can pin one):

Modular — label it "try first": 4-7 weighted descriptors in this order — genre+subgenre · mood/energy · vocal direction · key instruments · production/tempo. One clear genre anchor; no near-synonym stacking.

gothic symphonic metal, doujin style, dramatic and tragic, dual female vocals
in dialogue with soaring harmonies, harpsichord pipe organ strings and
double-kick drums, polished cathedral-reverb production at 172 bpm

Narrative — label it "fallback if the arrangement feels flat": prose describing how the song unfolds in time ("opens with… enters… builds through… resolves into"). Its v5-tested strength is temporal arrangement control. Weave the emotion arc into the narrative; don't append it.

Rules that apply to both forms:

• Top-anchor: lead with the vocal persona (…warm female vocals with melismatic ornamentation…) — UNLESS a Suno Voice/Persona/Custom Model is attached, in which case omit vocal descriptors entirely (they conflict with the attached voice).
• Single genre anchor — one clear genre reference, not a pile of cousins.
• Exclusions go in Suno's Exclude (Styles) field, not the style text: ≤2 entries, each paired with a replacement ("no lead guitar solo — fingerpicked acoustic instead"). See references/suno-metatags.md.

Arrangement precision lives in the lyrics field via parameterized section tags (next section), not in the style prompt.

Metatags in Lyrics

Suno reads embedded directions in the lyrics field. Tag sparsely: 3-4 inflection points per song. Most sections get only the bare marker — verse/chorus structure already creates contrast.

Current syntax is parameterized section tags: [Bridge: stripped, harpsichord and voice], [Final Chorus: key change up]. The adjacent-bracket form ([Bridge][stripped]) is legacy-valid.

Use technique cues (stripped, half-time, key change up) not emotion words (triumphant, intimate). Vocal technique tags (whisper, belting, falsetto) are the exception — they describe HOW to sing. A [Break] or blank line before the climax buys tension through silence.

Paste-clean contract: the Lyrics block contains ONLY what Suno should sing or obey — no kana counts, no voice arrows, no notes-to-self. Parentheticals in lyrics are SUNG as ad-libs. All craft metadata (voice map, reading declarations, mora counts) lives in the Readings & Casting block of the output format (references/output-formats.md).

Lyric Writing

English: target 6-10 syllables per line; line breaks = musical breaths.

Japanese: count morae, not syllables (月光 = げっこう = 4 morae). Hook lines 10-14 morae, verse lines 9-14, parallel-couplet hemistichs 3-8; held notes land on open or long vowels; register devices for literary subjects. Full rules: references/japanese-prosody.md — consult it before writing any Japanese lyric.

Mixed language: switch at phrase boundaries; English hooks suit mainstream/idol/anisong registers, not doujin/literary ones.

See references/suno-metatags.md for ad-libs, punctuation cues, and vowel elongation.

Composition Rubric (the floor — lyric-critic enforces this)

Checkability tiers: [M]echanical / [S]tructural violations are findings; [J]udgment concerns are advisory only — taste is not agent-verifiable.

1. [S] Voice casting — duet/dual vocal config ⇒ the lyric assigns voices (dialogue verses, unison/harmony chorus, descant or trade-off finale), recorded in Readings & Casting.
2. [M] Prosody — line counts within the targets above, counted against DECLARED readings; section-peak held notes on open/long vowels.
3. [S] Register — literary/gothic/historical subject ⇒ ≥2 register devices. Japanese devices: references/japanese-prosody.md. English: archaic pronouns, latinate diction, syntactic inversion.
4. [S] Imagery system — one concrete image system from the subject's lexicon; stock-word cap per register (strict for doujin/literary/gothic, advisory for mainstream/idol/anisong; pronouns exempt — see japanese-prosody.md).
5. [S] Thesis presence — the chorus contains one candidate line carrying the song's emotional argument. [J] Whether it lands concretely is advisory.
6. [M] Hook anchor — title or hook phrase opens or closes the chorus.
7. [M] Tags — 3-4 parameterized inflection points, technique cues only.
8. [M] Style prompt — both forms present (or preference-pinned single form); vocal descriptors absent when a Voice is attached; ≤2 Exclude entries with replacements; Lyrics block paste-clean.

Quality bar in action: references/examples/gothic-doujin-song.md (every rubric item annotated).

Genre Conventions

Springboards, not rules. Blend and break as the song demands.

For subgenre depth and the romanized phrase banks, see references/genre-deep-dive.md. Song structure templates: references/song-structures.md.

Mood-to-Style Mapping

Tempo Guidelines

Vocal tag vocabulary (female/male/special/tone/effects): references/suno-metatags.md.

Reference-Based Composition

When a user says "like YOASOBI" or "in the style of Aimer", capture the artist's essence — creative spirit, emotional signature, sonic identity — not exact specifications. Ask: what FEELING does this artist evoke? What makes them recognizable?

For technical grounding, consult references/artist-profiles.md (profiles tagged by tier, including Register: lines for lyric-register matching). The profile gives ingredients; you decide the recipe. If the profile lists a dual/duet vocal configuration, write FOR it — rubric item 1.

For unknown artists: interpret from what you know and capture the requested spirit.

J-pop Tier Presets

Ecosystem-level presets instead of specific artists:

Combine with artists: /suno anisong like Aimer uses tier structure + artist style. Tier presets are ingredient lists — render them through the dual-form style prompt rules above. Full profiles and merge logic: references/jpop-tiers.md.

Professional Songwriter Techniques

Hook-First: design the chorus hook before the verses that build to it. Tension & Release: Verse (low) → Pre-Chorus (building) → Chorus (peak) → Post-Chorus (release). Three-Element Arrangement: A (melody), B (counter-melody), C (rhythm). Verse: A+C. Chorus: A+B+C. Bridge: B+C.

Details and exercises: references/pro-techniques.md.

Output Formats

All output templates — including the Readings & Casting craft block and the dual-form style prompt slots — live in references/output-formats.md.

Additional Resources

• references/output-formats.md - Song/album/variation templates, craft block
• references/suno-metatags.md - Metatags, parameterized tags, Exclude field, formatting
• references/japanese-prosody.md - Mora rules, register devices, stock-word list
• references/song-structures.md - Standard pop, anime, ballad structures
• references/pro-techniques.md - Hook-first, tension/release, arrangement
• references/genre-deep-dive.md - Subgenre conventions and phrase banks
• references/artist-profiles.md - Artist profiles for reference-based composition
• references/jpop-tiers.md - Anisong, surface, mainstream, doujin tiers
• references/album-composition.md - Album arc patterns and track roles
• references/variation-patterns.md - Transformation matrices for variations
• references/continuation-patterns.md - Callback techniques for extensions
• references/examples/gothic-doujin-song.md - Annotated quality-bar exemplar
• references/troubleshooting.md - Common issues, causes, and fixes

Source: Linaqruf/kana-code-plugins — distributed by TomeVault.