How to get a drums-only intro on an AI-generated track

Turn on Drums-only intro under 06 · DJ mix edit in the Club Ready Music studio; it is on by default. With it on, the style prompt asks for a "16-bar drums-only intro" (or 8 or 32), the lyric sheet opens with an [Intro] [Instrumental] block that says "drums and percussion only, no singing", and the vocal gate mutes the vocal and melodic stems during that window after the render. The result is a percussion-only run-in you can mix over.

Steps

1. Set the intro length

Pick Intro bars first: 8, 16 or 32. The drums-only window is exactly that long, in the prompt, in the lyric sheet and in the gate. See set intro bars for how to choose.

2. Check the toggle

The Drums-only intro toggle is the first of four under the bar rows. Leave it on. On a phone it is on step 4, DJ settings. When it is on, the style prompt sends "16-bar drums-only intro"; when off, it sends "16-bar intro" and lets the model decide what plays.

3. Say what the drums should be

The intro is only as good as its percussion. In 02 · Vibe, describe it: "intro is kick, shuffled hats and congas", "intro is a breakbeat loop with a rimshot", "tribal toms and shaker". Without direction you get the genre's default kick and hats.

4. Keep your lyrics out of the intro

If you paste your own lyrics, do not write an intro section. Any [Intro] block you type is removed so the sheet has exactly one, the instrumental one the studio adds. Start your lyrics with [Verse]. See format your own lyrics.

5. Understand the gate

After the model renders, Club Ready Music splits the track into vocals, drums, bass and other stems. For a drums-only intro it mutes the vocal stem for the whole intro window and fades the melodic "other" stem in over the second half of the intro, while bass and drums are left alone so there is still something to mix in on. Then it sums the stems back. This runs when vocal-free edges are enforced on the server, which is the default, and it is what guarantees the intro even when the model ignores the tag.

6. Place the drop after the intro

Set Drop at bar at least one step past the intro length. With a 16-bar drums-only intro, a drop at 32 gives a 16-bar build where melodic elements can enter before the full drop.

7. Render and check

Listen to the first 16 bars of each take. The waveform shows the INTRO label at the bar you chose and the intro end cue marks it in the file. If the model's vocal started early and the gate moved the intro-end cue to the vocal start, you will see the cue earlier than expected; use the other take or re-render.

Tips

• Longer drums-only intros want more percussion. 32 bars of kick and hats is dull; ask for layers that build, "adding congas at bar 9, shaker at bar 17".
• Hard start pairs with this. Keep Hard start on bar 1 on so the first kick is at 0:00 and your beat grid locks instantly.
• Instrumental mode still uses it. The instrumental sheet starts with [Intro - drums only, 16 bars].
• The gate is stem-based. Drums and bass keep their full level; the vocal stem is muted and the melodic stem fades in during the second half of the intro.
• Turn it off on purpose for melodic openers. Melodic Techno and Progressive tracks sometimes want a pad from bar 1; switch the toggle off and the intro is still vocal-free.

Common problems

A synth or bass plays in the intro. Either the toggle is off or the gate did not run. Check the toggle, then try the other take. If your host has no fal audio app and no ffmpeg, the gate cannot run and only the prompt is enforcing the intro.

The intro is drums only but very short. The model shortened the intro. The gate uses your bar count, so the muted window is still the right length and the music under it may be thin. Re-render, or set the intro one step shorter so the model's version matches.

Vocals start inside the intro. With the gate on, they are muted and the intro-end cue is moved to the vocal start. Without it, see fix vocals leaking into the intro.

The intro sounds like a loop with no life. Describe builds in the brief and tick Breakbeat drums or Bongos / congas under Sounds to feature.