Your Complete AI Music Workflow

Your Production System

🔄 Quick Recall: Over the past seven lessons, you’ve learned music theory essentials (lesson 2), AI generation with Suno, Udio, and AIVA (lesson 3), mixing and mastering (lesson 4), sound design and stem separation (lesson 5), lyrics and vocal production (lesson 6), and copyright and distribution (lesson 7). Now you’ll combine everything into a single, repeatable workflow.

This lesson doesn’t introduce new concepts. It integrates everything you’ve learned into a production system you can use for every track you make.

The Complete Workflow: 7 Phases

Phase 1: Ideation (10-15 minutes)

Before generating anything, define your creative vision:

The ideation prompt:

I'm starting a new track. Help me define my creative vision:

I want it to sound like: [1-3 reference tracks or general description]
The emotion should be: [how should the listener feel?]
This is for: [personal project, content, sync licensing, streaming release]

Based on this, suggest:
1. Specific genre and subgenre classification
2. Key (major or minor) with reasoning
3. BPM range
4. Chord progression that fits
5. Song structure (which sections, in what order)
6. Instrumentation palette (which sounds and textures)
7. Vocal style (if applicable)
8. 3 production prompts I can paste directly into Suno or Udio

Phase 2: Generation (20-30 minutes)

Using your ideation plan, generate your raw material:

1. Generate 3-5 complete versions in Suno or Udio using your production prompts
2. Listen critically — identify the strongest elements in each version
3. Cherry-pick: Note which version has the best drums, melody, bass, and vocals
4. Generate additional elements in the same key/BPM if needed
5. Export audio files (WAV format, not MP3)

✅ Quick Check: Why generate 3-5 versions instead of perfecting one? Because AI generation is probabilistic — each run interprets your prompt differently. Version 2 might have the perfect melody but weak drums. Version 4 might have incredible drums but a boring melody. Generating multiple versions gives you a palette to work with.

Phase 3: Arrangement (30-45 minutes)

Assemble your track in a DAW:

1. Import your best stems/exports into BandLab, GarageBand, or your DAW
2. Separate stems if needed (Lalal.ai or Moises.ai)
3. Arrange sections according to your structure plan: intro, verse, chorus, bridge, outro
4. Layer elements from different generations — combine the best drums with the best melody
5. Add transitions between sections (builds, fills, drops, filter sweeps)
6. Write and record lyrics if this is a vocal track (use the lesson 6 workflow)

Phase 4: Mixing (30-45 minutes)

Balance and polish your arrangement:

1. Volume balance: Set levels so every element is audible. Vocals loudest, drums next
2. Panning: Spread elements across the stereo field
3. EQ: Cut conflicting frequencies — no two elements should fight for the same space
4. Compression: Control dynamics on individual tracks
5. Effects: Reverb for depth, delay for movement, saturation for warmth
6. AI assistance: Use BandLab’s AI mixing or iZotope Neutron for a starting point

Phase 5: Mastering (10-15 minutes)

Process your final stereo mix:

1. Export your mix as a WAV file from your DAW
2. Upload to LANDR (quick) or load in iZotope Ozone (detailed)
3. Target -14 LUFS for streaming platforms
4. Compare to your reference tracks — does it sound competitive?
5. Export your mastered file

Phase 6: Quality Check (15-20 minutes)

Before releasing, listen on multiple systems:

If the track sounds good on all four, it’s ready. If something sounds wrong on one system, go back to mixing.

Phase 7: Release (30 minutes)

1. Confirm rights: Commercial license from AI platform, human authorship documented
2. Prepare metadata: Song title, artist name, genre tags, description
3. Create cover art (use AI image generation or design tools)
4. Upload to distributor (DistroKid, TuneCore, or CD Baby)
5. Set release date (2-4 weeks out for playlist consideration)
6. Submit to playlists — most distributors have Spotify playlist pitch tools

✅ Quick Check: Why should you set a release date 2-4 weeks in the future instead of releasing immediately? Because Spotify and Apple Music accept editorial playlist pitches only for tracks that haven’t been released yet. A 2-4 week window gives curators time to review your track. Immediate releases skip this opportunity entirely.

Your Production Reference Card

Growing as a Producer

Your first track will teach you more than this entire course. Here’s how to keep improving:

Critical listening practice: Every day, listen to one professional track in your genre and identify three specific production choices (how the bass sits, how wide the stereo image is, how the vocal is processed). Then apply one observation to your next production.

Build a reference library: Collect 10-15 tracks that represent the quality standard you’re aiming for. Use these as comparison points during mixing and mastering.

Finish tracks: The biggest trap is endlessly tweaking without releasing. Set a rule: every track gets finished and released within one week of starting. Your skills compound through completion, not perfection.

Document your process: Keep notes on what worked and what didn’t for each production. Which prompts produced the best results? Which mixing moves solved recurring problems? This becomes your personal production manual.

Key Takeaways

• The complete workflow has 7 phases: ideation → generation → arrangement → mixing → mastering → quality check → release
• Ideation is the most underrated phase — 10 minutes of planning saves hours of aimless generation
• Generate 3-5 versions and cherry-pick the best elements from each
• Always listen on multiple playback systems before releasing
• Finish and release tracks regularly — completion accelerates learning faster than any tutorial
• Document your process and build a reference library for continuous improvement

Your AI music studio is set up. Your workflow is defined. Your first track is waiting. Start it today.