Suno Control Plan - Pass of the Shuttle

Date: 2026-07-29 Song title: Pass of the Shuttle Guide type: vocal_phrasing

Two-Lane Purpose

Lane A uses Dakota's composed guide track (vocal-phrasing JSON rendered to MIDI/MP3). The guide carries the melody contour, section phrasing, caesura on "immortal," and a cappella outro. Suno's Audio Influence feature pulls the guide's timing and phrasing into the generated vocal.

Lane B uses the same lyrics, style, and Suno settings but no guide track. Suno generates freely from the style and lyrics alone.

The comparison tests whether Dakota's composition adds value beyond what Suno produces from prompt engineering alone.

Style Field (Both Lanes)

dark folk, neofolk, 72 BPM, A minor, melancholic, restrained female alto, breathy delivery, dry close-mic, fingerpicked acoustic guitar, sparse upright bass, muted piano, warm analog production, vinyl crackle

Genre: dark folk / neofolk (fits The Slow Aurora's body of work)
Era: not specified (avoid genre decade lock)
BPM: 72 (matches composition brief)
Key: A minor (matches composition brief)
Mood: melancholic (the dark-room warmth)
Vocal: restrained female alto, breathy delivery, dry close-mic
Instruments: fingerpicked acoustic guitar (Townes discipline), sparse upright bass (chorus entrance), muted piano (bridge colour)
Production: warm analog, vinyl crackle (the loom room's texture)
Negative: no drums, no percussion, no reverb, no electric guitar, no choir, no strings

Lyrics Field (Both Lanes)

Identical lyrics from `lyrics.md`. Section markers: [Verse 1], [Chorus], [Verse 2], [Chorus], [Bridge], [Verse 3], [Final Chorus], [Outro].

Lane A: With Dakota's Guide

**Guide file:** `guide-track-upload-safe.mp3` (rendered with upload-safe SoundFont profile to avoid Suno's known-recording fingerprint gate)
**Audio Influence:** 32 (moderate pull - Suno follows the phrasing and timing without becoming a copy of the MIDI timbre)
**Style Influence:** 20 (light - the style field does most of the sonic work)
**Weirdness:** 18 (low - we want Suno to respect the composition, not improvise away from it)
**Save to:** Dakota Vale workspace
**Voice:** Dakota Vale custom voice

Lane B: Without Dakota's Guide

**Guide file:** none
**Audio Influence:** 0
**Style Influence:** 0
**Weirdness:** 18 (same as Lane A for fair comparison)
**Save to:** Dakota Vale workspace
**Voice:** Dakota Vale custom voice

What the Comparison Tests

1. Melody contour: Does Lane A produce a more purposeful, stepwise melody? Does Lane B default to Suno's statistical-average dark-folk melody? 2. Phrasing and breath: Does Lane A place the rests between phrases with intent? Does Lane B fill the space with decoration or sustain? 3. The bridge caesura: Does Lane A stop the pulse on "immortal"? Does Lane B carry straight through? 4. The a cappella outro: Does Lane A deliver the final phrase without instrumental support? Does Lane B keep the guitar running? 5. Hook identity: Does Lane A produce a chorus that sounds like a plain statement? Does Lane B produce a chorus that sounds like a "dark folk chorus"? 6. Section transformation: Do the verses and chorus in Lane A have the density dynamic from the composition brief (sparse verses, chorus with bass)? Does Lane B keep the same texture throughout?

Exclusions

No genre tags beyond dark folk / neofolk
No production tags that imply a specific era or artist
No percussion or drum tags (the pulse is vocal and guitar, not drum)
Guide track uses upload-safe render profile to avoid Suno fingerprint rejection