Suno Control Plan: The Relay Room Keeps Breathing

Created after: `composition-brief.md` Created before: `guide-track.json`, MIDI, MP3 render, and `suno-prompt.md`

What Must Suno Obey?

76 BPM close thumb-picked pulse.
E minor tonal centre with late C major warmth.
B suspended pressure in pre-choruses.
A recognisable title-hook contour on "the relay room keeps breathing."
Conversational verse phrasing with deliberate late entrances.
Chorus 2 changed ending and final chorus delayed entrance.
Sparse room-scale sound: fingerpicked acoustic, low hum, close alto vocal, faint relay tick.
Emotional restraint: proof of life, not ghost story or rescue anthem.

Which Source Leads?

Primary lead: lyrics and section tags. The narrative is specific and must remain intelligible.

Secondary lead: vocal phrasing guide. It controls melody contour, hook identity, breath spacing, harmonic timing, and section transformation.

Support lead: style prompt. It defines the sonic world and exclusions.

Not leading today: custom model, My Taste, Extend, Cover, public publishing, or any external platform action. Dakota Vale voice may be selected only if private Suno generation is explicitly approved in this conversation.

Guide Type Decision

Chosen type: vocal phrasing guide.

What would break without it: Suno may make a polished sparse folk track while missing the study's actual training target: title-hook identity, delayed phrasing, late harmonic warmth, and a changed second/final chorus.

Why Not Other Guide Types?

**Structure guide:** section tags can carry the broad form.
**Groove guide:** the pulse is important, but the guide's main value is vocal and harmonic timing.
**Motif guide:** the title hook matters, but it belongs inside the vocal phrase rather than as a separate riff.
**Full demo guide:** too controlling for a composition-training comparison and not necessary.
**No guide:** useful only as the comparison lane, not as Dakota's composition lane.

What Should Suno Be Free To Invent?

Natural final vocal timbre and expressive detail.
Guitar voicings and small production texture.
Exact bass support, if it adds weight without becoming a full band.
Subtle room tone and relay-light texture.
Minor melodic ornamentation around the guide, provided the title hook remains identifiable.

What Must Be Excluded?

Real artist names.
Obvious imitation of studied references.
Horror, supernatural reveal, sci-fi spectacle, or emergency-drama scoring.
Glossy pop chorus or vocal stack.
Big drums, cinematic synth, choir swell, or arena release.
Ambient drift with no pulse.

Slider Strategy

Lane A: Composition-Guided

Weirdness: 30
Style Influence: 68
Audio Influence: 32
Advanced mode: on
Upload type: Song Demo
Voice: Dakota Vale if available and John approves private generation; otherwise close dry female alto.

Lane B: No-Composition Control

Weirdness: 30
Style Influence: 72
Audio Influence: none
Advanced mode: on
Same lyrics, style, voice choice, and duration target as Lane A.

QA Required Before Sending

Confirm study findings support the composition brief.
Confirm `composition-brief.md` exists before guide JSON/MIDI/audio.
Confirm this control plan exists before `suno-prompt.md`.
Render guide locally through `midi-arranger-v5.py`.
Run `guide-musical-review.py`.
Run `validate-suno-handoff.py --refresh-review`.
Confirm guide JSON, MIDI, MP3, and review clip pass duration and audible-slice QA.
Confirm no Suno Create or Publish action has been taken.