Questions teams ask before they commit

A private browser catalog where you keep reference tracks next to the songs you write or produce, and score how close they sit on real musical factors — so decisions stay intentional.

No. It is not a digital audio workstation, and it does not analyze waveforms, loudness, or spectra. Matching uses the structured song portrait you enter: tempo, length, time signature, key, mode, chords, melody contour, instruments, stereo field, tags, theme, and related fields you enable in Settings.

A reference is a benchmark — a hit, a favorite cut, a studio exemplar. My Songs are work you are writing or producing: a single, album track, or session draft. The product is built around comparing across those two roles (you can change type later if a draft becomes a reference for something else).

No. Start with a few strong references and the songs you care about now. MusicReference is meant to be a catalog you keep building over years — every portrait you add makes matching and compare more useful, because neighbors can only come from what you have already described. There is no upload of your entire discography required to begin.

Not required. You build a portrait for each song. You may optionally attach a public video (e.g. YouTube embed) or web link for listening context; that link is not used for scoring. Optionally import a monophonic MIDI melody or step-record a line on the piano — not a full multitrack session.

Add a lead line via Standard MIDI import or step-record on the shared piano. MusicReference stores the pitch contour and compares interval shape (so the same line in another key can still match). Overall weight lives under Settings → Musical → Melody; the Melody lens uses contour only. Preview, play, and download MIDI after save. On compare, you can play a shared contour when both songs have a line.

Overall is your usual score from Settings weights. A lens temporarily re-ranks by one job: Sister Songs (instruments + Roman chords + mode + tags + loose tempo), Melody (contour only), Harmony (progressions + mode; concert key ignored), and Groove (rhythm-section instruments + tempo). Use them on similar lists, Compare, ArtistDNA, and the Lenses tool — Overall stays the default for Home and Constellation.

The same keyboard roll is reused: shift the window with Start / octave arrows, play with the mouse or computer keys (A–L whites, W E T Y U I sharps). Key-finder sets the root without sticky “selected” keys. Melody and chord step-record ask what key did you play in? so shapes can shift into the song key on Done.

Your organization is private to your Lyra Cloud account. MusicReference is not a public streaming library or a place where other companies browse your references.

Each enabled metric scores how similar two portraits are (for example same key = full credit; tempo within your window = partial credit; chords by Roman progression; instruments by shared names and optional family soft credit; stereo by pan/band placement; melody by contour when both have a line). Weights in Settings combine those into an Overall percentage; lenses apply fixed masks on the same metrics. Scores are always computed live from current song data and Settings — nothing is “stuck” until a rebuild. Match threshold controls what counts as a “match” on cards and the top of the similar list. Thin portraits (below min-info) are skipped so empty fields do not invent false neighbors.

Most matches ranks songs by how many solid neighbors they have above the threshold. Strongest matches ranks by the single closest neighbor — useful when one song is almost a sibling to another, even if it only has one strong pairing. You can also sort by recent. Lists are paginated; your place in the list is remembered when you open a song and navigate back.

Neighbors are ranked by overall %. Songs at or above your match threshold appear first, then a clear separator, then songs still related but below that bar. Percentage pills use the same threshold for color: green at/above, warmer mid-range between half and the bar, red under half.

A map of where instruments sit in the mix: Left, Center, or Right (or full width), and which frequency band (sub through high). It is editable on the song form, viewable on detail, and comparable in 1v1 — including on touch devices. An optional tempo pulse (Settings → Visual, off by default) can animate with the song’s BPM.

The app is English for now. Lyra dark (blue) and Lyra red themes are supported (switch in the user menu). Additional interface languages may ship later.

In a modern browser on Lyra Cloud. No separate install on every studio machine. You need a LyraDisplay account. A free 14-day trial gives full access (accept to start the clock). Paid plans are monthly or yearly plans or and cover the whole organization; only the organization owner can subscribe or renew.

Create a free account at auth.lyradisplay.com, then open the app and accept a free trial when eligible. For paid access (monthly or yearly plans or), the organization owner uses Checkout (card payment when Stripe is configured; otherwise a subscription request form). One license covers the whole organization. See Pricing.

MusicReference is offered as a Lyra Cloud product first. If your organization needs a different deployment model, mention that when you contact us and we will discuss options.