How do I choose which part of my song becomes the clip?

Drag the clip's bracket along the song timeline, or pick a length such as 30 s: lyrik always snaps it so it starts and ends cleanly, on a bar or between phrases, never in the middle of a word.

What the clip is

Every song has one clip window. It decides three things:

• Your 9:16 download for Shorts, Reels and TikTok.
• What the preview loops while you try styles.
• The stills on the style cards.

It starts on your first sung chorus, the whole chorus, up to 60 seconds. If lyrik finds no chorus, it starts on 15 seconds of the liveliest sung part of your song.

On a computer: drag the bracket

1. Look at the song timeline under the preview. Your clip is the bracket on it.
2. To move the clip, drag the bracket's middle along the song. Until you do, a hint says 'Drag the clip to move it. Pull its edges to resize.'
3. To change its length, pull either edge. With a mouse, the edges say 'Pull to start your clip earlier or later' and 'Pull to end your clip earlier or later'.
4. While you drag, the preview pauses on the edge you're moving. When you let go, if it was playing, it plays your clip from the start, or the last 3 seconds if you pulled the end.
5. To choose from a menu, click the clip's name under the bracket, for example 'Chorus 1 · 30 s'.

Pressing on the bracket without moving it plays from that point.

On a phone or tablet: the Clip panel

1. On a phone, tap the Clip tab. On a tablet, find Your clip under the preview.
2. You'll see 'Your clip · for Shorts, Reels and TikTok' and a line such as 'Your clip: 0:45 to 1:15 (30 s). Drag to move, pull the edges to resize.'
3. Drag the bracket on the small timeline, or pull its edges. On a phone, the edges have big grips for your finger.

Quick lengths and jumps

The clip panel (and the menu on a computer) has quick choices:

• 15 s, 30 s or 60 s set the length from where the clip starts.
• Whole chorus makes the clip the whole chorus, up to 60 seconds. It only shows when your song has a chorus.
• Jump to moves the clip to a part of your song, such as Chorus 2, Verse 2, Bridge or Drop. The intro and outro aren't listed, but you can drag the clip there.

Good to know

• 5 to 60 seconds. A clip is never shorter than 5 seconds or longer than 60.
• It always lands cleanly. The edges snap to the start of a bar or the gap between phrases, so the clip never starts or ends mid-word.
• Once you move it, it's yours. Until then, the clip follows lyrik's choice. After you move it, it stays where you put it. If you change the sync later, it's fitted to the new timing.
• One clip per song for now. To get a second clip, move the window and buy another.
• It's saved with your style. The Download step shows it, for example 'Your clip: 0:45 to 1:15 (30 s).', with a Change it link that brings you back here.
• Moving the clip is free.
• Tag your chorus in your lyrics so lyrik starts the clip in the right place. See How do I mark choruses, verses and repeats?
• On the timeline, 'Build' means the pre-chorus and 'After' means the post-chorus.

If something goes wrong

• The clip won't stop exactly where you want. It snaps to the nearest clean point, so it never cuts a word. Pull the edge a little further, or use a quick length.
• Whole chorus is missing. lyrik didn't find a chorus in your song. Drag the clip to the part you want instead.
• The clip panel shows a grey placeholder. Your song's timeline is still loading. Give it a moment.
• The preview is playing the whole song, not your clip. Clicking the timeline outside the bracket plays the whole song. On a computer, click inside the bracket, press Your clip next to Play, or press P to loop your clip again. In the Clip tab, tap the clip's name under the bracket.

Hidden extras

On a computer, with the clip selected on the timeline:

• ← and → move the whole clip by about a bar.
• Shift+← and Shift+→ change where it ends.
• Home and End move it to the start or end of the song.
• With an edge selected, ← and → move just that edge by a bar.

For more, see What keyboard shortcuts can I use?