Folk is where over-production does the most damage. Every blueprint here excludes something — reverb, drums, extra instruments — because the intimacy comes from what is missing. Lyrics carry more weight than in any other genre, so the section directions stay out of their way.
One guitar, one voice, close and dry. Heavy reverb is excluded so the intimacy survives, and the stripped-back intro tells the model to start small rather than opening with a full band.
Style
folk, slow tempo, acoustic guitar, intimate male vocals, acoustic production, melancholic and hopeful, dry close-mic vocal, fingerpicked guitar
Lyrics
[Intro: stripped back]
[Verse 1]
You left the kitchen light on again
I keep it burning like an argument
[Chorus: vocal harmonies]
And I would say it plainly if I could
That staying was the only thing I understood
[Bridge: stripped back]
Every door I closed still opens in my head
[End]
A full-band folk arrangement that still starts small: the verse is marked stripped back so the chorus has something to grow into. Harmonies are asked for in the section, not the Style field, so they arrive only where you want them.
Style
folk, upbeat, acoustic guitar, bass guitar and live drums, warm duet vocals, raw production, hopeful and joyful, room-mic drums, strummed acoustic up front
Lyrics
[Verse 1: stripped back]
We packed the truck before the sun came up
Two thermos cups and one bad map
[Chorus: full band]
Sing it loud enough to reach the county line
We are going home, we are going home
[Verse 2]
The radio only plays what it remembers
[Chorus: vocal harmonies]
Sing it loud enough to reach the county line
[Outro: fade out]
[End]
Piano-led rather than guitar-led, which changes the whole character while keeping the folk framing. Excluding drums keeps the tempo feeling human instead of gridded.
Style
folk, slow tempo, piano and strings, breathy female vocals, acoustic production, melancholic and calm, sustained strings underneath, felt piano
Lyrics
[Intro: stripped back]
[Verse 1]
I write to you the way the frost writes on a window
Slowly, and only once
[Chorus]
There is nothing here that needs an answer
[Outro: fade out]
[End]
Acoustic guitar with nothing on top, which is the safest thing to put under speech: no vocal to compete with, no percussive transients to duck against.
Style
folk, slow tempo, acoustic guitar, acoustic production, calm and nostalgic, fingerpicked, close and dry
Ask for an intimate delivery and put heavy reverb in Exclude. Describing the microphone position ("dry close-mic vocal") works better than asking for a mood.
Can I stop the model adding a full band?
Name one instrument, not three, and mark the intro as stripped back. Left unsaid, arrangements tend to grow.