To make a lullaby in your own voice, record about a minute of yourself singing so Tera Studio can learn your voice, then upload a recording of the lullaby with one clear singer. Tera Studio keeps that singer's tune and timing and replaces their voice with yours, so your baby hears you, in tune, every night. It helps parents who travel or work nights, parents who are shy about singing, and anyone giving a gift to new parents.
Key takeaways
- Babies know their parents' voices. A lullaby in yours is familiar in a way a stranger's recording isn't.
- Many classic lullabies are public domain as songs, but every recording has an owner. The easiest clean source is a friend who sings, recorded on a phone with their OK.
- Record about 1 minute of your own singing (2 is better) somewhere quiet. Humming counts.
- Play it quietly from across the room, not from inside the crib.
- It doesn't replace you singing live. It covers the nights you can't.
Why your voice, not just any lullaby
Newborns recognize their mother's voice: in a well-known 1980 study by DeCasper and Fifer, babies only days old worked to hear their own mother's voice over a stranger's. Familiar voices are part of what makes bedtime feel safe.
That's also why so many parents feel stuck. You want your baby to hear you, but you don't love your singing voice, or you're on a night shift, a work trip, or a deployment when bedtime comes around. A lullaby in your own voice keeps the familiar part and lets someone else hit the notes.
Step 1 — Choose the lullaby
Slow, simple songs with one singer work best, and those are exactly what lullabies are.
| Lullaby | Song status | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" | Public domain | Tune from 18th-century France, words from 1806 |
| "Brahms' Lullaby" ("Lullaby and goodnight") | Public domain | Published 1868 |
| "Hush, Little Baby" | Public domain | Traditional American |
| "Rock-a-bye Baby" | Public domain | Traditional |
| "All the Pretty Little Horses" | Public domain | Traditional American |
| "You Are My Sunshine" | Under copyright | Published 1940 |
| "Over the Rainbow" | Under copyright | Published 1939 |
A public-domain song still needs a recording you're allowed to use, because each recording belongs to whoever made it. The easiest options:
- Ask a friend or relative who sings. They sing the lullaby once into a phone, alone, in a quiet room, and say yes to you using it. No backing music is needed; a voice on its own converts cleanly.
- Use a recording released for reuse, such as a Creative Commons recording that allows changes (CC BY or CC BY-SA). Keep the credit.
- Buy a license for a lullaby recording from a stock music library, and check that it allows changes.
If the singer's range is very different from yours, the result sounds less like you. A dad will get a more natural result from a lullaby sung by a man, a mom from one sung by a woman with a similar range. Our free vocal range test tells you roughly where your voice sits.
Step 2 — Record your voice
You're not performing for anyone. The recording only teaches Tera Studio what your voice sounds like.
- Sing or hum something you know for about 1 minute. Two minutes of varied singing gives a more convincing voice.
- Sing softly but not in a whisper. Lullaby-quiet is fine; a breathy whisper is harder to recognize.
- Choose a quiet moment. Nap time is not ideal if the baby monitor or a white-noise machine is running in the background.
- Hold the phone a hand's width from your mouth, slightly to the side.
Step 3 — Make it and listen
Upload the lullaby and start. The first song takes about 20 minutes because your voice is learned first; later lullabies reuse your saved voice and come back faster. Listen once on headphones. If it doesn't sound like you, tap Needs work and remake it free from a new, longer recording.
Make a few. Babies like repetition, and a small set of three or four lullabies in your voice gives the other parent or the grandparents a bedtime playlist.
Step 4 — Play it safely
- Keep it quiet. A lullaby should be softer than normal conversation.
- Keep the speaker across the room, not in or on the crib.
- Use a timer so it fades out instead of playing all night.
- Pair it with the routine. Same song, same time, same dim light. The recording works best as part of bedtime, not as a replacement for it.
A gift for new parents
A lullaby is a thoughtful gift for a baby shower or a new grandchild. Grandparents who live far away can make one in their own voice so the baby grows up knowing it. Send the song-card video with a note ("From Grandma, for bedtime") and the WAV file the parents can add to their bedtime playlist.
The one rule: each voice belongs to its owner. Grandma records and makes her own; nobody can train someone else's voice for them.
Current price and limits
Every new account can make and hear 2 whole songs free, once per account, each up to 4 minutes, with no card. Downloads need a paid plan. Starter is $8.99 a month for 30 finished minutes (about 7 songs) and Creator is $19.99 a month for 90 minutes, or $89.99 and $189.99 paid yearly. Both include WAV and song-card video downloads, one guided correction per song and free re-downloads. Minutes refresh monthly without rollover. You can cancel the renewal anytime. Prices show in your currency where available; pricing and Stripe checkout confirm the total before you pay. See the refund policy.
Frequently asked questions
Is a recording of my voice as good as singing live? No, and it isn't meant to be. Singing live, badly or not, is better. A recording in your voice helps on the nights you can't be there.
I can't sing at all. Will it still be in tune? Yes. The notes come from the singer in the recording you upload. Your recording only teaches the app what you sound like. See can't sing? hear yourself sing any song.
Can I use a lullaby in another language? Yes. The words come from the recording, so a Spanish "Arrorró mi niño" or a German "Guten Abend, gut' Nacht" works as long as one singer sings it clearly.
How long can a lullaby be? Free songs can be up to 4 minutes; paid songs can use up to 5 minutes of a recording. For a loop at bedtime, a 2 to 3-minute lullaby is plenty.
Who can hear my voice? Only you. Your trained voice is locked to your account. Read the privacy policy.
Make a lullaby in your voice. Your first 2 songs are free to make and hear.