How we used Amazon Q Developer to build DuckStar in less than 1 month
Ai help create better code, speeds up bug fixing. Makes coding fun again!
Published Jan 15, 2025
I come from a family of musicians: my dad was a lead guitarist who owned a music studio, my sister is a music teacher, and my brother has won numerous songwriting competitions. Yet, I am the "proverbial ugly duckling" when it comes to music, with the voice of a frog and the rhythm of an elephant.
But times have changed, and with the power of AI, I can finally join my family’s flock and find my groove in the music world!
When we think of idols and aspirations, actors, athletes, and music stars naturally come to mind.
Just as sports fans live vicariously through video games—whether it's football, basketball, or other sports—DuckStar offers a similar experience for music lovers. While designed for non-musicians, it’s equally enjoyable for seasoned pros. DuckStar provides a platform where anyone can experience the thrill of music creation, performance, and competition. With AI-powered features, users can dive into the creative process and bring their musical aspirations to life.
Building DuckStar has been a wild ride—like a duck learning to fly! But the secret to making it all come together quickly? Amazon Q Developer. It’s been our trusty wingman, helping us build DuckStar with a whole lot less effort and a lot more quacking fun. Here’s how it all came together and why Amazon Q Developer made such a splash.
Let’s be real: coding a game, social platform, and music generator all at once could take forever if you’re writing every line of code from scratch. That’s where Amazon Q Developer swooped in like a superhero. By automating the boring, repetitive tasks, Q helped us focus on what we do best—making DuckStar fun and creative.
With Visual Studio and the Q plugin, we didn’t have to spend hours on boilerplate code. Instead, Q took care of most of it for us, meaning we could crank out the good stuff faster—like generating AI-driven beats, lyrics, and even sync for lip-sync battles (because who wants to deal with all that behind-the-scenes technical stuff?).
- Speedy Code Generation:
Thanks to Amazon Q, we didn’t have to write every line of code manually. It auto-generated 90% of our Lambda functions. These functions handle key operations, like processing music tracks, generating lyrics, and syncing AI-powered beats. What normally would’ve taken hours of coding, Q got done in minutes. - Better Code, Faster:
Q made sure our code stayed clean and consistent. With its tools for code completion, refactoring, and error checking, we could avoid any messy situations down the line. It was like having a friendly duck guide us to a smoother, faster development process. - Easier Debugging & Refactoring:
Debugging can feel like trying to swim through mud, but Q made it much easier. It helped us find issues quickly and even suggested improvements. Refactoring code became less of a hassle, so we could keep our focus on the fun stuff, like creating a cool experience for you! - Serverless Operations:
Since we’re all about making things easier, we used AWS Lambda for serverless operations, and guess what? Q made that super simple to implement. Whether it was processing audio tracks or interacting with AI models, Q made sure everything stayed smooth as a duck’s feathers. - Scalability:
DuckStar was designed to grow, and thanks to Amazon Q Developer, we didn’t have to worry about getting bogged down as more people joined the flock. We used DynamoDB for user and song data storage and S3 for media files. Q helped us scale everything quickly and efficiently, keeping things quacking along without a hitch.
While Amazon Q Developer did a lot of the heavy lifting, we still needed to bring the fun to life. Here’s how we did it:
- Music Creation: Using AI tools like AudioCraft and MusicGen, we made it easy for users to generate high-quality beats and lyrics. Whether you wanted to make your own song or need a little help, our AI was there to make it happen.
- Lip Sync Battles: Want to compete? Q helped us sync audio and video (even with AI-generated tracks) so you could lip-sync in style, without the audio lag.
- AI Magic: We tapped into AI for everything from lyrics creation with Claude 3.5 to producing visuals with Stable Diffusion. Q made sure all the tech worked together like a well-oiled machine.
On the frontend, we chose Vue.js for its flexibility, while Node.js and Python took care of the backend magic.
None of this would have been possible without some amazing open-source projects: AudioCraft, MusicGen, Minimax, Demucs, stable-audio, stable-diffusion, Librosa, FFmpeg.
With all the time we saved thanks to Amazon Q Developer, we estimate we cut 30-40% off our development time. Instead of spending weeks on basic code, we could jump right into building the fun parts—creating songs, adding lip-sync battles, and giving you all the tools to be a true DuckStar. It helped us take the project from a proof of concept to a near-Alpha release at lightning speed.
We estimate Amazon Q Developer helped save approximately 8 to 12 weeks of development time. Allowing us focus on creative features, we were able to fulfill more of our vision within the hackathon time frame and build out many more features beyond our initial planned PoC.
Thanks to Amazon Q Developer, we were able to focus more on making DuckStar an awesome experience for everyone. From creating AI-powered music to building ai scoring for for lip-sync battles, Q kept our development on track and let us spread our wings without getting bogged down in the details.
As we continue to add more features and grow the community, you can bet we’ll keep using Q to make sure DuckStar stays a quacking good time for everyone.
Ready to dive into the DuckStar experience? Don’t miss your chance to be part of the next big thing in music creation and performance. Get early access today and be among the first to explore the world of AI-powered music, lip-sync battles, and community-driven fun.
Sign up for an early invite and start your journey with DuckStar now: https://duckstar.app/early-invite
Be a part of the flock that’s redefining the way we create, compete, and connect through music!