# Audio ducking

Canonical URL: https://getvidiyo.app/glossary/audio-ducking
Last updated: 2026-10-08

> Definition: Audio ducking is lowering the level of one audio source, usually background music, whenever another, usually speech, is playing, then raising it again when the speech stops, so the voice stays clear.

Audio ducking is the reason background music in a good video seems to step aside whenever someone talks. The music dips under the voice, then swells back up in the pauses and at the end. Done well, you never notice it; done badly, the music pumps up and down or buries the words.

## Where does the term ducking come from?

Ducking comes from radio and broadcast mixing, where the music bed "ducks" under the presenter's voice, like someone ducking their head. Early ducking was done by hand on the faders. Today it's usually automated with a sidechain compressor or by an editor that knows where the speech is.

## How does audio ducking work?

Audio ducking works by detecting speech and reducing the music while it's present. There are two common methods:

1. **Sidechain compression.** A compressor on the music listens to the voice track. When the voice crosses a threshold, it turns the music down by a set amount, with attack and release times controlling how fast it dips and recovers.
2. **Automation from speech detection.** The editor finds the speech regions and draws volume changes on the music track, with short fades at each edge.

The key settings are how far the music drops and how quickly it moves. Too fast and it pumps; too slow and the first words are masked.

## How is ducking used in short-form, YouTube and product videos?

Ducking keeps music from competing with speech in any video where someone talks over a soundtrack. In short-form videos, music often starts loud for the first second, ducks under the hook, and swells at the end. In YouTube tutorials and product demos, the music sits low and steady under narration and rises only during B-roll or silent screen sections. A useful check is to listen on phone speakers, where music masks voices more than on headphones.

## Audio ducking vs normalisation: what's the difference?

Ducking changes one track relative to another over time; normalisation sets the overall level of a whole mix or file to a target, usually in [LUFS](https://getvidiyo.app/glossary/lufs). You typically duck the music first so the balance is right, then normalise or limit the finished mix.

## How does Vidiyo duck music?

In Vidiyo, a music clip has a duck setting that lowers it under dialogue automatically, in preview and export. When the assistant adds music, it spans the cut, turns ducking on, adds fades, then balances the mix from measured loudness: speaker levels are matched and the music sits 15 LU under the dialogue by default (closer for energetic edits). A loudness check then reports the voice-to-music margin in 3-second sections and flags any spot where music masks the voice. You can change the margin by asking, for example "music a bit louder".

## Frequently asked questions

### How much should music be ducked under a voice?

Enough that every word is clear without the music vanishing. Measure it as a loudness gap between voice and music rather than a fixed fader drop. Vidiyo's default places music 15 LU under the dialogue.

### What is sidechain ducking?

Sidechain ducking uses the voice track as a trigger for a compressor on the music track. When the voice gets louder than a threshold, the compressor turns the music down automatically.

### Should I duck sound effects too?

Usually not in the same way. Sound effects are short accents set at a level under the voice. Ducking is mainly for continuous beds like music or ambience.

## Related terms

- [LUFS](https://getvidiyo.app/glossary/lufs)
- [Room tone](https://getvidiyo.app/glossary/room-tone)
- [Talking-head video](https://getvidiyo.app/glossary/talking-head-video)

## Where Vidiyo does this

- [Music and sound effects that sit under your voice](https://getvidiyo.app/features/music-and-sound-effects)
- [How to add background music without drowning out your voice](https://getvidiyo.app/blog/add-background-music-without-drowning-voice)