# Keep the music under my voice

Canonical URL: https://getvidiyo.app/prompts/duck-the-music-under-my-voice
Last updated: 2026-10-08

> TL;DR: Type "Keep the music under my voice" and Vidiyo measures the loudness of your voice and music, sits the music a clear margin under your speech with ducking, and adds fades at the start and end. It reports the measured numbers before and after, so you know the voice is on top.

## What to say

> Keep the music under my voice

Category: Audio

## What Vidiyo does

1. Measures the mix: overall loudness, voice and music levels, and where the music masks speech.
2. Matches speaker levels so every voice sits at the same loudness.
3. Sets the music a margin under the dialogue and turns on ducking.
4. Adds a fade-in and a fade-out to the music so it never starts or stops abruptly.
5. Measures again and reports the before and after numbers.

Music that competes with your voice is the most common audio problem in short videos. This prompt makes Vidiyo measure the mix and put the music where it belongs: under you, all the way through.

## What does Vidiyo do when you say this?

Vidiyo measures your mix, then sits the music a clear margin under your voice with ducking on, and fades it in and out. It also matches speaker levels if more than one person talks. When it's done, it measures again and reports the numbers, like the overall loudness and the voice-to-music margin, before and after.

The assistant can't listen, so it doesn't guess. The measurement covers the overall loudness of the mix, each part on its own, each speaker, and the margin between voice and music in three-second sections. It flags spots where music masks speech. The default margin is about 15 loudness units, which keeps music audible but clearly behind you.

## How do you phrase it?

Say it plainly, or describe how the music should feel:

- "Keep the music under my voice"
- "The music is too loud, bring it down"
- "Music a bit louder in the gaps, but never over me"
- "Fade the music out with the last shot"
- "Keep the music lower during the demo section"

A felt note like "the music feels off" also works. The assistant finds the measurable cause, changes that, and tells you in one line what it took the note to mean.

## How would you do this by hand?

By hand, you'd lower the music track, set keyframes to dip it whenever you speak, or set up a side-chain ducker, then add fades at both ends and listen through on headphones and on speakers. Getting it consistent across a whole video means adjusting section by section. Here the levels come from measurement, and you listen to the result once.

## What should you check afterwards?

Listen on the speaker you'll most likely be heard on, often a phone. If the music still feels busy under fast speech, ask for a larger margin there only. The quality checks also measure overall loudness against the -14 LUFS social target, so ask "is it loud enough for Instagram?" if you want that number too.

## Frequently asked questions

### How far under my voice does the music sit?

By default about 15 loudness units under the dialogue. Say "a bit louder music" for an energetic edit with little talking, or "quieter" under dense explanation, and the margin changes.

### Can the assistant hear my video?

No, it works from measurements: loudness of the mix and each part, the voice-to-music margin in three-second sections, and flagged problems like music masking speech.

### Does it work with narration I imported as a separate audio file?

Partly. The narration is measured as voice, so the music level is set under it. Automatic ducking follows video clips with sound, so a separate narration file doesn't make the music dip; the measured margin does that work instead.

## Related

- [Music and sound effects that sit under your voice](https://getvidiyo.app/features/music-and-sound-effects)
- [Audio ducking](https://getvidiyo.app/glossary/audio-ducking)
- [LUFS](https://getvidiyo.app/glossary/lufs)
- [How to add background music without drowning out your voice](https://getvidiyo.app/blog/add-background-music-without-drowning-voice)
- [Add calm background music](https://getvidiyo.app/prompts/add-background-music)

Download Vidiyo for Mac (free during the beta): https://getvidiyo.app/download