Music Ducking
Auto-lower the background music whenever a voice plays on top — the classic podcast and explainer-video trick.
Voice track — stays on top
Drop your audio file here
or click to browse a file
Dialogue, narration, podcast voice or vocal lead.
Music track — gets ducked
Drop your audio file here
or click to browse a file
Background music or bed that should drop down whenever the voice is heard.
About this music ducking tool
Music ducking is a sidechain compressor — the music's level is automatically pulled down whenever the voice track is loud, then released back to full volume in the gaps. It's how every podcast intro, explainer video and radio bumper smoothly handles music-under-voice.
Drop in your voice track and your music track and the tool produces a single mixed file with the music ducked under the voice.
How to duck music under voice
- 01
Drop in the voice track
The dialogue, narration or vocal that should stay on top.
- 02
Drop in the music track
The background music that should drop down whenever the voice is heard.
- 03
Render the mix
The output is a single file with the voice clear and the music ducked.
Why use music ducking
- Voice always sits clearly on top of the bed — no manual volume automation needed
- Smooth attack/release curves match radio/podcast standards
- Output is a single MP3 ready for upload
- Free, private, no install
- No watermark, no signup, no length cap
- Useful for podcasts, explainer videos, radio bumpers and meditation tracks
Music ducking FAQ
How aggressive is the ducking?
It uses a moderate sidechain ratio with smooth attack and release — pulls the music down by about -10 dB during voice and lets it back up smoothly in the gaps. Good for most spoken-word content.
Should the music or voice be longer?
Either is fine. The mix is as long as the longer of the two. If the voice ends first, the music ramps back to full volume on its own.
What if the voice is too quiet to trigger ducking?
Run the voice through the Volume Booster or Compressor first so the level is consistent — then the sidechain trigger fires reliably.
Will the audio be re-encoded?
Yes — the mix is re-encoded as 192k MP3.
More podcast & voice tools
Recording, ducking, chapters