Glossary

What is ducking (or sidechain)?

Ducking is automatically lowering the music whenever someone speaks, and letting it come back up when they stop. It is what makes a music bed sit under a voice instead of fighting it — and doing it by hand means drawing a volume curve around every sentence.

The music level drops while the voice is speaking and rises back in the gap between sentences. The curve follows the voice clips, so it stays correct after you cut — you never draw it by hand. — Ducking, drawn: the music steps back while someone talks, and returns in the silence.

You have heard it in every radio ad and podcast intro. When it is done well you do not notice it; when it is missing, the voice sounds buried.

Cast ducks automatically, following your actual voice clips, so it stays correct even after you cut the speech.