Workflows 5 min read
Adding Background Music to Video: Mixing, Replacing and Level Balancing
Two different jobs hide under "add music": replace (drop the original audio) and mix (voice over music). Mixing is where intelligibility dies or survives, and the ratio is not a matter of taste — it has known working values.
Working ratios and techniques
- Voice + music: music 12–18 dB under voice peaks for narration; 6–10 dB under for ambiance-only beds.
- No auto-ducking in most local tools — pre-lower music sections manually, or choose instrumental-only beds.
- Replace mode: just remux the new track in if durations match; re-encode otherwise.
- Looping short beds: crossfade the loop seam or the repeat becomes audible.
Export settings
AAC 192 kbps covers the mixed result. If the video will be re-uploaded to platforms that re-encode audio anyway, 160 kbps is indistinguishable at their bitrate ceilings.