AUDIO DUCKING - Reducing music volume in Final Cut Pro so you can hear talking

Hi Friends, In this short video I'm talking about audio ducking - reducing the volume of music so talking can be heard. overly loud background music can be really annoying if people cant hear dialogue when watching a video so its really important to get level correct so talking can be heard.
Luckily it is really easy in Final Cut to edit music volume so talking can be heard clearly and Im showing you exactly how to do just that in todays video.
reducing volume of background music uses keyframes to reduce music volume and lets talking be heard over the top.
This quick easy way to do audio ducking in FCPX will have you serving up perfect audio in your videos in no time at all!
As always, thanks for watching and see you next time!
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[@WillChidlow]

Hey Friends! I hope you found that useful? If you have a different way of doing this that you think is better then let me know with a comment, also are there other tutorials you would like me to do? drop me a comment and tell me! 👍🙏😎

[@WomensFishingNetwork]

This was very helpful, thank you for sharing! I have always done it the first way you showed, cutting, fading, etc. This method you demonstrated is much smoother, thank you!

[@MaDnBaD]

Better way is to export to logic and use side chain to frequencies, so there is music left on a frequencies where voice is absent, maintaining the volume. I thought you’re going to tell how to use that in FCPX, honestly. It’s pain in the ass to manually decrease music volume for long videos, films, etc.

[@Imagine99997]

new to your channel but it really is a bomb man, keep it up

[@jackspring7709]

Where there's a Will there's a way :). Thank you! That's been very helpful!

[@WillChidlow]

😂😉👍🙏

[@diamondrawlings9939]

🙌🏾 so many of us “tubers” will benefit from this video.

[@WillChidlow]

Hi, thanks for watching! I aim to please!

[@BeauTylerMakesMusic]

For the first method - if you do the cuts, you can simply put a crossfade transition on the audio and it will be very smooth. Probably the quickest way to duck in FCP, actually. I used to use the range selector but it honestly takes longer and half the time, especially if you're zoomed out, you end up taking way too much time just trying to click the key point. With a crossfade on the audio slice you can easily drag the length of the transition to decide how smooth you want it to be. Happy editing, friends. :)

[@WillChidlow]

Thats a good shout too, thanks for sharing 🙏👍😎

[@BlendingWithHenry]

BRAVO!!!! I have been pulling my hair out trying figure out why Apple has this volume attenuating feature in their free iMovie but it wasn't in Final Cut Pro. I like this feature better in FCP. Thank you so much my brother!!!

[@jamieshorter7093]

You're the first to show this to me....Thanks.....I needed this...

[@WillChidlow]

Glad i could help! 😄

[@veronicataylorsfp]

This was SO helpful - thank you!! I've been doing the first technique and I knew there had to be a better way 🙈 This is one thing that makes me miss iMovie because this was automatically done for voice overs

[@WillChidlow]

Glad to help Veronica! Yeah iMovie does make this easy but it’s also a little unpredictable at times 👍🙏😎

[@AlyssaPoplaski]

just upgraded from imovie to final cut, this is so helpful!! thank you

[@WillChidlow]

Great! Enjoy the upgrade, you’ll love it! Thanks for watching 👍🙏😎

[@MeredithPhillipsWrites]

Ahhh finally haha! I knew this sort of thing had to be A Thing that I could do, but I couldn't figure it out myself. Thanks for the video!!

[@WillChidlow]

Glad I could help! 🙏👍😎

[@NAASKIII]

THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT I NEEDED

[@WillChidlow]

Glad it helped! 👍🙏😎

[@Aussieaudio]

You shot the duck bro and won a prize with this vid. Thanks man!

[@WillChidlow]

😂👍

[@robertabailey1626]

thank you thank you thank you - months later...this video saved me!

[@WillChidlow]

Great to hear!

[@patrickwagner4935]

Best and easiest video on this I could find. Super simple

[@WillChidlow]

Fab! thank you

[@OneSpottedFriend]

Thanks! So much better than the other way and I finally know what the range tool does. ✨

[@WillChidlow]

Glad it helped!

[@6-Stringers]

Wish I'd known this at the start of the last project ... 😃👏 Great tip, thank you.

[@WillChidlow]

Glad it was helpful! 👍🙏😎

[@defenderv8]

Brilliant exactly what I was looking for and explained very well, you've earned my subscription

[@WillChidlow]

Thank Ian and welcome! 👍🙏😎

[@wwfera00]

Oh my gosh I've been making my life so much harder doing the blade technique and fading in and out the music. THANK YOU! I subbed :D

[@WillChidlow]

Awesome! Thanks for watching 👍🙏😎

[@ALitoBitofJapan]

Cheers for teaching me how to do that! Simple and to the point. Love your green background accent lighting too, btw!

[@WillChidlow]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@ShadeyBangs]

I finally know how to do it and I know what the feature is called. Thanks so much :)

[@WillChidlow]

Happy to help Shadey! 🙏👍😎

[@reneeshakara]

Another regretful realization moment that it's always better to ask! haha thanks for the tip!

[@WillChidlow]

Glad to help! 👍🙏😎

[@SimplyCyber]

sub'd based on the intro quality/production/visuals. Very Awesome and quite promising of what I can expect from the channel in general. (and i need to know how to do this ducking too).

[@WillChidlow]

Thanks Gerald! Welcome to the channel! 👍🙏😎

[@HaiTomVlog]

This is exactly what I was trying to figure out, thanks!

[@WillChidlow]

Awesome to hear, thanks Tom! 👍🙏😎

[@nashfashiondiary846]

Thanks I just started editing my first video and I’m still very new to final cut.this help I pray to be this big someday

[@WillChidlow]

You got this! 💪

[@Aqxdemy]

Thank you Will. I've just started using Final Cut and that was my main problem to solve.

[@WillChidlow]

Glad to help! 👍🙏😎

[@yashkalra3424]

thanks a lot man , exactly the video title i was searching for

[@WillChidlow]

Glad it helps! thanks

[@CHAS-fw4qm]

2021 and this video is still GOLD!!Thank You

[@WillChidlow]

Awesome to hear, thanks for watching

[@MetinSenler]

Dude, I hit like before you even started explaining. That intro was 👌

[@WillChidlow]

Ah thanks! 👍🙏😎

[@TheWoolpatch]

Oh this was perfect! Thank you. Came across you as was looking for how to adjusrment layer - so just watched that vid and downloaded it - thanks for the free download. And am now bingeing on all your other videos. This use of the range tool just makes it so much quicker sorting out sound - so a great little tip. Right....off to watch more haha. Cheers 👍🏼👍🏼 Stuart

[@WillChidlow]

You're very welcome!

[@toddstefan2169]

Thanks for the video. Exactly what I needed!

[@DanielThomasChannel]

most iconic tutorial ever. THANK YOU!!!!

[@WillChidlow]

You're welcome! Thanks Daniel

[@FloridaLyfe]

*Perfect thank you! Working on this new channel and now I need my work to improve!*

[@WillChidlow]

👍🙏😎

[@SergiuSalcau00]

finally, a video that is actually doing what I m looking for. geeez, thank you.

[@WillChidlow]

Glad I could help! 👍🙏😎

[@suitcasejunkies8719]

OMG thank you so much for making this tutorial. I've been racking my brain trying to figure this out.

[@WillChidlow]

Happy to help!

[@RynBrits]

brilliant, well that was easier than what I thought it would be, thank you.

[@WillChidlow]

Glad it helped

[@emmonscott5491]

That video was AWESOME!

[@WillChidlow]

AWESOME TO HEAR!! 👍🙏😎

[@babatundeolosun141]

Hey Will, from the debt of my heart, I thank and appreciate you and your intelligence. With this short and concise lesson, I was able to surprise my boss at work. Take it, you are a genius! Thank you, thank you, thank you!

[@WillChidlow]

I appreciate that! Thanks for watching

[@babatundeolosun141]

@@WillChidlow may I have your email address please?

[@chrystene]

omggg thank you so much for this quick and straight-to-the-point video! i've been looking for a short tutorial for this~

[@WillChidlow]

Glad it was helpful!

[@Connectingthedots.]

New subscriber! I love your energy, way of explaining, editing and how amazing your videos are. Thanks so much for being you and your epic creations.

[@WillChidlow]

ah thank you, thats made my day!

[@gustavodebrito]

And once again Will saves the day! Thanks for the amazing tutorial and keep up the great work! Love from Miami

[@WillChidlow]

Thanks Gustavo! Glad to help! 👍🙏😎

[@SamDaviesBuilder]

Thankyou, very helpful and this was exactly what I wanted!

[@WillChidlow]

Glad it was helpful!

[@DutchGoalkeeper]

Thank You! Was looking for this for a long time, time to take my editing to the next level!

[@WillChidlow]

Nice one 👍👍😎

[@RoyzNL]

OMG so easy haha I've been doing it like your first method all the time. Thanks!

[@WillChidlow]

Glad I could help! 👍🙏😎

Thank you! Just what I needed to know. Great video.

[@WillChidlow]

Glad it was helpful!

[@VlogWilder]

Awesome video! You made it so easy to understand and follow along. Thank you so much.

[@iamsubham333]

Awesome video, straight to the point.

[@WillChidlow]

Glad you found it useful! 👍🙏😎

[@roddymerritt]

Thank you! Perfect how to on t his and straight forward.

[@WillChidlow]

Thanks Roddy! 👍🙏😎

[@shewh0rn]

Just an FYI, this is not ducking. This is mix automation and while they accomplish the same thing, they are completely different in practice. Ducking is done with a compressor and a side chain input. You apply the compressor to the music background track, and then you patch the output from the track you want to hear (usually a voiceover) to the input of the compressor's sidechain (and in this case the compressor plugin would be assigned to the music track). When that audio (from the VO) passes the threshold set on the compressor, it will compress or in this case "duck" the audio (in this case a music track) by a ratio set on the compressor whenever it sees audio on the input of the sidechain. You'll want a fast attack (10 to 15 milliseconds) and a slow release (80 milliseconds or more). The settings for the threshold, and your compression ratio (these two things interact with one another) will determine how much the audio (in this case the music track) gets cut. Unfortunately, in Apple's infinite wisdom, they neglected to make it possible to actually set up a signal path that allows for ducking (which is baffling as it's simple to do this using the EXACT same plugin in Logic Pro X). They do give you the sidechain input monitor on their AU compressors, but... the dropdown that is normally there to select the input channel is gone. The only way you can do proper ducking in FCPX is to use the Export XML feature, open up the project in Logic Pro X do your mixing an ducking there, bounce down to a stem and then import that back in to FCPX. Pretty friggin' lame considering ducking is probably one of the most common patches someone would setup for mixing audio for video. You can of course manually automate it like you've done here, and if it's just a short clip... not a big deal, but if it's a long clip it's going to get REALLY tedious AND, if any of your VO clips move in time relative to the music clip, you're screwed, you have to start from scratch. With a proper compressor and sidechain signal path, you literally have to do nothing.

[@WillChidlow]

Whoa, this is a lot of great info, thanks for sharing 👍

[@Jlplett]

Thanks for this. I was just trying to figure out if one could properly duck in FCPX similar to logic. Saved me a pile of time.

[@shewh0rn]

@@aaronbazil I’m going to nitpick on calling it ducking. While it accomplishes the same end result, it is mixing, not ducking, and to understand why you need to know the history, as well as the analog roots which have been the foundation for how DAWs are laid out. All of it predates DAWs. The history of the sidechain input and ducking goes back to the 1930's when audio engineers in the film industry needed to tame sibilance from an actor's dialogue. They were able to do this by multing the dialogue signal, EQing the multed signal to accentuate the esses with a bandpass filter (sibilance frequencies vary for male vs. female voices), and then using that EQed signal to trigger the compressor's detector circuit (which is known as a side chain input, in most compressors the detector circuit is normalized to the audio input, the side chain input bypasses that signal path allowing an alternative source to trigger the actual compression). This allowed them to "duck" the signal whenever a sibilant 's' was present in the dialogue. It's also worth noting that mix automation didn't exist in 1930 (the first automation systems were VCA-based and showed up in the 70's but VCAs degraded the signal quality so Neve came up with NECAM which had a motor that physically moved the actual fader itself thus getting around the signal degradation issue). Ducking quickly became adopted in the broadcast industry. The music mix would go through a compressor, and it was triggered via the side chain input by the DJ's voice. This allowed the DJ to talk over a track without having to ride a fader. What differentiates mixing and ducking is that mixing (at least in this example where the "fader" is being automated) is *timecode based* and ducking is *audio based*. The mix level depends upon specific fader moves recorded in a database at a specific timecode stamp. That is how automated mixing works (I used to be a software engineer for a major console manufacturer). Ducking by contrast responds in realtime to whatever the audio stream is doing. It works independently of the timecode (timecode doesn't even need to be present). This is advantageous in this particular application where you want dialogue to duck an audio track because you don't have to worry about the integrity of the automation database and a ducker takes about 10 seconds to setup vs. what FCPX requires due to their lack of a ducker which requires a lot of manual labor.

[@shewh0rn]

This might be a viable solution. There’s a video in the link that explains everything. This is not a free tool BUT, if you do a lot of editing that requires ducking and you don’t want to do the Logic Pro workaround, this may be a time-saver. www.pro-tools-expert.com/production-expert-1/2018/7/21/if-you-want-to-auto-duck-audio-fast-in-final-cut-pro-x-now-its-possible-using-this-great-new-plug-in?format=amp

[@hansonlai]

This was so helpful. Thank you Will! 👍

[@WillChidlow]

Glad it was helpful!

[@carandmel]

This is gold for me. Thank you sooooo much!!

[@WillChidlow]

You are very welcome! 👍🙏😎

[@djkarlthomas]

Just the tutorial I was looking for! Perfectly explained!

[@WillChidlow]

Great to hear! 👍🙏😎

[@dahytavarez]

Ahhhh so helpful. Thank you so much!!!

[@s.rathee13]

Thank you, Will. This video helped me a lot. Have a good day.

[@ChristopherDrinkard]

This helped me! Subscribed! Thanks mate!

[@coryjeffreys5146]

Great video by the way.

[@WillChidlow]

Thanks! 😎

[@moyatruba51]

Will, since FCP X was introduced I always wondered why it doesn't have audio mixer like FCP Studio 7 had, where you used sliders for individual tracks and could edit levels on the fly. Audio ducking was so easy.

[@WillChidlow]

I agree, it’s a shame they don’t have side chaining like other programmes 👍😎🙏

[@caliking369]

Awesome thank you i was looking for this for a while.

[@WillChidlow]

Glad to help! 👍🙏😎

[@moee123]

Thank you ! Great video, straight to the point.

[@WillChidlow]

Thanks Moe!

[@JAYREAD]

Very helpful. Thank you!

[@MylesZalewa]

This is great. I actually didn’t know about this option in FCPX. Thank you!!

[@WillChidlow]

Great to hear Myles, glad I could help 👍🙏😎

[@AlexanderSchrinner]

Thank you, great tutorial. Directly to the point with prime examples where a cut could go wrong

[@WillChidlow]

Thanks very much, glad you found it helpful! 👍🙏😎

[@rsxl3]

This is excellent. Thx for posting!

[@WillChidlow]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@TheTradingParrot]

It'd be great if FCPX supported actual "auto ducking" meaning that you can use the chat channel and the volume of the music adapts to when you are taking, sort of like a compressor would do. Filmora has this feature, although I really hate Filmora now, but was hopping FCPX would have offered the same pro feature, but it doesn't. Using keyframes is definitely not auto ducking, but I guess is a compromise. Filmora is damn slow on my Mac m1, on my iMac i7 and on my windows using a gaming card 1080TI, tons of ram, fast drive, etc.

[@WillChidlow]

yeah I really wish FCPX had this feature too, I believe there are a few plugins which offer this via side chaining but on looking last they all seemed a bit clunky to me. fingers crossed Apple add this in a future update 🙏👍😎

[@isbjorn64]

Very strange FCPX has no ducking feature, as I remember even the iMovie had this many years ago.

[@_BrianFitz]

Thanks Will. Much respect bro

[@WillChidlow]

Any time!

[@postgradisrad]

Your intro to this video had me LOLLing

[@WillChidlow]

Haha thanks! 👍🙏😎

[@JonathanMonicaRomig]

This is super helpful! Thank you so much.

[@WillChidlow]

You're so welcome!

[@DAVEDigitalandVinylExpert]

Thanks Will, great tutorial

[@WillChidlow]

Cheers Dave 👍🙏😎

[@marinallopisnieto1788]

Will, you're a star! Thank you so much for this video!!!!!

[@WillChidlow]

My pleasure! YOU are a star!

[@meteoroz]

Thanks. You've saved me hours.

[@WillChidlow]

Glad to help

[@tclarke971]

Thank you. Great video and very helpful!

[@WillChidlow]

👍🙏😎

[@RedRockCrawlers]

Thanks for the help! its so simple

[@roza6951]

range tool is a magic tool

[@73LiterTruckStuff]

GREAT VIDEO! EXACTLY THE INFO I NEEDED!!

[@sergnextdoor5213]

nice exactly what i needed to learn!

[@WillChidlow]

Glad I could help!

[@Zei33]

Great video. I'm surprised you're not more popular. Well done.

[@WillChidlow]

Thanks so much! Haha I’m working on it 👍🙏😎

[@edwinchristianmendija]

Thank you for this! I died laughing at first because I did it EXACTLY the way you did not recommend we do this lol

[@WillChidlow]

Awesome! Thanks for watching 👍🙏😎

[@suzannchristine2800]

Perfect! Thank you!

[@WillChidlow]

Glad to help! 👍🙏😎

[@bradparker365]

Thanks for the great, easy way to do it!

[@WillChidlow]

Glad to help! 👍🙏😎

[@ClaudiaGoodwin]

This was great! Thank you so much!

[@WillChidlow]

Thanks Claudia 👍🙏😎

[@DriftingSquirrel]

Good god! Thank you. I’ve been doing it wrong all along. I did it how you did it first, plus some other thing... not as good, definitely

[@Wesley.Wilkinson]

This was great! Thank you so much

[@WillChidlow]

You're so welcome! Thanks Wesley

[@HelloSF]

Great intro and info! Keep up the amazing work!

[@WillChidlow]

Thanks Stephanie! 👍🙏😎

[@spaghettistef]

Very helpful! Many thanks

[@WillChidlow]

Glad it was helpful!

[@KatxGuzman]

Too bad I didn't come across this video before I uploaded my latest video!! smh, I needed some music in it but didn't know how to do this, but I know, THANK YOU SO MUCH for this helpful video!

[@WillChidlow]

Awesome! Thanks for watching 👍🙏😎

[@nnadams2003]

Very helpful. Thank you. No more Command B for me. :)

[@WillChidlow]

Glad to help 👍🙏😎

[@geraldinegawith]

legend thank you so much!!!

[@fjmediapro]

Thank you so much for this 🤩🙏

[@WillChidlow]

You’re welcome 😊

[@ichbintimo]

Nice one Willy

[@WillChidlow]

Cheers Timmy 👍🙏😎

[@Ajaredic]

This is life saver :D Thank you!

[@WillChidlow]

You're welcome!

[@chrisdickersonfilms]

Thanks for this tutorial!

[@WillChidlow]

Thanks Chris 👍🙏😎

[@SuperKat1029]

Gold. Thank you.

[@WillChidlow]

You're welcome! Thanks Kris!

[@Liakoth]

Very helpful!!!

[@WillChidlow]

Glad it was helpful!

[@Stroh_Studios]

Sweet! Thank you 👍👍

[@WillChidlow]

Any time!

[@M.T.Z.P]

Mate, thank you so much for that!

[@WillChidlow]

No worries! 👍🙏😎

[@valerielow4572]

Great explanation. Very useful! Thank you!!

[@WillChidlow]

Awesome to hear, thanks 👍🙏😎

[@jaapvw66]

Once you are satisfied with the way you "duck" the audio you can copy the keyframes by selecting them and use the short cut -shift -option C and shift -option V. Now you only have the change the duration. That is very easily if you click between two key frames. It will then select both, so you can easily move them without changing the fade out/in.

[@WillChidlow]

Great tip! 🙏👍😎

[@sebastianweinurnberg77]

Thank you so much!

[@itsPhillipStaples]

Thank you for this video! Going to put this in my saved folders and sub to this channel. I'm learning FCP. Do you record your screen when you are doing tutorials?

[@WillChidlow]

Hey Phillip, thanks for watching, glad you found it helpful. Yeah I record my screen for tutorials using QuickTime. Here’s a whole video of how I make my tutorials: kzbin.info/www/bejne/eaPWZ5qZf9WSgsU

[@itsPhillipStaples]

@@WillChidlow thank you for replying! Going to check it out!

[@somedaynowtravel]

thank you for this one!

[@WillChidlow]

You’re very welcome 👍🙏😎

[@PeterHontaru]

Awesome, thank you!

[@WillChidlow]

You're welcome!

[@landrover3053]

THANK YOU!!! BIG HELP!!

[@WillChidlow]

Awesome to hear!

[@NasTimeAdventures]

That's gonna be helpful. Cheers.

[@WillChidlow]

Glad to help! 👍🙏😎