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Background Music vs Voice Checker: is the music too loud under your voiceover?

The music is too loud when it sits closer than about 24 dB under the voice: on the narrated documentary channels I measured, the bed sat 24 to 31 dB under the narration. Drop your voice and music exports here and this free tool tells you exactly how many dB under the voice your music sits, second by second, and shows the moments where it gets too close. Only have the finished video? It can estimate it from the gaps between words. Nothing is uploaded.

Updated · Built by Kevin Tabares, long-form YouTube editor at Umbrella Creators.

Check how loud the music is under the voice

Your files stay on your device. Nothing is uploaded: your browser reads the audio and measures it right here, in this tab.

How to use it

  1. Most accurate: from your editing app, export the voice alone and the music alone, both from the start of the timeline (solo each track and export, or use stem export). Drop the voice in box 1 and the music in box 2.
  2. Only have the finished video? Switch to "One mixed file" and drop it. The tool estimates the distance from the gaps between words and tells you how much the estimate moves from section to section.
  3. Read the result, look at the timeline for the moments where the music gets close to the voice, and use the steps under the result to bring it down.

Both ways measure loudness (K-weighted, ITU-R BS.1770), the same unit as a LUFS meter, not peaks on a waveform. That is how the beds in my measurements were taken, so the numbers compare directly.

What the results mean

ResultWhat it meansWhy
24 dB or moreInside or under the beds I measuredOn narrated documentary channels the bed sat 24 to 31 dB under the narration.
10 to 24 dBCloser than the measured bedsThe music can cover consonants, mostly on phone speakers. Lower the bed or check the busy parts.
under 10 dBAs close as a sound hitShort hits sat about 10 dB under the voice in my measurements. A bed this close competes with the words.
Two filesExactVoice and music measured over the same moments, only where both play.
One mixed fileEstimateWhole mix against the gaps between words; usually reads closer than the real distance.

The 24 to 31 dB comes from my measurements of three narrated documentary channels, explained in how loud background music should be under a voiceover. It is a reference from that format, not a rule for every video: a talking-head vlog or a gaming video can use music differently.

FAQ

How loud should background music be under a voiceover?
On the narrated documentary channels I measured, the music bed sat about 24 to 31 dB under the narration, measured as loudness (LUFS), and short sound hits rose to about 10 dB under. That is quieter than most people set music by ear. This tool tells you where your own mix sits against those numbers.
How does the tool measure "dB under the voice"?
With two files, it measures the K-weighted loudness (ITU-R BS.1770) of the voice and of the music over the same moments, only where the voice is speaking and the music is playing, and subtracts. With one mixed file it cannot separate the tracks, so it compares the loudness of the whole mix with the loudness of the quiet gaps between words, where only the music is left.
Why is the one-file result only an estimate?
Because in a finished mix the voice and the music are added together. The tool can only hear the music alone in the short gaps between words, and those gaps also carry breaths, room sound and the tails of words, so the estimate tends to read closer than the real distance. If the music is ducked or swells in the pauses, the reading moves too. On my own test files, with clean pauses between sentences the estimate landed within 0.5 dB of the real 12 and 28 dB; with very short pauses and room reverb, a bed 28 dB under read as about 19 dB. Export the voice and the music as two files for an exact number.
Should I use ducking for background music?
Under continuous narration, a constant low bed usually works better: a ducked bed rises in every breath and sounds like pumping. Ducking helps when the music is a feature, for example an intro with no voice or a talking video with long stretches of B-roll. Either way, measure the result here.
Does this tool upload my files?
No. Your browser decodes the audio and measures it on your own device. The files never leave this tab and nothing is saved.

Who made this

I'm Kevin Tabares. I've edited long-form YouTube videos since 2015 (1,277 videos and 152.2M+ views tracked on YT Jobs) for channels like Rex & Alexa, Puff and Mud. I built this so you can check the music against the voice with a number instead of by ear, before you upload. If you want an editor for your channel, get in touch.

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