What is ducking?

Ducking is a term that originated in audio engineering and music production. It refers to the technique of lowering the volume of one audio signal when another audio signal is present. This is commonly used in situations where you have a vocal track and background music playing at the same time.

Ducking is often used to make the vocals more prominent and easier to hear, especially in situations where the background music may be too loud and overpowering. By automatically reducing the volume of the background music whenever the vocals are present, ducking helps to create a more balanced and cohesive sound.

There are different tools and plugins available for implementing ducking in audio production, such as sidechain compression and volume automation. Ducking can be applied in various genres of music, podcasts, radio shows, and other forms of audio production to improve clarity and intelligibility.