Add background music and duck it under speech

Music in Rooster goes on its own lane, the Music lane, under your narration. Rooster can loop it, set its level against your voice, and turn it down while you are speaking.

Add the music

1. Add the file to the project: File > Add Media…, or Add in the Media rail.
2. Click it in the Media rail, move the playhead to where it should start, and press Add on the Music lane.

To play it under one part only, select those words in the script and press Play under the selected words. Or drag the file onto the timeline: audio always goes to the Music lane, unless you drop it on the main recording's row.

Loop a short track

Select the music clip and, in Adjust, turn on Repeat to fill the video. It plays over and over until the next clip on the Music lane or the end of the video, and fades out at the end. Drag its trailing edge on the timeline to stop it sooner. Right-clicking the clip offers the same, as Repeat to Fill the Video and Stop Repeating.

Set its level under your voice

Under Level, Rooster says how loud your narration and the music measure, and offers Set 10 LU under the narration. Press it to sit the music well below your voice. Rooster only ever turns music down this way, never up.

Duck it while you speak

Turn on Duck under speech. The music comes down while you are speaking and rises again between sentences, following the speech Rooster measured. Amount sets how far it dips; when you first turn it on, the music drops to about 30 percent of its level. Ducking applies to the whole Music lane.

Volume and fades

Under Sound: Mute, Volume, Fade in and Fade out, each fade up to five seconds. Volume stops at 100 percent: Rooster plays a clip at its recorded level or below. Mute the whole lane silences every music clip at once and leaves them where they are.

Measuring takes a moment after you add the file; until it finishes, Level and ducking say Rooster is still measuring.