Background music to the voiceovers can do wonders for your audio or video narration by enhancing the impact of the speech.
There are several factors to consider while choosing background music for your voiceovers. We have put together a simple guide on choosing the right background music for your voiceover.
Why use background music for your voiceovers?
Have you heard any voiceovers or videos without background music? It sounds bland in most cases, though there are exceptions that we will keep apart for now.
But when you use the right background music, it brings everything together. Music goes a long way toward enhancing the emotional connection that your voiceover has with your audience.
It can help influence your consumer’s listening experience
Regardless of the nature of the voiceover you are working on, the background music should always enhance the listener’s experience.
It’s standard practice to add background music to voiceover, but you need to be intentional with your choice. You have to choose the right background music to make it effective. And for that, you need to know your audience. Knowing your target audience and its favorite genre of music will help you narrow down the type of music to use.
The very first step to picking the right background music is to listen. You can’t just choose any – listen to as many tracks as you have to, to find the right one. It is possible that even after knowing the favorite genre of your audience and the same genre of the chosen music does not suit your voiceover.
Set the pace of your voiceover
Background music helps set the tone and flow of your speech. Do you want something fast-paced and energetic? Use a little louder background music to get the attention of your listeners. Do you want something slow and mellow for your older audiences? Use minimalistic background music with acoustic undertones. You can communicate different messages depending on the background music you choose for your voiceover.
Background music can hide some mistakes in your voiceover
It can happen that your audience might not even notice the difference, and you might get away with bad-quality audio. It’s not a good game to play, but if you have to, use background music to your advantage in this situation.
How to choose background music for voiceover?
The simple answer to this.
The best background music feels non-existent. It complements the audio so well that the audience doesn’t even know the music is there.
Your audience should not divide audio and the speech of your voiceover into two separate entities. They should be able to listen to both, at the same time, in a wholesome way.
To achieve this perfect balance between voice and background music, adjust the background music volume consistently – not too high, not too low.
It should not draw attention to the background music otherwise the actual purpose of the voiceover can be lost.
Limit distractions
Remember, the message of the voiceover comes before the background music. So it is recommended that you use low-frequency sounds for background music. It is because high-frequency tracks easily distract from the dialogue of your narration.
Consider Tone of Voiceover
What is the tone of the voiceover? A fast-paced narration, for instance, cannot be paired well with a busy background track. It’s best to counterbalance an energetic narration with mellow background music.
Use Instrumentals
The best background music is rhythmic rather than melodic.
Can you imagine if the backing track of the voiceover had vocals? The audience would not know what to listen to, which defeats the entire purpose of the voiceover.
Less is More
Try to maintain a consistent tone throughout the narration, don’t mix too many different sounds into the same voiceover. Remember that background music is not there to please the listeners only – it should serve a greater purpose and help drive your message home.
You should also know when it is appropriate to forego background music altogether and do a dry voiceover recording. Sometimes, music distracts more than it helps, even when mixed right.
Listen to the voiceover with and without music to determine the best way forward.
Here is example voiceover generated with Speechactors with and without music.
Use Good Quality Background Tracks
Now that you know how to select the best music for your voiceover. Let’s talk about the quality of your soundtracks. A quick internet search will reveal numerous royalty-free music you can use, but most of it might not be good. A cheap-sounding background track will ruin the quality of your voiceover.
If you don’t know which track to commit to, you can try a few alternatives first. Pick two or three samples to start with and see which ones best complement your voiceover.
Are you looking for the best text-to-speech voice-over with background music?
Mixing background music with your voiceover will take some talent and technical expertise. As it says, practice makes perfect.
You need to train yourself with different tools and correct assets. But if you don’t have the time or energy for this, we have an easier solution for you.
Speechactors can help elevate your listener’s experience by mixing the background track into your narration without technical knowledge. Speechactors has a curated list of background music tracks that will reduce your efforts to find the correct music. You can enter text, pick background music, adjust background volume and generate the voiceover with background music. You can change the background music track as many times as you want and adjust the volume to find the correct fit for your voiceover.
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