Skip to main content
Click the Audio icon (the speaker) in the right sidebar, or press Command + 6.
The Audio panel with voice choices, Voice cleanup, levels and music

Make your voice clear

Voice cleanup is on by default. It removes low rumbling noise and keeps your voice at an even volume. To hear the difference, switch on Bypass to compare. Switch it off again when you’re done.
Recorded with two microphones (for example, a camera and a mic)? Cutaway plays only one voice at a time so you don’t hear an echo. Pick which one under Voice.

Change the volume

Use the sliders under Levels to make each track louder or quieter.

Add background music

1

Press the + on the audio row

It’s at the end of the bottom row of the timeline.
2

Choose where the music comes from

3

Done

The music appears as a green block on the audio row, with its waveform. Cutaway makes it quieter while you’re talking, so your voice is always easy to hear.
The add audio menu
Only use music you have the right to use. Most popular songs are not allowed on YouTube without permission. Look for “royalty-free” music.

Change the music

Click the music block on the timeline to select it. Then you can:
  • Drag it to start the music at a different moment.
  • Drag its ends to make it shorter or longer.
  • Split it at the playhead (press S or Command + B) to cut it into two pieces you can move or delete separately.
  • Turn on Loop to start the song again when it runs out, so a short piece plays under the whole video.
  • Set Fade in and Fade out.
  • Set its Level, and turn Lower under speech on or off.
Music is placed on the finished video, so cutting parts of your recording never chops the music.

Make the music louder or quieter at certain moments

Under Volume over time, move the playhead to a moment and press the button to add a point there. Then, on the music block:
  • Drag a point up or down to change the volume. Drag it all the way down to silence the music there.
  • Hold Shift while dragging to keep the point at the same moment.
  • Double-click a point to remove it.

Add a sound effect

Move the playhead to the moment, press the + on the audio row, and choose:
  • Built-in sound at the playhead: a click, pop, whoosh and more. These are free and made on your Mac.
  • Generate a sound effect…: describe any sound and AI makes it. See Make voice, music and pictures with AI.
  • Music or sound from my files…: use a sound file you already have.
In the Audio panel, under Sound effects, you can add a sound On every cut, On every view change, or As every text appears, all in one step.

Record a voiceover

A voiceover is your voice recorded on its own and played over your video.
1

Put the playhead where you want to start talking

2

Press + on the audio row and choose Record voiceover…

3

Pick your microphone and press the record button

The window shows how loud you are and how long you’ve been talking.
4

Press stop, then add it

Listen to the take. Keep it to put it on the audio row where the playhead was, or try again.
The Record voiceover window while recording, with a level meter and a stop button

Have AI read it for you

Don’t want to record your own voice? AI voiceover… (also on the audio row’s +) reads out what you type, with a voice from ElevenLabs, fal.ai, or your Mac’s own voices (free). See Make a voiceover.