I'm starting in the mixing process of soundtracks with narration.
By default the soundtrack should always be at the front.
But when the narration appears, I would like to avoid that rudimentary technique to lower the volume of the soundtrack in order to the voice stand out.
I would like to know the best technique to mix narration, without having to always stay lowering the volume of the soundtrack every time I have a clip of narration, and then return to the standard soundtrack volume when there is no narration?

I can think of one option, reduce the level of the soundtrack so that it doesn't need lowering during periods of narration.
 
What you want is somewhat at odds with

By default the soundtrack should always be at the front

 
You can easily set up an automated ducker and have complete control over how much the level of the soundtrack is attenuated, which I think is your best option
 

Bristol_Jonesey
You can easily set up an automated ducker and have complete control over how much the level of the soundtrack is attenuated, which I think is your best option

 
This is for a TV series, where the music will be an integral part of, substantially, the whole episode; but there are occasional narrations entries.
In these cases, I have been forced to lower the volume of music, so that the narration can be heard. But I do not think this is the best solution.
 
I apologize, but I am completely ignorant in this respect: what is an automated ducker?



 

How to Duck... :)
https://youtu.be/xaMn3f1dBeE
 
peace!
 

Thanks Dave!

I have had quite a bit of experience with this.  Firstly the music itself must be designed in a way as such the passages under the dialogue need to be much more underscore orientated rather than melodic.  You give no information as to what the music actually is and where it comes from.
 
As a TV and film composer myself it is important to not get too busy or melodic under any dialogue. eg a soprano sax solo under a dialog passage is out.  Get what I mean.  Many composers fail in this regard by the way.
 
Dont let the dialogue get buried either.  Sometimes it annoys me a lot when the mixers are pushing the music so hard you cannot actually hear the dialogue.  Your director should keep you on the straight and narrow with this.
 
If you have no control over the music  (ie production library music)  then there are other things you can do.  One is insert a dip in the frequency response of the music as well around the mid and upper mid range frequencies when the dialogue is present.  ie make room for the dialogue like we do with carving a little hole in the response of instruments for vocals in a music mix etc.. A dynamic equaliser is handy here and you could also side chain this to the dialogue track too.  Note the music should come back to normal response wise when the dialogue is not present and smoothly as well. ie you should not notice the change in the music EQ either.
 
But from what I can see and having sat in a lot of audio dubs, automation is still the main key here.  Ducking can sound a little too obvious if done poorly and is not the way really.  If you are good with the automation you can lift and lower music levels so subtly that you should not really even hear or notice the changes.
 
The final sound mix for any TV production usually takes around a 10:1 ratio. ie it takes 10 hours to mix a 1 hour production usually.  There is no fast way here.  Especially if SFX are involved as well both Foley and atmos related.
 
 
 

I too have tons of experience with this.
Jeff's points are great...
Ducking using side chaining is great and the industry norm.  I like his frequency trick.  I use that one everyday.
 
 
Good luck. 

+1 on Jeff's comments. The only thing I'd add is that with projects like commercials and industrial videos, I compress the music's dynamics more than I would normally. This gives a higher average level with a lower peak level, so it still sounds "loud" but the voice can float above it.

Craig's point is also very good. I forgot to mention it myself.  Many library tracks are pretty compressed to start with but often composers music is not so much so you can clamp a compressor down a little harder on these types of tracks and as Craig says the music will end up still being heard quite well but it can be dropped down a little under the dialogue and still makes its presence felt. The harder compression will be masked by the dialogue too.
 
Another good thing to do is listen to your final mix through say a small mono Auratone type spekaer at low volume. (In many sound dub situations I attended I was always a little surprised at how soft they monitor while they do the mix)  The small mono speaker will really reveal what is going on and is more akin to a lot of TV's and things that the soundtrack will often be heard on.  Do not assume everyone is listening on a full surround Hi Fi setup.  They are not.

Certainly ducking is the way to do it, but it's not always necessary to duck everything. Some instruments don't need to be ducked if their freqency range does not overlap with the dialog. I would arrange the routing so that the instruments that need to be ducked pass through a single bus and then apply ducking to that bus, with fast attack and release. If some instruments are particularly distracting, then I would duck them separately, and less subtly, with slightly longer release time.