Background ducking to produce esthetically pleasing
audio for TV with clear speech

Torcoli, M; Freke-Morin, A; Paulus, J; Simon, C; Shirley, BG

Abstract

In audio production, background ducking facilitates speech intelligibility, while keeping the background track
enjoyable. Technical details for recommendable ducking practices are not currently documented in literature. Hence,
we first analyze common practices found in TV documentaries. Second, a subjective test investigates the preferences
of 22 normal-hearing listeners on the Loudness Difference (LD) between commentary and background during
ducking. Highly personal preferences are observed, highlighting the importance of object-based personalization.
Statistically significant difference is found between non-expert and expert listeners. On average, non-experts prefer
LDs that are 4 LU higher than the ones preferred by experts. Based on the test results, we recommend at least
10 LU difference between commentary and music and at least 15 LU between commentary and ambience.

Citation

audio for TV with clear speech. Presented at Audio Engineering Society Convention 146, Dublin

• Presentation Conference Type: Other
• Conference Name: Audio Engineering Society Convention 146
• Conference Location: Dublin
• Start Date: Mar 20, 2019
• End Date: Mar 23, 2019
• Online Publication Date: Mar 10, 2019
• Publication Date: Mar 10, 2019
• Deposit Date: Mar 26, 2019
• Publicly Available Date: Mar 26, 2019
• Publisher: Audio Engineering Society
• Publisher URL: http://www.aes.org/e-lib/browse.cfm?elib=20308
• Additional Information: Additional Information : Awarded best peer-reviewed paper at Audio Engineering Society Convention 146; Event Type : Conference