Sony Sound Forge is a two-track editing program, so mixing is trickier than with a multi-track program. Here’s a simple way to do it.

In general, for opening music, the usual procedure is to let the music play at full volume for 6 – 10 seconds – I usually let a musical phrase complete, then fade the music down over the period of one second. Let the music continue under the narration for an appropriate period of time and then gradually fade it out. Make sure that the music under doesn’t interfere with the voice track. The amount of gain reduction necessary will vary with the style of the music and the narrator’s voice. Experience will give you a good starting point for how much to lower the level of the music under the voice, but often a couple of attempts will have to be made to get it perfect. With the undo button, it’s easy.

For closing music, determine where you want the music to start near the end of the narration, slowly fade it in under the narration and then do a 1 second fade-up to full volume after the narration ends. You can either fade out the music after an appropriate period of time or let it come to a natural end. Letting music come to a natural end sounds more polished, and once you’ve done it a few times, it’s not hard to figure out the timing.

Mixing in Sony Sound Forge

1. Here’s the technique for mixing in opening music in Sony Screenblast Sound Forge.
2. Load the music into Sound Forge and cut the music to the part you want to use, usually about the first 20 or 30 seconds.
3. Using the graphic fade function lower the level of the music to about 25% after the music plays for 7 or 8 seconds.
4. Insert a fade out after about 20 or 30 seconds. The fadeout should last 3 or 4 seconds.
5. Open your narration file and insert about 8 seconds of silence (Enough to cover the time between the beginning of the music and the point it has faded down.) at the beginning of the file. Move the cursor to the beginning of that file.
6. Go to your music file and copy the opening music you have just edited.
7. Go back to your narration file and use the Paste Special command and select Mix when the options appear. Set both volume faders to “0″ db (which is the default) and click on OK. This will mix the music and the narration and paste it into your narration file.

When you play back the file you should hear the music start at full volume and then fade. The narration should start with the music under and then the music should slowly fade out after about 20 seconds.

If it’s not quite right, click undo and readjust your music levels or timing as necessary, and then cut and paste again.

The technique for closing music is the same but the timing is a little more difficult. Once you’ve figured out how to do opening music, you should be able to master this technique with a little practice.