Fitting Music Around Dialogue: How Acon Digital Remix Transforms Audio Post
Rebalancing music in post-production can be painstaking when you’re trying to maintain clarity in dialogue. Background music can often compete with speech, and trying to fix that with traditional methods like EQ, compression, or rendering separate stems can be time-consuming and inflexible.
With Remix, our real-time stem-separation plug-in, you can split a full mix into five stems — vocals, piano, bass, drums, and other — with minimal latency. This gives you immediate control over individual elements, allowing you to do things like:
- Mute or reduce vocals so dialogue sits clearly in the mix without affecting other instruments, perfect for a scene where a character is speaking over a song.
- Balance drums and bass under speech, keeping tension and rhythm in an action sequence without masking critical dialogue.
- By using multiple outputs in Pro Tools, you can apply stem-specific processing such as EQ, compression, or reverb in real time, making it easier to integrate music seamlessly with sound effects in a complex film mix.
All these adjustments happen instantly with Remix, keeping your workflow fluid and eliminating the need for offline processing.
Josh Berger, Emmy-Nominated Re-Recording Mixer (King Richard, Babygirl, The U.S. and the Holocaust) explains:
"I’m really enjoying Remix. It’s especially useful for mixing dialog and music together. Instead of using an EQ or lowering the music level, Remix lets me adjust vocals or drums without sacrificing the track’s overall volume. Running it in real-time is a huge plus."
Watch Remix In Action
In the above video from Production Expert, see how Remix splits a full mix into indiviudual stems instantly — no rendering needed. Isolate elements, clear dialogue, automate changes, and route stems into Pro Tools for individual processing. Perfect for post-production pros who want flexible, precise, real-time mix control.
Practical Benefits of Using Remix in Post-Production
Instant & Flexible Separation
Remix extracts vocals, piano, bass, drums, and “other” in real time. Because there’s no need to pre-render, you can remain fluid in your workflow.
Smarter Dialogue Handling
In post, often the music must yield to spoken lines. With Remix, you can mute or attenuate the vocal stem (or any instrument) when dialogue enters, rather than applying blunt tools like blanket EQ or ducking that affect the entire mix.
Routed to Multiple Outputs
With DAWs that support multiple outputs from effects plugins like Pro Tools and Reaper, each stem can be routed to its own track (vocals, piano, bass, drums, other). This lets you apply separate plug-ins and automation to each — the drum stem can be EQ’d, compressed, or even rebalanced further.
Advanced Automation Support
Remix’s parameters can be fully automated. You can program stem-level changes over time, soloing or muting parts dynamically to suit evolving post needs.
Mark Hensley, Dialogue Mixer (Genius:Picasso, Mayans, Tulsa King) shares:
"Remix has allowed me to keep the energy of a song cue up, by just lowering the level of the vocals."
Workflow Tips for Using Remix in Post
- Use the vocal stem as a dialogue safety net: If the source music has a lead vocal, lower or remove it when dialogue is present. This keeps clarity in the scene without killing the energy of the music.
- Balance drums under dialogue with EQ and automation: Drum transients often mask speech. Route the drum stem separately and apply subtle EQ cuts around 2–5 kHz, or automate the level down during critical lines.
- Automate stem levels instead of ducking the full mix: Rather than applying sidechain compression to the entire track, automate just the stems that interfere most with speech. This gives a more natural and transparent result.
- Leverage multiple outputs for creative control: In compatible DAWs like Pro Tools and Reaper, you can send stems to aux tracks and process them individually — for example, adding gentle reverb to piano while keeping bass dry, or widening the “other” stem for atmosphere.
Remix, Your Post-Production Companion
With these techniques, Remix becomes more than just a separation tool — it’s a flexible post-production companion that allows you to fit music seamlessly around dialogue, sound effects, and atmosphere.
Remix is available to purchase separately, as a bundle with Remix:Drums or it is included with the Acoustica Premium Edition Package. Existing owners of Acon Digital products can get a special VIP discount through their online account.
Why not just download a demo version and try it for yourself!