Captions, music and sound design

Goal

Add on-screen text, music and sound effects in a way that helps comprehension and mood without drowning your voice or breaking rights rules.

Captions (subtitles)

Why

• Many people scroll with the sound off or in public, and captions let them follow.
• Captions reinforce your words for non-native listeners and for people with hearing loss. They are also an accessibility practice.
• They add a visual anchor that keeps eyes on the screen.

How

• Use auto-captions from your editor or platform, then proofread every line. Auto-captions often mishear names, jargon and mixed languages.
• Keep lines short: 3-6 words, two lines at most.
• Time them to the speech, not ahead or behind.
• Highlight a key word with color or bold, sparingly: one per line at most.
• Place them in the safe zone (lesson 5.2): center to lower-center, above the bottom area where the platform covers the screen.
• Choose a readable font: large, high contrast, with an outline or soft shadow. Use the same style for all reels so people recognize you.

On-screen text beyond captions

• A title card or opening text reinforcing the hook in large letters.
• Labels like “Mistake 1”, “Mistake 2” for lists.
• Final line text that repeats the payoff.

Keep text short. Text that takes longer to read than the screen time is worse than none. Instagram lists content that is mostly text among things that reduce Reels reach (source), so text should support the video, not replace it.

Music

Whether to use it

Music creates mood and covers silences, but it competes with speech. For talking reels, many creators use quiet background music or none at all. Decide by the reel: emotional stories benefit from music; a quick tip may not need any.

How to mix

• Keep music well below your voice: a common starting point is music around 15-25 dB quieter than speech peaks, or simply “present but you barely notice it”. Adjust by ear on headphones and on the phone speaker.
• Use music without lyrics under speech; lyrics fight for attention.
• Fade the music in at the start and out at the end.
• Duck (lower) the music automatically while you speak, if your editor has an auto-ducking feature.

Rights

Music rights are the area where creators get into trouble.

• Use the platform’s own sound library when you post inside that platform. Licenses differ by account type. According to a Buffer overview, Instagram business accounts can use only commercially available audio, while creator accounts have the fuller library. Check the platform’s current terms for your account.
• Do not use commercial songs from outside in an exported video you upload yourself, unless you hold the license. The platform may mute or remove it.
• Royalty-free libraries have their own licenses: read them. Some require credit.
• When in doubt, don’t. Music is optional; trouble is not.
• If you add the music inside the platform app when posting, the platform’s licensing normally applies; if you embed it in your export, you carry the responsibility.

Sound design

Small sounds make a reel feel finished:

• Whoosh on a text or cut transition.
• Click or pop for a number appearing.
• Ambient sound under b-roll: street, keyboard, kitchen.
• Silence for emphasis before the key line.

Rules: keep effects short and quiet, less than speech, and use them consistently. Overuse feels noisy and amateur. Use royalty-free sound effects with a clear license.

Voice processing

Light processing can help:

• Noise reduction: use mildly; heavy noise reduction makes voices sound watery.
• Equalizer: a small cut of low rumble (below ~80 Hz) removes thumps.
• Compression: evens out loud and quiet parts. Many editors have a “voice enhance” preset; test it and compare.
• Normalization: set speech to a consistent loudness, so the viewer does not need to change the volume (see lesson 6.4).

Don’t overdo it. A clean recording needs little processing.

Color

Basic color work:

• Correct exposure and white balance first.
• Add a small amount of contrast and saturation.
• Match the look across clips from the same session.
• Avoid heavy filters that cause skin to look odd.

Common mistakes

• Un-proofed auto-captions.
• Music too loud.
• Using unlicensed songs.
• Too many effects.
• Captions hidden by platform UI.

Exercise

1. Add auto-captions to your reel and correct every line.
2. Choose caption style and save it as a preset.
3. Test with and without music. Decide.
4. Check music license rules for your account type.
5. Watch the reel muted. Can you understand it?

Daily practice

• Minimum (keeps the streak): a voice note of any length.
• Today’s take (about 30 seconds): Film, add proofed captions in your saved style.
• Weeks 1-2 everything stays private; from week 3 follow your publishing plan.
• Don’t watch the take right away (lesson 4.1). Tick the day in your tracker.

Reading (optional)

This week’s book, about 15-20 minutes: Austin Kleon, Show Your Work!. A loose suggestion; it does not have to match the lesson. More in resources and the schedule.

Checklist

• My captions are proofread and in the safe zone.
• My caption style is consistent.
• Music, if present, is quiet and legal for my account.
• I watched it muted and with sound.
• I recorded today’s voice note and take.

Sources

• Instagram: ranking explained
• Buffer: Instagram account types

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