How to Add Your Own Sound to an Instagram Post

Adding your own, unique sound to an Instagram post is one of the best ways to stop scrollers in their tracks and build a truly memorable brand. Whether it’s a custom voiceover, a snippet of your own music, or a funny sound effect, original audio sets your content apart from the endless stream of trending sounds. This guide provides a complete, step-by-step walkthrough for adding your own audio to both Instagram Reels and standard video posts.

Why Is Original Audio a Game-Changer on Instagram?

Before jumping into the "how," it’s worth understanding the "why." While using trending sounds can give you a quick visibility boost, relying on them exclusively means your content can get lost in a sea of similar videos. Creating your own sound offers a few powerful advantages for creators and brands.

• Builds Brand Identity: A unique audio signature - whether it's a jingle, a recurring phrase, or a specific style of voiceover - makes your content instantly recognizable. When followers hear your sound, they immediately know it's you, even before they fully register the visuals.
• Sparks Originality: Let’s be honest: many trends become repetitive. Devising your own audio frees you from the creative constraints of fitting your idea into someone else's sound. It allows your true voice and personality to shine through, making your content feel fresh and authentic.
• Creates a Viral Opportunity: When you upload a Reel with an original audio, Instagram creates a unique audio page for it. If your sound is catchy, funny, or relatable, other users can tap "Use Audio" and create their own Reels with your sound. This is organic marketing at its finest - every video using your audio links back to you as the original creator, driving traffic and followers to your page.
• Avoids Copyright Complications: Worried about using a popular song without the proper rights? When you use your own recorded audio - your voice, your music, or royalty-free sound effects - you sidestep those legal headaches entirely. You own it, and you control it.

Method 1: Add Your Own Sound Directly in the Instagram App (For Reels)

The simplest way to layer your own voice or sound onto a video is by using the built-in tools within the Instagram Reels editor. This method is perfect for adding voiceovers to tutorials, creating reaction videos, or recording your own commentary.

Here’s the step-by-step process:

Step 1: Start a New Reel

Open Instagram and tap the "+" icon at the bottom of the screen, then select "Reel." You can either record new video clips directly in the app or upload pre-recorded videos from your camera roll. Feel free to add multiple clips to build out your video sequence.

Step 2: Enter the Editing Screen

Once you’ve recorded or selected your video clips, tap the "Next" button in the bottom-right corner. This takes you to the main editing interface where you can add text, filters, and stickers. At the top of the screen, you'll see a music note icon – this is your gateway to all things audio.

Step 3: Access the Voiceover Tool

Tap the music note icon. At the bottom of this screen, you’ll see a few options. Look for "Voiceover." Tap it to open the voiceover recording tool.

Step 4: Record Your Voiceover

The voiceover screen shows your video timeline as a visual scrubber. Drag the white line along the timeline to the exact point where you want your voiceover to begin. When you're ready, press and hold the red record button to start recording your voice. As you hold it, a red line will appear on the timeline showing where your audio is being placed.

Pro Tip: You don’t have to record the whole thing in one go! You can record multiple short voiceover clips at different points in your video. Simply scrub to a new position on the timeline and repeat the process.

Step 5: Mix Your Audio Levels

This is a super important step that many people miss! After you finish your voiceover and tap "Done," go back to the audio editor (the music note icon). This time, tap on the "Controls" button (it often looks like a set of sliders).

Here you'll see volume sliders for:

• Camera Audio: The original sound from your video clips.
• Voiceover: The audio you just recorded.
• Music (If Added): If you’ve also added a track from Instagram’s library.

Drag the "Camera Audio" slider down if you don't want the original background noise to overpower your voice. For a clear voiceover tutorial, you might slide Camera Audio all the way down to 0 and leave Voiceover at 100. This fine-tuning makes your audio sound crisp and professional.

Step 6: Name Your Original Audio

Once you’re ready to post your Reel, Instagram will automatically title your sound "Original Audio." But you can - and should - change this! On the final posting screen (where you write your caption), look for the option "Rename Audio."

Tap it and give your sound a unique, descriptive, and maybe even searchable name. For example:

• "My Lazy Sunday Morning Routine"
• "Brand X’s Unboxing ASMR"
• "POV: Your dog sees a squirrel"

A good name encourages others to understand the context and use your audio, increasing its potential for virality.

Method 2: Create a Ready-to-Upload Video with a Third-Party App

For more creative control, better audio quality, and the ability to layer multiple sounds (like a voiceover, background music, and sound effects), a dedicated video editing app is the way to go. This is the best method if you're creating higher-production videos or anything that requires precise syncing.

This method works for both Reels and standard in-feed video posts, because the final audio is "baked in" to the video file you upload.

Step 1: Choose Your Video Editing App

You don't need expensive software. There are plenty of fantastic and user-friendly options available:

• For Mobile Editing: Apps like CapCut and InShot are incredibly powerful and popular among social media creators. They allow for multi-track audio editing, sound effects, and easy exporting.
• For Desktop Editing: Free tools like DaVinci Resolve are professional-grade, while paid options like Adobe Premiere Pro or Final Cut Pro offer industry-standard features.

Step 2: Import Your Media

Open your chosen app and start a new project. Import the video clips you plan to use. Then, import your custom audio file. This could be:

• An MP3 of an original song you created.
• A WAV file of a voiceover you recorded with a separate microphone for better quality.
• A sound effect you downloaded from a royalty-free library.

Step 3: Edit and Layer Your Tracks

Drag your video clips onto the main timeline. Below the video track, you’ll see separate tracks for audio. Drag your custom audio file into one of these tracks.

Now, you have complete control:

• Syncing: Slide the audio clip left or right to align it perfectly with the action in your video.
• Trimming: Cut out any dead air or mistakes from your audio recording.
• Layering: Add another audio track for subtle background music or extra sound effects.
• Volume Control: Adjust the volume of each individual track. You can even use features like "audio ducking" to automatically lower the music volume whenever your voiceover is playing.

Step 4: Export Your Final Video

Once you’re happy with your edit, it's time to export. To ensure compatibility and quality on Instagram, use a standard setting, such as:

• Format: MP4
• Codec: H.264
• Resolution: 1080x1920 (for vertical video like Reels)
• Frame Rate: 30 frames per second (fps)

Step 5: Upload Your Masterpiece to Instagram

With your final video file saved to your phone or computer, simply open Instagram and upload it as you would any other video, either as a Reel or an in-feed post. Because the audio is part of the video file, it will play flawlessly. If you post it as a Reel, Instagram will recognize it as an "Original Audio" and give you the option to rename it just like in Method 1.

Quick Tips for Creating Great Original Audio

Knowing how to add your sound is just the start. Here are a few tips to make your audio creations effective and engaging.

1. Focus on Audio Quality

You don't need a professional studio, but fuzzy, muffled, or echoey audio can make people scroll away instantly. Record in a quiet room with minimal background noise. Even using the microphone on your phone's earbuds is often a step up from just yelling at your phone from a distance.

2. Make It Reusable

If you want others to use your sound, think about what makes an audio clip reusable. It's often something that provides a prompt for others to react to, dub over, or build upon. Think short, relatable phrases, funny punchlines, or interesting questions.

3. Check for Copyrights

"Original audio" implies that it's your audio. If you're mixing in commercial music that you don't have a license for, Instagram's system may still flag and remove your video or mute its audio. Stick to your own creations or use music from royalty-free sources like Epidemic Sound or Artlist if you want to be safe.

Final Thoughts

Crafting and adding your own audio is an incredibly gratifying way to elevate your Instagram content beyond the ordinary. It transforms your posts from just another video into a distinctive piece of content that reflects your unique brand voice, sense of humor, or creative vision.

Coming up with great video ideas and sounds is half the battle, the other half is planning and executing your strategy without the headache. That's why we built Postbase from the ground up for the way social media actually works today - focused on video and designed for visual planning. When you’ve edited that perfect Reel with your custom audio, you can schedule it across multiple platforms right from our clean, modern calendar, so you can set it and get back to creating.