How to Make Your Own Sound on Instagram Story

Adding a custom sound to your Instagram Story is one of the best ways to make your content stand out and build a recognizable brand. This guide walks you through several methods for creating and sharing your own audio, from simple voiceovers to polished sound bites that have the potential to go viral.

Why Create Your Own Sound on Instagram?

In a sea of trending audio clips, an original sound can stop the scroll. It’s a powerful tool for branding, allowing you to establish a unique sonic identity that your followers instantly recognize. Whether it’s a short jingle, a motivational phrase, or a funny sound effect, custom audio makes your content more personal and memorable.

Here’s what you gain by making your own sounds:

• Brand Recognition: A consistent sound associated with your content helps build brand recall. When users hear it, they think of you.
• Increased Engagement: Unique, relatable, or funny sounds encourage reactions, shares, and a deeper connection with your audience.
• Viral Potential: If your sound is catchy and shareable, other users might start using it in their own Reels and Stories. When they do, your account gets credited, driving traffic and new followers back to your profile.
• Originality: It sets you apart from creators who rely solely on Instagram's library of licensed music, giving your content a fresh, authentic feel.

Before you start, it’s helpful to understand the platform's guidelines to make sure your content doesn't run into any issues.

Understanding Instagram’s Rules on Music and Sound

Instagram has some clear rules around copyrighted music, and your access to the music library can vary depending on your account type.

For most personal and creator accounts, you have access to a vast library of popular songs. However, Business Accounts have a more limited selection. This is because licensed popular music is intended for personal, non-commercial use. To avoid copyright infringement issues for businesses, Instagram provides a library of royalty-free music and sounds that are safe for commercial content.

Creating your own sound is the perfect way to bypass these restrictions entirely. Since you own the audio you create, you don't have to worry about copyright violations or limited music options, whether you have a personal, creator, or business account.

Method 1: The Voiceover Technique (The Quickest Way)

The simplest way to add your own sound is by using the built-in voiceover tool directly in the Instagram Story editor. This is perfect for narrating a video, adding commentary to a "day in the life" clip, or providing instructions for a tutorial.

Here’s how you do it step-by-step:

1. Open Instagram Stories: Tap the + icon at the top of your screen and select "Story" or simply swipe right from your home feed.
2. Record or Upload Your Video: You can either record a new video right there by holding down the record button, or you can swipe up to choose a pre-recorded video from your camera roll.
3. Find the Voiceover Tool: Once your video is on the screen, look at the icons at the top right. Tap on the sticker icon (the square smiley face). In the menu that appears, find and select the "VOICEOVER" sticker.
4. Record Your Audio: A recording timeline will appear at the bottom of the screen. You can drag the video timeline to the exact point where you want your voiceover to start. When you're ready, press and hold the red record button to record your audio. You can record in one long take or in several shorter clips along the video's timeline.
5. Review and Save: After recording, you can play it back to make sure it sounds right. If you're happy with it, tap "Done" at the top right corner.
6. Adjust Audio Levels (Optional but Recommended): Once you're back on the main Story editor screen, tap the volume icon at the top. This will open the audio mixer. Here, you can adjust the volume of the original video’s audio and your voiceover recording. For example, you might want to lower the original video’s sound so your voice is clear. And that’s it! You're ready to share your Story with a custom voiceover.

Method 2: Use an External App for a Polished Custom Sound

If you want to create a more polished, high-quality piece of audio - like a jingle, a sound effect, or a professionally recorded phrase - you'll need to create it outside of Instagram and merge it with a video.

Step 1: Create Your Audio File

You don't need fancy equipment for this. You can record audio using your phone's built-in voice memo app. For something a little higher quality, free tools like Audacity on a computer or BandLab on your phone work great. Your goal is to create a short, engaging audio clip. When you’re done, save it as an MP3 or WAV file and get it onto your phone.

Step 2: Add the Audio to a Video

Instagram doesn't allow you to directly upload an audio file to a Story. You need to attach it to a video first. This is where a mobile video editing app comes in handy. Apps like CapCut, InShot, or VN Video Editor are all excellent and user-friendly options.

Here's the general workflow, which is similar across most apps:

1. Start a New Project: Open your chosen video editing app and create a new project.
2. Import Your Visuals: Select a video or even just a static image that you want your sound to play over. The visual part can be anything - it just acts as the container for your audio.
3. Add Your Custom Audio: Find the "Audio" or "Music" button in the app's editor. You should see an option to import your own sound or music. Navigate to where you saved your custom audio file on your phone and add it to the project timeline.
4. Sync and Edit: Drag the audio clip on the timeline to sync it perfectly with your video. You can trim the video or audio as needed. Don't forget to mute the original video's audio if you only want your custom sound to be heard.
5. Export the Final Video: Once everything looks and sounds good, export the video. Choose a high resolution (like 1080p) for the best quality. The app will save the final video - with your custom sound embedded - to your phone's camera roll.

Step 3: Upload to Your Instagram Story

Now, you have a video file that is "pre-loaded" with your custom sound. Just open Instagram, go to create a Story, and upload your newly created video file from your camera roll. Add any GIFs, text, or stickers you want, and post it. Everyone who watches will hear your custom audio!

Method 3: Turn Your Sound into Official "Original Audio" via Reels

This is the ultimate method if you want your sound to be reusable, shareable, and officially credited to you. By first posting your custom audio in an Instagram Reel, you create a public "Original Audio" page for it. From there, you can easily save it and add it to your Stories anytime using the music sticker.

How to Create and Use Your "Original Audio":

1. Prepare Your Video: Follow the steps from Method 2 to create a video with your custom audio track. This will be the video you post as a Reel.
2. Post It as a Reel: Open Instagram and tap the + icon, but this time select "Reel." Upload the video you just created. Add a caption and relevant hashtags, then share it to your profile.
3. Save Your New Audio: Once posted, your Reel will display "Original audio" at the bottom with your username next to it. Tap on this audio title. This will take you to a dedicated page for that sound. Tap the "Save Audio" button at the top.
4. Use the Sound in Your Instagram Story: Now for the fun part. Go create a new Instagram Story. Add any picture or video you want. Then, tap the sticker icon and select the "Music" sticker. At the top of the music library, you'll see a "Saved" category. Tap it, and your newly saved Original Audio will be right there, ready to use on any Story you create in the future!

This method not only makes it easy for you to reuse your sound but also allows anyone else on Instagram to use it too, always crediting your account as the source.

Tips for Making Your Custom Sound Go Viral

Creating a sound is just the first step. Getting people to use it is the next. Here are a few tips to make your original audio more shareable:

• Keep it Short and Sweet: The most popular sounds are punchy, memorable, and usually between 5-15 seconds long. Think about a clip that's easy to grasp and incorporate into other videos.
• Make it Loopable: Sounds that loop seamlessly are incredibly satisfying to listen to and can increase the replay value of both your content and content from others who use it.
• Give it a Clear Purpose: What is your sound for? Is it for a glow-up transition? A funny reaction? A product unboxing? When your sound has a clear purpose or trend associated with it, people are more likely to use it.
• Include a Call to Action: In your original Reel or Story, use text overlays to encourage others to use your sound. Something like, "Use this sound to show off your morning routine" gives people a direct prompt.
• Create a Descriptive Title: When you post your sound as a Reel, Instagram uses the first part of your caption as the default name. Instead of a generic title, rename it to something descriptive and searchable like "Cute Cat Purring Sound Effect" or "Upbeat Lo-Fi Study Music."

Final Thoughts

Making your own sound for Instagram Stories is a creative way to elevate your content, build a stronger brand identity, and engage with your audience on a whole new level. Whether you choose a quick voiceover, a custom track made in another app, or an official "Original Audio" from a Reel, the power to create a unique sonic experience is right at your fingertips.

Crafting original content like this is a core part of building a great social presence, and once you start creating, you need a smart way to plan and schedule it. We built Postbase for precisely this reason. Since it's designed with modern formats like Stories and Reels in mind from the start, we make it simple to upload your custom videos and get them scheduled in a visual calendar. It helps remove the friction of content management so you can spend more time on the creative stuff - like making your next viral sound.