How Pro Editors Cut Ambience (Essential Technique)

When we’re editing, it’s easy to fall into the habit of dropping one long ambience track under a sequence of shots. It works, it creates flow, and honestly, it’s a totally valid approach. But if you’ve ever felt like your sound design is stuck in a rut, there’s a simple trick that can make a huge difference: cutting ambience to match your edits.

Here’s how I do it:

• Step 1: Gather your shots. In my demo, I used a sequence of nature clips from Artlist (affiliate link), but this works with any series of shots—montages, scene openers, whatever you’re working on.

• Step 2: Find unique ambiences. Instead of using one long track, pick a different sound bed for each shot. They should all live in the same “world”, but vary enough to feel distinct.

• Step 3: Cut the sound with the visuals. Each time the picture cuts, swap to the new ambience.

• Step 4: Add crossfades. A short fade between clips smooths out transitions and avoids clicks or pops.

Why does this work so well? Legendary editor Walter Murch talks about rhythm as one of the key principles of editing. When your visuals change but the sound stays the same, you lose some of that rhythm. But when both picture and sound shift together, it feels more dynamic—almost musical—even without a music track.

I’m not saying you should never use a single ambience under a whole sequence; such a technique has its place. But if you want to give your edit more energy and flow, cutting ambiences with your visuals is a powerful option to have in your toolkit.

Happy editing!

Austen is an ADDY award-winning film & commercial editor with over 20 years of experience. He has worked with global brands like Meta, KPMG, SAP, and Christianity Today. His PSA work has championed causes like school safety (with Matthew McConaughey), driving safety, and anti-tobacco. A thought leader in the editing field, his online lessons quickly amassed over 100K views after launch.