Post-Production

M&E (Music & Effects)

Definition

A version of a film or television mix that contains all audio except dialogue — music, sound effects, Foley, and ambience. The M&E is a standard delivery requirement for international distribution, allowing foreign-language dialogue to be dubbed over the complete sound design without remixing.

In Simple Terms

A version of a movie's audio with everything except the spoken dialogue. When a film is dubbed into another language, they lay the new voices over the M&E track. This is why sound effects and music sound identical in every language version.

In Practice

A Netflix original series delivers a complete M&E alongside the English dialogue mix for every episode. International dubbing studios record dialogue in their language and combine it with the M&E to produce localized versions.

Related Terms

StemsPost-ProductionDialogueFoleyDolby Atmos
← PreviousLUFS (Loudness Units relative to Full Scale)
Next →Makeup Gain