Минусовка звучит тихо.

Минусовка is a common, somewhat informal Russian music term. It usually means a backing track, instrumental track, or a song version without the lead vocal.

It comes from the idea of a minus-one track: the main vocal is removed, so someone else can sing over it.

So in everyday use, минусовка often refers to:

• a karaoke-style backing track
• an accompaniment track for practice or performance
• an instrumental version of a song

It is a feminine noun.

Звучит is the 3rd person singular present tense form of звучать, which means:

• to sound
• to be heard
• sometimes to play or to come across as sounding

Since минусовка is singular, the verb is singular too:

• минусовка звучит = the backing track sounds / is sounding

A useful thing to remember: in the present tense, Russian verbs agree with person and number, not gender.
So even though минусовка is feminine, that does not change the present-tense verb form.

Because тихо is an adverb, while тихая is an adjective.

Here, тихо describes how the backing track sounds, so Russian uses an adverb:

• звучит тихо = sounds quietly / sounds soft / is low in volume

Compare:

• тихая минусовка = a quiet backing track
  Here тихая describes the noun минусовка directly.

• минусовка звучит тихо = the backing track sounds quiet / too soft
  Here тихо describes the verb звучит.

This is very similar to English:

• a quiet track → adjective
• the track sounds quiet → adverb-like idea after a verb of sounding

It can mean any of those depending on context, but in this sentence it most naturally suggests that the backing track is playing at a low volume or sounds too soft/quiet.

So possible English interpretations are:

• The backing track sounds quiet.
• The backing track is too soft.
• The backing track is playing quietly.

In music/audio contexts, тихо often refers to volume level rather than emotional tone.

Yes. Звучать is a flexible verb.

Depending on context, it can mean:

• to sound
• to be heard
• to play
• to come across as sounding

In this sentence, it most likely means that the track is sounding / is being heard at a low volume.

For example:

• Это звучит странно. = That sounds strange.
• Музыка звучит громко. = The music sounds loud / is playing loudly.

So звучит is a very natural verb here.

Because Russian has no articles.

So минусовка can mean:

• a backing track
• the backing track

Which one is intended depends on context.

For example:

• If you are talking about some track in general, it may feel like a backing track.
• If everyone already knows which track you mean, it may feel like the backing track.

Russian leaves that for the listener to infer.

Yes. Russian word order is fairly flexible.

The neutral order here is:

• Минусовка звучит тихо.

But you could also hear:

• Тихо звучит минусовка.
• Минусовка тихо звучит.

These versions are grammatically possible, but the emphasis changes.

Very roughly:

• Минусовка звучит тихо. = neutral statement
• Тихо звучит минусовка. = emphasis on quietly
• Минусовка тихо звучит. = also possible, often with slight emphasis on the manner

For learners, the given version is the safest and most natural default.

It can be either. Russian present tense often covers both:

• right now: The backing track is sounding quiet right now.
• general fact / usual behavior: The backing track sounds quiet.

Context tells you which one is meant.

If someone is checking sound during rehearsal, it probably means:

• The backing track is too quiet right now.

A good clue is the ending -а, which very often marks a feminine noun in Russian.

So:

• минусовка → feminine singular noun

You can also see that in forms like:

• тихая минусовка = a quiet backing track

But in your sentence, the verb звучит does not show feminine gender, because present-tense verbs do not mark gender.

Gender becomes more visible in the past tense:

• Минусовка звучала тихо. = The backing track sounded quiet.

Here звучала shows feminine gender.

The main stresses are:

• минусо́вка
• звучи́т
• ти́хо

A rough pronunciation guide:

• mee-noo-SOF-ka
• zvoo-CHEET
• TEE-kha

So the whole sentence is approximately:

mee-noo-SOF-ka zvoo-CHEET TEE-kha

A few notes:

• Russian х is like the ch in Scottish loch or German Bach
• unstressed vowels are reduced in real speech, so exact English-style spelling will never be perfect

Yes, but it means something slightly different.

• Минусовка звучит тихо. = The backing track sounds quiet / is playing too softly.
• Минусовка тихая. = The backing track is quiet.

In many situations, these are close in meaning. But звучит тихо focuses more on how it is sounding, especially in the current listening situation.
Тихая describes it more as a quality.

If you are adjusting sound levels, звучит тихо often feels more natural.

Not especially. It is very common and natural in music-related speech, but it is more everyday/industry colloquial than highly formal.

In more formal or technical contexts, people might use terms like:

• фонограмма
• инструментальная версия
• аккомпанемент

But in normal spoken Russian, especially among singers and musicians, минусовка is extremely common and useful.