Working with the Audio Mixer window In the Audio Mixer window, you can adjust the volume level and pan/balance of multiple audio tracks while listening to them and viewing the video tracks. Premiere uses automation to record these adjustments and then to apply them as the clip plays back. The Audio Mixer window, like an audio mixing console, contains a set of controls for each audio track, which is numbered according to the corresponding audio track in the Timeline. Using the mouse, drag a tracks's volume fader to adjust its volume over time. As you make adjustments using the Audio Mixer window, Premiere creates handles in the audio clip's volume rubberband in the Timeline and applies your changes. The level setting for a track in decibels (dB) is displayed directly below its volume fader, and you set a level by typing a value from +6 to -95 in this box and pressing Enter (Windows) or Return (Mac OS). Audio level is represented graphically by a segmented VU meter to the left of the volume fader. The small indicator at the top of the VU meter turns red when the level is high enough to cause clipping, or distortion. Each track of the mixer also contains a pan/balance control, so that you can pan a monophonic clip from left to right or balance a stereo clip. Change the setting of this control either by dragging clockwise or counterclockwise, or by typing a value from -100 to +100 in the box below the control and pressing Enter (Windows) or Return (Mac OS). You can start and stop recording automation changes at any point in the audio track using the transport controls at the bottom of the Audio Mixer window For each audio track, three buttons determine the automation state during the mixing process: Automation Write () Reads the stored level and pan/balance data for an audio track and records any adjustments you make to these settings using the volume and pan/balance controls in the Audio Mixer window. These adjustments are stored as new handles on the Volume and Pan/balance rubberbands in each clip in the Timeline track. In Automation Write mode, the function of the track controls is determined by the Automation Write Options selections in the Audio Mixer Window Options dialog box. For information on this dialog box, see Adjusting audio levels in the Audio Mixer window using automation. Automation Read () Reads the stored volume and pan/balance data and uses it to control the audio level of the track during playback. Automation Off () Ignores the stored volume and pan/balance data during playback. Automation Off is the default mode for Premiere, allowing real-time use of the mixer controls without interference from the rubberbands in the Timeline. Each audio track in the mixer also includes buttons to specify which tracks are monitored during playback of your program in the Audio Mixer window. Select Mute to silence a track, and select Solo to monitor a track and mute all others that do not have Solo selected. If neither button is selected on any track, then all the tracks will be audible. Gang tracks to apply relative dB levels to multiple tracks simultaneously. For example, if you want to make a change of -2 dB to audio volume levels in tracks 1, 3, and 4 simultaneously, gang those three volume fader controls and then drag any one of them -2dB. Assign volume fader controls to one of four gang numbers using the volume fader context menu within the Audio Mixer Window. When a volume fader control is assigned to a gang, its handle changes color to indicate its gang assignment. The Audio Mixer window also includes controls for playing back your program while mixing it. For descriptions of these controls, see Using Monitor window controllers. You can modify the Audio Mixer window so that you see only the audio tracks or only the master fader, or both. By default, the Audio Mixer window displays both the audio tracks and the master fader. To modify the Audio Mixer window: 1 Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Mac OS) the title bar of the Audio Mixer window to open the Audio Mixer Window Options dialog box, and do one of the following: Mixing Audio > Working with the Audio Mixer window |