Audio editing concepts

Last updated on Jun 24, 2025

Learn key audio concepts to create professional-quality soundtracks using powerful audio mixing tools in Adobe Premiere Pro.

Audio tracks

Premiere Pro supports multiple types of audio tracks:

  • Standard tracks: Support mono and stereo audio clips.
  • Mono tracks: Support single-channel audio clips.
  • Adaptive tracks: Support clips with varying channel formats.
  • 5.1 surround tracks: Support multi-channel surround sound clips.

Choose the appropriate track type based on your source audio and output needs.

Audio waveforms

Audio clips in the Timeline display visual waveforms representing the audio's amplitude over time. Larger waveforms indicate louder audio. You can adjust the track height to see more waveform detail.

Volume control

Adjust clip volume in several ways:

  • Drag the horizontal volume line in the clip.
  • Use the Effect Controls panel.
  • Apply the Audio Gain effect.
  • Use keyframes for precise volume changes over time.
  • The Audio Track Mixer provides real-time volume control and metering for all tracks.

Quick audio adjustments

Premiere Pro offers several tools for making fast audio adjustments:

  • Audio Clip Mixer: Quickly adjust volume, pan, and effects for individual clips directly in the Timeline panel.
Audio Clip Mixer panel in Premiere Pro with vertical volume meters and pan controls highlighted for three separate audio tracks.
Use the Audio Clip Mixer to adjust volume and pan settings for individual audio clips on each track in your sequence.

  • Essential Sound panel: Apply presets and make common adjustments using an intuitive interface designed for different audio types (Dialogue, Music, SFX, Ambience).
Essential Sound panel in Premiere Pro with dialogue audio type selected and options for enhancing speech, adjusting loudness, and applying creative effects highlighted.
Use the Essential Sound panel to assign audio types and apply effects like speech enhancement, loudness control, and reverb from a single interface.

  • Audio Track Mixer: Make real-time adjustments to entire tracks, including volume, pan, and effects.
Audio Track Mixer panel with volume faders and pan knobs highlighted across multiple audio tracks, including a master mix track.
The Audio Track Mixer lets you control volume, pan, and automation across entire audio tracks, ideal for applying consistent adjustments to all clips on a track.

These tools allow you to make efficient audio edits without diving into complex settings.

Audio effects

Enhance your audio with built-in effects like EQ, Compression, and Reverb. Apply effects to individual clips or entire tracks. The Essential Sound panel offers easy-to-use presets for common audio adjustments.

Multichannel audio

When working with stereo or surround sound clips, you can:

  • Map source audio channels to specific output channels.
  • Extract individual channels as separate mono clips.
  • Create custom channel layouts.