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Apply effects to audio

Learn to apply and customize native and plug-in effects in the Audio Track Mixer in Premiere Pro.

Premiere Pro includes audio plug-ins designed to alter or enhance the properties of audio clips. Most of these effects are available for mono, stereo, and 5.1 clips, and can be applied to clips or tracks. 

Audio effects are combined into a single, unified effect and displayed in a flat list inside the Audio Effects folder. When you apply an audio effect, Premiere Pro automatically applies the correct effect type (Mono, Stereo, or 5.1) to that clip. For a list and descriptions of the available audio effects, see Audio effects and transitions.

Certain effects have restrictions, and can be used only on certain track types. (For example, the Balance effect can be applied to stereo tracks only, not mono, or 5.1). The following effects have this restriction:

  • Balance (Stereo only)

  • Channel Volume (Stereo and 5.1 only)

  • Fill Left (Stereo only)

  • Fill Right (Stereo only)

  • Swap Channels (Stereo only)

Note:

Presets for unified audio effects can be created from single or multiple audio effects.

Apply, remove, and bypass audio effects in the Audio Track Mixer

In the Audio Track Mixer, track effect options are controlled after an effect is selected in the Effects and Sends panel. If the Effects and Sends panel is not visible, display it by clicking the Show/Hide Effects and Sends triangle on the left side of the Audio Track Mixer. The Effects and Sends panel contains Effect Selection menus to apply up to five track effects.

Premiere Pro processes effects in the order they are listed and feeds the result of an effect into the next effect in the list. Therefore, changing the order of effects can change the results. Effects applied in the Audio Track Mixer can also be viewed and edited in a Timeline panel.

In the Audio Track Mixer, effect options that change over time can be recorded using the automation options or specified in a Timeline panel by using keyframes.

Note:

If you plan to use the same effect repeatedly, consider conserving system resources by sharing effects through a submix. Create a submix, apply the effect to the submix, and use sends to route tracks to the submix for effects processing. For more information, see Advanced Audio editing.

Apply a track effect

Apply a track effect
Apply a track effect

To apply an effect in the Audio Track Mixer, do the following:

  1. (Optional) To display the Effects and Sends panel in the Audio Track Mixer, click the Show/Hide Effects and Sends triangle at the left of the Audio Track Mixer.

  2. Choose a track you want to apply an effect to. Click the Effect Selection triangle and choose an effect from the menu. For more information, see Audio effects and transitions.

  3. The parameters for the effect appear at the bottom of the Effects and Sends panel. Set the value for the selected parameter. The options available for each effect are different.

  4. Toggle the fx button to apply/remove the effect.

Remove a track effect in the Audio Track Mixer

To remove a track effect, click the triangle to the right of the effect you want to remove, and choose None.

Bypass a track effect in the Audio Track Mixer

To bypass a track effect, toggle the Effects Bypass button near the bottom of the effects list.

Copy and move effects in the Audio Track Mixer

Using the Audio Track Mixer, you can move, copy, and re-order audio track effects. This is useful in scenarios where you want to rearrange effects in the track to change the gain staging and signal flow of the audio.

  1. (Optional) To display the Effects And Sends panel in the Audio Track Mixer, click the Show/Hide Effects And Sends triangle at the left of the Audio Track Mixer.

  2. Select an effect in the Audio Track Mixer. 

  3. To move or copy an individual effect within a track:

    • To move an effect: Select the effect and drag it to a new position within the track.
    • To copy an effect: Select the effect, press Ctrl (Win) or Cmd (macOS) and drag it to a new position within the track.
  4. To move or copy an individual effect between tracks:

    • To move an effect: Select the effect, press Ctrl (Win) or Cmd (macOS) and drag it to another track. 
    • To copy an effect: Select the effect and drag it to another track. A copy of the effect is created.
  5. To copy and paste an entire audio effects rack between tracks, right-click or Ctrl + Click the top of the rack and select Copy Track Effects. Then right-click or Ctrl + Click the top of another rack and select Paste Track Effects.

    The Audio Track Mixer section is open and Copy Track Effects command is highlighted.
    Copy and move effects for consistent audio processing across multiple tracks.

    Pasted audio effects racks include all of the effects and settings of the original track. You can further adjust individual settings in the pasted track effects racks without affecting the other tracks.

Adjust audio track effects in the timeline

You can adjust the fixed audio Track or Panner effects either by manipulating the track keyframes rubber-band, or by using the controls in the Audio Track Mixer.

  1. In a Timeline panel, expand the audio track by double clicking it.

  2. Click the Show Keyframes button , and choose Show Track Keyframes from the menu.

  3. Click the menu at the top left corner of the clip in the audio track (it appears with Track:Volume as the default selection); then choose the effect name and property from the menu. Pre-fader effects appear at the top of the menu; post-fader effects appear at the bottom. Any numbers in the effect names refer to their position in the track effects list, their rendering order.
  4. Use the Pen tool to adjust the level uniformly (if keyframes haven’t been added) or to add or edit keyframes.

Copy and paste track effects in the timeline

You can copy track effects from one section of a track and paste them into another. When pasted, the track effect keyframes land at the location of the current-time indicator. Targeting tracks do not affect the position of the pasted keyframes.

  1. In the Timeline, select one or more track keyframes. To select more than one keyframe, Shift-click on each keyframe.

  2. Select Edit > Copy or Ctrl + C.

  3. Place the current-time indicator at a new location on the audio track.

    Note:

    If the destination audio track is different from the original audio track, make sure the destination audio track is explanded. 

  4. Select Edit > Paste or Ctrl + V.

Note:

Each audio effect includes a bypass option that allows you to turn the effect on or off as specified by the keyframes that you set.

Designate a track effect as pre-fader or post-fader

An effect can be applied pre-fader or post-fader. The difference is whether the effect is applied before or after the application of the track’s fader. Effects are pre-fader by default.

  • Pre-fader delivers the signal out of the mixer before it passes through the channel fader.   Therefore, you can move the volume fader all you want but it's not going to affect the volume going to that auxiliary unit. 
  • Post-fader delivers the signal out of the mixer after it passes through the fader.  Therefore, when you move the volume fader, the aux send volume is equally manipulated. 

In the Effects and Sends panel of the Audio Track Mixer, right-click (Windows) or Control-click (macOS) on an effect and choose Pre-Fader or Post-Fader.

Channelize effects

Effects channelization allows you to create custom layouts of your effects. You can then choose to save your custom layout as a preset, and reuse it. Use this feature if you have multiple audio tracks and you want to apply effects only to a subset of channels.

  1. To modify effects layout, select an effect from the Effect Controls panel and click the Re-map button next to Channel Map. The Clip Fx Editor opens.

  2. Choose Request Layout. The Request Effect Layout window opens.

  3. The new Request Effects layout window allows you to choose the input type. Choose from Mono, Stereo, and 5.1 from the drop-down. 

    Request Effect Layout dialog is open with an option to select an input from the drop-down menu
    Create custom audio channel layouts to control effects applied to specific audio channels.

    Note:

    The output is always follows the input and cannot be changed.

  4. Choose Custom to open Custom Audio Channel Layout and assign or edit Channel Label.

    Custom Audio Channel Layout dialog is open, displaying various channels.
    Customize your audio channel layout by adding and deleting channels.

  5. Use the plus and minus icon shown below to add and remove channels.

    Custom Audio Channel Layout dialog is open, displaying various channels, and the options to add or remove channels are highlighted.
    Customize your audio channel layout for precise control over each audio track.

  6. After you make your changes, save your changes as a preset and reuse it. In the Save Preset dialog box, type in a name for your preset, and click OK.

  7. You can now modify the effect input and effect output for all individual channels.

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