What are audio submixes in Premiere Pro’s audio mixer?

Audio submixes in Premiere Pro’s Audio Mixer are powerful tools that allow you to group and control multiple audio tracks together. They act like individual "buses" or channels, enabling you to apply effects, adjust levels, and automate changes to a collection of tracks simultaneously, streamlining your audio mixing workflow.

Understanding Audio Submixes in Premiere Pro

When you’re working on a video project with numerous audio elements – dialogue, music, sound effects, ambient noise – managing each track individually can become overwhelming. This is where audio submixes come into play. They offer a more organized and efficient way to handle complex audio arrangements within Adobe Premiere Pro.

What Exactly is an Audio Submix?

An audio submix in Premiere Pro is essentially a virtual audio track that receives audio from other tracks. Instead of sending all your audio directly to the master output, you can route specific groups of tracks (like all dialogue tracks or all music tracks) to a submix track. This submix track then processes the combined audio before sending it to the master.

Think of it like a team leader. Instead of giving individual instructions to every team member, you give instructions to the team leader, who then relays and manages them for their specific group. This simplifies communication and ensures consistency within that group.

Why Use Audio Submixes? The Benefits Explained

The advantages of using submixes are numerous, especially for projects with intricate audio requirements. They significantly enhance your audio mixing efficiency and offer greater creative control.

• Group Processing: Apply effects like EQ, compression, or reverb to an entire group of tracks at once. This ensures a consistent sound for all elements within that group. For instance, you can add a subtle reverb to all your dialogue tracks to give them a cohesive sense of space.
• Level Control: Adjust the overall volume of a group of tracks with a single fader. This is incredibly useful for balancing different elements, like reducing the volume of all sound effects when dialogue is present.
• Automation: Automate changes to the entire submix. You can fade in or out all music tracks together, or dynamically adjust the level of all sound effects throughout the scene.
• Organization: Declutter your timeline and Audio Mixer panel. Instead of dozens of individual tracks, you might have a few submixes representing dialogue, music, and SFX. This makes it easier to navigate and manage your audio.
• Stem Creation: Submixes are crucial for creating audio stems for delivery. You can easily export separate mixes for dialogue, music, and sound effects, which is often required by post-production houses or broadcast networks.

Setting Up and Using Audio Submixes in Premiere Pro

Getting started with audio submixes is straightforward. Premiere Pro makes it easy to create and route tracks to them.

Creating a New Submix Track

To create a submix, you’ll typically add a new "Submix" track to your Audio Mixer.

1. Open the Audio Mixer panel (Window > Audio Mixer).
2. Click the Options menu (three horizontal lines) in the top-left corner of the Audio Mixer panel.
3. Select Add Submix Track.
4. Choose the desired number of submix tracks you want to add. Premiere Pro will then create these new tracks in your mixer.

Routing Tracks to Your Submix

Once your submix tracks are created, you need to tell your source tracks to send their audio to them.

1. In the Audio Mixer panel, locate the track you want to route (e.g., a dialogue track).
2. Look for the Output dropdown menu for that track.
3. Select your newly created submix track from the dropdown list.
4. Repeat this for all tracks you want to be controlled by that specific submix. For example, route all your dialogue tracks to "Submix 1," all your music tracks to "Submix 2," and all your sound effects to "Submix 3."

Applying Effects and Adjusting Levels

Now that your tracks are routed, you can treat the submix track like any other audio track.

• Effects: Click the Effects button on the submix track to add and configure audio effects. These effects will be applied to all audio routed to that submix.
• Levels: Use the fader on the submix track to control the overall volume of the grouped tracks. This is where you’ll do your primary mixing for that group.
• Panning: Adjust the stereo position of the entire group of tracks using the pan control on the submix.

Practical Examples of Audio Submix Usage

Let’s look at a few scenarios where submixes can be a lifesaver for your audio editing.

Scenario 1: Balancing Dialogue and Music

Imagine a scene where a character is speaking over background music. You want the dialogue to be clear but the music to still be present.

• Route all your dialogue tracks to "Dialogue Submix."
• Route all your music tracks to "Music Submix."
• In the Audio Mixer, adjust the fader for "Music Submix" so it sits comfortably behind the dialogue.
• You can even add a compressor to the "Dialogue Submix" to ensure consistent vocal levels.

Scenario 2: Managing Sound Effects

A documentary might have many different sound effects – ambient room tone, specific Foley sounds, and transitions.

• Route all these SFX tracks to an "SFX Submix."
• This allows you to easily duck the overall volume of all sound effects when a narrator is speaking, using the "SFX Submix" fader.
• You could also apply a shared EQ to the "SFX Submix" to give all sound effects a consistent tonal character.

Scenario 3: Preparing for Delivery

If you need to deliver separate audio stems (e.g., for broadcast), submixes are essential.

• Create submixes for Dialogue, Music, and SFX.
• Ensure all relevant tracks are routed correctly.
• When exporting, you can choose to export each submix as a separate audio file, giving you the required stems.

Comparing Submixes to Other Audio Tools

It’s helpful to understand how submixes differ from other audio features in Premiere Pro.

| Control | Single fader controls volume for all routed tracks | Individual faders for each track | Single