How to Make Voice and Music Sound Good in Adobe Premiere Pro CC (2018)

Combining voice and music is one of the most common things you do when editing video. The problem is that both elements often compete for the same space in the audio spectrum. The frequencies overlap, and the result is a muddy mix where the voice gets buried in the music and becomes hard to understand.

The fix is a mixing technique called EQ carving. You use an equalizer to cut a small notch in the music right where the voice lives, giving the dialogue its own space to sit clearly on top. Today we go over how to do this in Adobe Premiere Pro CC using the Parametric Equalizer.

How to Mix Voice and Music in Premiere Pro

Setting Up a Loop

1. Import your voice and music into the same sequence. Place them so they overlap on the timeline.
2. Set In and Out points around the section you want to work on. Press I where the overlap starts and O where it ends.
3. Toggle on the Loop icon in the timeline controls. This lets you play the section repeatedly while you fine tune the EQ.

Carving Space in the Music

4. Go to the Effects panel and search for Parametric Equalizer (under Audio Effects). Drag it onto the music track.
5. In Effect Controls, find the Parametric Equalizer and click the Edit button to open the full EQ interface.
6. You will see a frequency graph with several control points. The human voice lives in two main frequency ranges:
   • 400 to 1000 Hz for the core/body of the voice
   • 2000 to 5000 Hz for the presence and clarity
7. Grab one of the EQ points and set it to around 400 Hz. Pull it down to about -15 to -25 dB. Now slowly sweep the frequency up toward 1000 Hz while listening. Find the spot where the voice suddenly pops out from the music. That is the sweet spot for the core of the voice.
8. Take another EQ point and do the same thing in the 2000 to 5000 Hz range. Sweep through and find where the sharp edges of the voice become clearest. Pull this frequency down as well, but usually less aggressively (around -10 to -15 dB).
9. Adjust the width (also called Q) of each cut. A narrower cut removes less of the music overall, which sounds more natural. A wider cut creates more space but can make the music sound thin.

Boosting the Voice (Bonus)

10. For even more clarity, apply the Parametric Equalizer to the voice track as well.
11. Do the opposite of what you did to the music. Find those same two frequency ranges and boost them slightly (around +3 to +6 dB). This pushes the voice forward in exactly the frequencies where the music was pulled back.

Tips

• Subtlety is important. You want the voice to sit naturally on top of the music, not sound like the music has a hole cut out of it. Small adjustments go a long way.
• Use the loop. Keep the audio looping while you adjust. Your ears adapt quickly, so frequent A/B comparisons (toggling the EQ on and off) help you stay objective.
• Lower the music volume too. EQ carving helps with clarity, but sometimes you also just need to turn the music down a few dB during dialogue. The two techniques work well together.
• For more audio work, check out how to add echo and reverb or how to change voice pitch in Premiere Pro.

Just like that, you can make your voice and music coexist cleanly. It is a subtle technique, but it makes a big difference in how professional your audio sounds.