Apple Final Cut Pro 5 - Manual (Page 806)

Chapter 1 Overview of Audio Mixing 19
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Setting Appropriate Volume Levels for Audio Clips in Sequences
You can adjust the volume level of all the clips in a sequence relative to each other so
that the audio blends together effectively. For example, if you’re editing a narrator
speaking over music in the background, you don’t want the music to overwhelm the
sound of the narrator’s voice. To achieve a balanced mix, you can bring up the level of
the narration and reduce the level of the music.
Making Premixes (Stem Mixes)
Depending on the scale of your project, you may need to premix categories of sound
together to make the final mix more manageable. This may be necessary if you have
multiple Foley effects, sound effects, music, and dialogue tracks. A premixed category
of sound is also referred to as a stem mix, or simply a stem. For example, you may have a
dialogue stem, a music stem, a Foley stem, and so on. Working with stems also allows
different sound departments to work independently on different categories of sound at
the same time. A complete Foley mix may be created in one facility while sound design
and effects are created somewhere else.
Making the Final Mix
During the final mix, you choose exactly how to balance dialogue, effects, and music
for optimal clarity and impact. You can make a final mix with your original tracks or, if
you created stem mixes, you can use these for mixing. If you simply combine all the
stems together without adjusting levels, the combined level may be too high, dialogue
may be inaudible, and sound effects or music that worked in the individual stem mixes
may feel wrong in the context of the other audio.
To make the final mix, it’s critical that you use audio monitors you can trust. Once the
final mix sounds good and the levels are consistent, you can then output to tape or
digital audio files.
When you mix, keep the following goals in mind:
 Keep levels consistent throughout your sequence, especially from shot to shot within
a continuous scene.
 Avoid low signal levels, which can result in unintelligible and noisy audio.
 Avoid distortion caused by overly high levels.
 Make sure all dialogue is clearly audible, well above background noise and music.
 Remove background noise that interferes with dialogue. This includes low-frequency
rumble caused by wind or vehicle noise.