When I spoke with Babcock recently ahead of KPop Demon Hunters\u2019 return to theaters for a limited run of sing-along showings<\/a>, he told me that part of what attracted him to the project was how unique its story about monster slayers moonlighting as pop stars was. He loved that the movie felt \u201clike a niche idea on top of a niche idea.\u201d But he knew that sound designing for an action-forward musical built around K-pop would be a technical challenge that required him to find creative ways to compliment the movie\u2019s already-complex soundtrack.<\/p>\n Image: Netflix<\/p>\n \u201cOf all the things that I\u2019ve worked on in my career, this is probably the most wonderfully difficult because every single aspect of the sound had to work with each other,\u201d Babcock said. \u201cThe music had to feed the sound design. The design had to feed the music and dialogue. It all had to be very, very cohesive.\u201d<\/p>\n When Babcock first came on to KPop Demon Hunters, much of the movie\u2019s animation was still a work in progress, but co-directors Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans were flush with storyboards and ideas about what kinds of sounds they wanted to shape the movie. Naturally, fully-produced K-pop songs would feature largely all throughout. But Kang and Appelhans also wanted KPop Demon Hunters\u2019 magical elements \u2014 like its demon characters and the Huntr\/x girls\u2019 weapons \u2014 to have distinct sounds of their own.<\/p>\n \u201dThe music had to feed the sound design. The design had to feed the music and dialogue.\u201d<\/p>\n The directing duo sent Babcock an eclectic collection of songs to get his creative juices flowing; some were K-pop tracks, but many were from artists like Billie Eilish and Imogen Heap. And that got Babcock to thinking about how K-pop music production techniques could inform his approach to designing the movie\u2019s soundscape.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was a mix of really interesting vocal performances, but also distinct kinds of processing on the songs \u2014 whether it was certain kinds of harmonies or the way they were treated with reverbs and delays,\u201d Babcock explained. \u201cEach song emphasized different approaches to music production that K-pop pulls from to some degree.\u201d<\/p>\n Image: Netflix<\/p>\n Layering and reverb became important parts of the \u201csonic vocabulary\u201d Babcock built for KPop Demon Hunters as he developed a sense of what this heightened world and its magic should sound like. Figuring out things like how demons\u2019 speaking voices should differ from humans was a relatively straightforward process. But action-heavy set pieces filled with music and background noise required Babcock to find clever ways of \u201csneaking sound design in without getting in the way of the songs.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201dEvery creative decision here was emotionally-driven.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI had to make sure I was working with music, but \u2014 and this goes back to the concept of having a sonic vocabulary \u2014 I also wanted the magical sounds to feel organic and music-based,\u201d Babcock said. \u201cFor the weapons, I actually bought a bunch of tuning forks and manipulated the sounds they made to create a sword-like resonance. Those weapon sounds also had to be in sync with the music, rhythmically, otherwise they wouldn\u2019t compliment each other.\u201d<\/p>\n During this weekend\u2019s sing-along shows, it might be a little hard to hear how much effort went into making all of KPop Demon Hunters\u2018 sonic detail harmonize. But Babcock hopes that, as fans (re)watch the movie, they are able to pick up small details like the way sounds of city traffic feed into certain songs, or the fact that the Saja Boys\u2019 forcefield of sexiness sounds exactly like a timpani accompanied by wind chimes.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat I would love for people to listen for is how much emotion is in every single frame of the movie,\u201d Babcock said. \u201cEvery creative decision here was emotionally-driven, and if you\u2019re hearing something that really speaks to you, understand that there was an agreement on the production side that \u2018wow, yeah \u2014 this is giving us exactly the feeling we wanted.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Follow topics and authors from this story to see more like this in your personalized homepage feed and to receive email updates.Charles Pulliam-MooreEntertainmentCloseEntertainment<\/p>\n Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.<\/p>\n FollowFollow<\/p>\n See All Entertainment<\/a><\/p>\n FilmCloseFilm<\/p>\n Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.<\/p>\n FollowFollow<\/p>\n See All Film<\/a><\/p>\n InterviewCloseInterview<\/p>\n Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.<\/p>\n FollowFollow<\/p>\n See All Interview<\/a><\/p>\n MusicCloseMusic<\/p>\n Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.<\/p>\n FollowFollow<\/p>\n See All Music<\/a><\/p>\n NetflixCloseNetflix<\/p>\n Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.<\/p>\n FollowFollow<\/p>\n See All Netflix<\/a><\/p>\n ReportCloseReport<\/p>\n Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.<\/p>\n FollowFollow<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/KPop_Demon_Hunters_u_00_07_59_00.jpg\"\/)
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/KPop_Demon_Hunters_u_01_04_59_06.jpg\"\/)
<\/a><\/p>\n