Directors Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhan found the best sound team leader in sound supervisor/re-recording mixer Michael Babcock at Sony Pictures Post. His extensive 'sound for animation' experience (The Bad Guys, Smallfoot, Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie, Turbo, and more) and his educational background in music – graduating from the University Miami School of Music — allowed him to work with the film's songs and score in creative and technical ways, making the most of the Dolby Atmos surround field while keeping the K-pop song aesthetic intact.
Here, Babcock talks about working with the K-pop songs' producer and mixer while creating sounds and final mixing the film to marry the music and design, designing the demon vocal processing to fit with Korean cultural norms, replicating the vibe of Korean game shows, building exciting battle scenes, making magic sounds, and much, much more!
Interview by Jennifer Walden, photos courtesy of Netflix; Michael Babcock

KPop Demon Hunters (produced by Sony Pictures Animation; streaming on Netflix) is packed with catchy K-pop songs that will get stuck in your head. Just ask MPSE Award-winning sound supervisor/sound designer/re-recording mixer Michael Babcock at Sony Pictures Studios, who confessed to waking up singing the songs — especially “Soda Pop.” As a musician, Babcock appreciates the highly polished K-pop sound, and as a re-recording mixer, he sought to preserve all that charm in the film’s Dolby Atmos mix. He worked side-by-side with the songs’ music mixer Curtis Douglas to understand the elaborate processing chains that give K-pop songs their sheen, using multiple instances of those same plugins (or similar) to replicate the sound while spreading the songs out into the theater. In the sound design, he worked with the songs’ harmonies and rhythmic sync to make the battle scenes feel exciting and epic, as if each moment were a K-pop music video.
Here, Babcock talks about finding the balance between catchy K-pop songs and dark, demonic elements, creating cute mythical animal sounds, designing demon vocal processing that works with the songs, creating the over-the-top vibe of a Korean game show, building crowds of chanting fans, mixing epic battles, and much, much, more!
KPop Demon Hunters | Official Trailer | Netflix
What were the directors’ (Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans) ideas for sound on KPop Demon Hunters? Did they have specific references (other animated films, musicals, etc.) for where they wanted to take the sound of this film?

Sound Supervisor/Re-recording Mixer Michael Babcock
Michael Babcock (MB): From the very beginning, Maggie and Chris wanted to build their own world and vocabulary. Sound had to be an integral part of the storytelling. Also, there’s a real cultural element to that world that is both Korean and K-pop itself. Maggie, who is Korean, explained the rules and hierarchy — everything from what sounds the demons couldn’t make to who does what in a K-pop group.
The first creative conversations we had early on were about the demon voice treatment, particularly for Rumi, since it’s such a story point. I mentioned that, in the spirit of needing a creative jumping-off point, I was thinking about treating every sound design or treatment decision through the lens of the kinds of polish and intricate production that go into a K-pop song. As luck would have it, they had already prepared a playlist of songs that had some element of vocal production that they thought was emotionally interesting. Not everything on the playlist was K-pop music. There was everything from Billie Eilish to the lush real-time harmonies of Imogene Heap, to some relatively obscure vocal artists who sang and then manipulated their performance in the computer with processed harmonies and rhythmic stuttering.
The songs/music are such a big part of this film’s DNA. When did you get to hear the tracks, and how did they impact your approach to the sound design, especially for scenes where the music features prominently?
MB: This project might have the most creative handshaking between all sonic food groups I’ve ever been a part of. Thankfully, the cross-pollination between the music department and the sound design started pretty early on. I was in the unique position to be both the lead sound designer and final dialogue/music mixer. They started sending me mixes of the songs pretty early on. From there, I used the excuse of trying to match some of their processing to learn a bunch of plugins that tend to be used more for music production than post sound, and then apply those treatments to simpler design elements like whooshes, and to hard effects.
I used the excuse of trying to match some of their processing to learn a bunch of plugins that tend to be used more for music production than post sound
Where it really hit an exciting creative level was when I started premixing the film’s songs into Dolby Atmos. I got to work closely with both song producer Ian Eisendrath and song mixer Curtis Douglas. Curtis is one of the foremost K-pop music mixers. Having the luxury of turning around and asking him things like “Hey, I love the treatment you did to the lead vocal here. What are you using?” And Curtis, because he works entirely within Pro Tools like me, could show me the actual plugins used along with their settings so I could use them — not just to have flexibility to build out the Atmos space, but to use them for treatments on dialogue and design.
The songs are so freaking catchy. And then there’s this demon aspect to it. But it never felt so dark that it didn’t fit, nor did it feel so light that it was just fluff. There’s a great balance between those two aspects…
MB: Thanks for noticing that! That was one of the biggest challenges, actually. There were a lot of very unique challenges on this creatively, but that’s a big one. It’s much easier to make something scary, deep, and dark than it is warm and cute, because there’s a point where it gets too cute and it becomes ironic.
the songs have an extra, deeper layer because they’re written in service of the story
Starting with the songs, there’s a real tone to this film that the filmmakers were talking about early on. They managed to hone in on legitimate K-pop songs and production. But the songs have an extra, deeper layer because they’re written in service of the story, too. Every song from this film is now a huge hit! That’s amazing; in retrospect, though, it’s not shocking. I thought they were not just super catchy, but special.
“Soda Pop” Official Lyric Video | KPop Demon Hunters | Sony Animation
My daughter loves this film. And she’s dying to know: “What deal with the devil did you sign to make ‘Soda Pop’ so catchy?!”
MB: I’ll say this: I did not sign a contract. No deals were made, but it IS ultra catchy! I can’t tell you how many mornings I wake up to that song in my head. Each one of these songs spent a certain amount of time in my head — literally, the first thing in my head as I’m waking up — but “Soda Pop” was there the longest.
Each one of these songs spent a certain amount of time in my head […] but “Soda Pop” was there the longest
What’s amazing is that the whole point of the Saja Boys singing that song is to lure in fans. “Soda Pop” is like the Saja Boy’s siren song. It’s the song that gets everyone to start following them, to get them hooked. So, it fulfills that story point while also being a legit, catchy K-pop song! It’s so well done and well produced.
For the (sing-along) theatrical release of the film, did you have to do a different mix?
MB: Nope! It was just our theatrical mix. They just added subtitled lyrics to the picture.
What went into the sound of demon voices for the Saja Boys?
MB: We came up with a demon treatment that could be used almost universally between characters. Gwima (big fire demon) has moments when he’s really angry; Ji-Noo has it when his demon takes over, as do the Saja Boys. There had to be a common feeling of treatment between each character — every single background demon even has that treatment on it.
There had to be a common feeling of treatment between each character — every single background demon even has that treatment on it
I had to pay attention to the guardrails as far as creating processing that will actually work with different characters and different performances, a treatment that we could tweak enough so it all sounds like it’s within that world. We experimented with harmonizing and harmony. That has some real musical pitfalls. It was about trying to find a way to harmonize without actually harmonizing. What we landed on was finding a relatively simple yet very effective processing.
Part of that process included Slate Digital’s MetaPitch. What’s great about MetaPitch is the real-time pitching. There’s a Pitch knob for changing the pitch and a Formant knob for controlling the character of the voice as it’s being pitched. So, for example, with Gwima, especially when you start getting into the lower pitches, you can use the Formant knob to help keep the character and actor’s performance in the voice. That was very important to the filmmakers, too. It still had to sound like this character and this performance, but we had to make it deeper and darker. So, combining that with subharmonic synthesis to add lower frequencies, it sounds deep and darker without sounding pitched.
It still had to sound like this character and this performance, but we had to make it deeper and darker
We would have to manipulate the processing depending on words, sentences, or how the original performance was hitting the plugin. MetaPitch doesn’t add many artifacts; you can go pretty extreme with it. It also has additional features like Widener, Drive, and Filter controls. It’s my favorite real-time pitching plugin these days.
There are even a couple of places where a few words in a song will have it
I also used a Valhalla plugin for a chorus/warble kind of effect. I would mess with how deep the warble was, depending on how the lines were performed, how much pitching was happening, and how aggressive it needed to be. For instance, with Gwima, it gets really aggressive in a couple of places just so the processing is heard through everything else. There are even a couple of places where a few words in a song will have it. You don’t want to take away from any part of the song and how it’s performed, so we were able to sneak some of the processes in on a couple of words that were a little angrier than others — with permission and approval from Ian.
And the processed demon vocals for Rumi, the first time she really lets that out?
MB: The starting point for this was the most aggressive version of our demon treatment. The “shockwave” that trails away is multiple layers of delays, tremolators, and reverbs. The treatments are either inspired by or are the actual treatments used on the vocals of the songs.
Were you given all the stems for those songs that had demon vocals?
MB: Yes. That was actually a real science project — and we had to do something that isn’t done too often. Curtis Douglas, who mixed the songs for the album, started splitting things out into stems but wasn’t satisfied with how well they matched their stereo masters. It didn’t have the same “punch.” So much is being done in the mastering chain for K-pop music to give it that amazing-sounding K-pop sheen. And Curtis is a genius with creating that highly polished K-pop sound. So, I came up with a way to reverse-engineer his mastering chain and automation for each song to fit into an Atmos setup, utilizing techniques to spread out elements around the room — put something into objects yet still have it hit a certain way. It was equally a right and left brain job, and I will admit, ultimately relied pretty heavily on our ear evaluation.
6 Sound Facts about KPop Demon Hunters:
Q: How were the chanting crowds in the arena created?
A: A small group of 18 actors was recorded chanting “Saja” and “Huntrix,” then sound designer Jeff Sawyer used Sound Particles to expand those voices into the sound of 80,000 people filling a stadium in Atmos — all carefully synced to the music for maximum impact.
Q: Why is “Soda Pop” so addictive?
A: It was designed as the Saja Boys’ “siren song” — a track written to lure in fans within the story. On top of that, it’s produced with the same polish and sheen as a genuine K-pop hit. Sound supervisor/re-recording mixer Michael Babcock explained that it was “so well done and well produced” that it stuck in his head for weeks, fulfilling its story purpose while also standing on its own as an irresistibly catchy song.
Q: How did Derpy the tiger get his soft, magical sound?
A: His footsteps are made from processed pillow hits — no claws — to keep him powerful but fluffy and friendly.
Q: What gave the demons their unique voices?
A: Real-time pitch-shifting with MetaPitch, subharmonic synthesis, and added effects made them deeper and darker while preserving each actor’s performance.
Q: What objects created the zany game-show vibe?
A: Scraping a balloon and an exercise ball captured the squeaky sound of the leather suits and slide moments, instead of using stock cartoon effects.
Q: How were the weapons designed to feel musical?
A: Michael Babcock recorded tuning forks at high fidelity, then pitched and synced them to the music so the weapons blended seamlessly into the rhythmic K-pop battles.
I came up with a way to reverse-engineer his mastering chain and automation for each song to fit into an Atmos setup
Going back to the vocal chains, I’d tell him things like, “I love this delay effect you have, and I’d love to add onto it to fill out the room even more. Can you show me what that is?” Because he would have the Pro Tools sessions on his laptop, he could show me that it’s this plugin and these are the settings he’s using. Then, I could build multiple instantiations of it or find another plugin that does something really close to it, and basically replicate what he’s doing in an Atmos sense, spreading it around us and filling up the room. That’s the highest level of having fun!
When someone is really good, they don’t mind showing you their process because it’s not a threat to them
The fact that he was that open to showing how some of the sausage was made was amazing. When someone is really good, they don’t mind showing you their process because it’s not a threat to them. I really enjoyed my time with him.
In the end, we got there. We thought we were pretty clever with a solution. It’s something that may not have been done on this scale before. (And I will admit there might be a good reason for that!)
What went into the sounds of the magic? And how did you use sound to support the idea of Rumi being half-demon?
MB: There’s a general warmth and cuteness to the movie. The sound of “magic,” to me anyway, isn’t the easiest thing to get right, particularly in a movie like this. Magic has to 1) sound powerful, but not be “scary,” and 2) play nice with the music.
I kept with the music-genesis theme and played with the sounds of vocal choruses, chimes, percussion, and percussive-type sounds like Velcro rips and bubble pops. You can hear that in the Saja Boy’s portal.
One of the biggest themes of KPop Demon Hunters is harmony, both in the music and within oneself. Rumi has been hiding the fact that she’s half-demon. Layered whispers representing negative self-talk play a part in conveying dissonance.
What went into the sound of the Hunmoon?
MB: A lot of the Hunmoon is manipulated atonal chimes, whispers, and wine glasses, along with electrical rips derived from Velcro and cloth ripping. When the Hunmoon went “Demon-y” and pink, there was another layer of manipulated whispers.
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What went into the sounds of the spirit animals — the tiger (a.k.a., Derpy) and the pigeon?
MB: Derpy the tiger had to be magical, powerful, and somehow cute and fluffy! In that vein, his footsteps are processed pillow hits! There are no claw sounds for Derpy because that would have a threatening vibe.
Vocally, I layered big cat sounds with my processed voice to get Derpy to emote.
Derpy the tiger had to be magical, powerful, and somehow cute and fluffy! In that vein, his footsteps are processed pillow hits
I wish I could say I did something complex for the pigeon, but it’s mainly just a cleverly edited sparrow recording. One of my other sound designers, Katie Halliday, was the voice of the bird for a while. There was something about the simplicity of it that made it cuter than Derpy. There was one exception. When you meet the bird for the first time, there’s a filtered dinosaur roar. So when it puts its head back and does a little roar, that’s actually a squeaky, pitched dinosaur roar.
What went into the weapons’ sounds?
MB: Maggie and Chris really wanted the weapons not to be too aggressive or “sword-like,” and to have a magical quality to them — keeping with the tone of the movie. But, they still needed to be powerful. They are badass demon hunters after all!
I went on Amazon and bought a bunch of tuning forks. They were recorded at high sample and bit rates
Keeping with the concept that everything has a genesis of something musical but organic, I went on Amazon and bought a bunch of tuning forks. They were recorded at high sample and bit rates on the Barbra Streisand Scoring Stage here at Sony, so the recordings would better handle being manipulated later on.
The next step was pitching those weapons to work with the music, along with keeping the movements in rhythm with the music. This allowed us to have the sound design add to the score or song and not get in the way. Sound designer Jeff Sawyer, also a musician, was the sword guy.
How did you handle the mix on the fight scenes? What was your approach to keeping the music energy up while letting the dialogue and effects poke through?
MB: This was where putting any sound effect or design elements in rhythm and pitch really let us get away with a whole lot of sound at once. The fight scene in the Bathhouse is a sequence I’m particularly proud of. We almost break the rule of too many food groups (dialogue, music, and effects) being a player in that scene. Tony Lamberti (effects mixer) and I went shot to shot, event to event in that scene and decided what exactly needed to be played at what frame for something to read. You absolutely have to keep the energy of the music driving, but we got super strategic in what effects got played in between words of dialogue and making strategic music moves that aren’t noticed in the furious fun of action.
I’m really sensitive to feeling music moves […] I tend to drive myself a little nuts trying to get it so you can’t hear that move
As a mixer, in general, I’m really sensitive to feeling music moves, like coming down for a line of dialogue. I tend to drive myself a little nuts trying to get it so you can’t hear that move. With any move I make, I’m trying to hide behind something. Luckily, there were a couple of places where I could get away with doing that because of the nature of how the score or song is composed against what the action is. It gave me a bit of license to hit the next phrase after a line, or make a move that adds to the fun to some degree.
But it was a creative science project because you have to hear these lines that are happening, yet you want to hear all this badassery going on in the sound story. You have to feel the music and hear it driving a bit more aggressively than in a live action fight scene. Having sounds pitched to the music, and having the rhythm and sync in check — making sure that a sound was on the beat or subdividing a beat — let us have a lot more in there, but it was a labor-intensive process to get it all in, having the right sound at the right time.
The arena fills with people, all chanting ‘Saja’. What went into creating the sound for the crowds in this scene?
MB: There are actually several places where rhythmic crowd chanting plays a role. We were able to record and layer our group actors chanting “Saja” or “Huntrix.” Then Jeff Sawyer also had the job of turning 18 people chanting into 80,000 people chanting in a stadium all around you in Atmos using Sound Particles, then tightening up the rhythmic sync to the score or song. Then I applied the same reverb and delay treatment I was using on the dialogue and/or music to put it even more in the space.
Jeff Sawyer also had the job of turning 18 people chanting into 80,000 people chanting in a stadium all around you in Atmos
We did a whole recording session with people who spoke Korean for the background acting and the demon horde.
There were actually some rules in terms of utterances, words they couldn’t say, which is part of the culture. That’s something Maggie described: they can make these sounds, but they can’t make these kinds of sounds because that wouldn’t be appropriate for this kind of film. There were even some parameters of what the demons could “say” or the guttural noises they could make. Everything had a very deliberate parameter. It was really cool to get into the weeds of that kind of stuff.
all those demons in the horde were loop group people that we processed using the same starting processing that all the main characters have when they turn into demons
So, all those demons in the horde were loop group people that we processed using the same starting processing that all the main characters have when they turn into demons.
So, when you have all these different, overlapping creative conversations for every single element, you’re building the world and building the vocabulary of the film. That’s what you look for in a project. That’s the stuff that I want to be doing. It doesn’t matter what genre of movie it is; the fact that you can build an entire world from the ground up is why we do this work.
What were some of your challenges in editing and mixing Rumi’s fight against the demon king Gwima?
MB: This is the climax of the film, and musically, it’s my favorite part of the entire movie, which is saying a lot. Everything had to be in complete harmony and sync, figuratively and literally! Luckily, by this time in the movie, we’ve established the vocabulary, so the biggest challenge was getting maximum emotional impact.
There’s a lot of movement around the room in the song elements and a lot of deliberate and aggressive panning decisions for the design
Mixing-wise, we went pretty dynamic here. There’s a lot of movement around the room in the song elements and a lot of deliberate and aggressive panning decisions for the design, and even dialogue between those elements. We had Gwima get gradually stronger and deeper throughout the movie. In this scene, he’s pretty much all around you!
You explored the K-pop music genre for this film (and your own enjoyment!), but what about other cultural references, like the zany TV game show in the film? Did you study similar shows for inspiration, to replicate that aesthetic?
MB: I did a little bit, but not intentionally. This is one of those cases where the Instagram algorithm was listening because I started getting these videos on my feed.
Korean and Japanese game shows have a very specific vibe. It’s bonkers. That’s what is so entertaining about them. The sets are super bright. The pace is super fast-moving. The graphics are going fast. The hosts are putting people in bonkers situations. This scene in the film captures the frenetic nature of these real shows.
They’re wearing their leather suits, so I came up with a sound using a combination of scraping a balloon and an exercise ball
This was an instance where I could have used those classic stock cartoon sounds — the Hanna-Barbera or Warner Bros. cartoon effects — and it would have fit right in. But I always want to find ways to organically give you that same feeling without actually using those sounds. So the sounds you hear in there were all created specifically for this movie. For example, when they go down the slide, it’s this comical moment. They’re wearing their leather suits, so I came up with a sound using a combination of scraping a balloon and an exercise ball.

Michael Babcock on the dub stage, mixing ‘KPop Demon Hunters’
You mixed this natively in Dolby Atmos? What were some scenes where this format was most useful? Or, how did you make the most of the Atmos surround field?
MB: Yes, we mixed in Theatrical Dolby Atmos on the Kim Novak Stage at Sony. I did a pass in all nearfield formats (including Home Atmos) when we completed the final theatrical mix.
Really, every scene utilized the Atmos sound field! We used it for the backgrounds, the Hunmoon going by you, even Gwima coming more and more into the room as he gets more and more dangerous, feeding on negativity and secrets.
Extended sound credits:
Supervising / Re-recording / Mixing
Michael Babcock (re-recording mixer / sound designer / supervising sound editor) • Tony Lamberti (re-recording mixer) • Kevin Froines (re-recording mix technician) • Justin Herman (mix stage engineer) • Mark Onks (mix stage engineer) • Avo Mardikian (mix stage engineer) • Chris Diebold (sound designer) • Trevor Gates (sound designer) • Katie Halliday (sound designer) • Jeff Sawyer (sound designer)
Dialogue & ADR
Branden Spencer (supervising dialogue editor) • Bill Higley (ADR mixer / original dialogue mixer) • Michael Kong (ADR mixer) • Howard London (ADR mixer) • Aaron Hasson (ADR mixer) • Esther K. Chae (ADR Voice Over) • Clarissa Park (ADR Voice Over)
Sound Effects
Goeun Lee Everett (sound effects editor) • Ian Herzon (sound effects editor) • Russell Topal (sound effects editor)
Foley
Tina Babakishvili (Foley coordinator) • Biko Gogaladze (Foley artist) • Beso Kacharava (Foley editor) • Alexander Sanikidze (Foley editor) • Levan Tserediani (Foley editor) • Giorgi Lekishvili (Foley mixer)
International Versions
Via Aceron (dubbing editor / recordist: Philippine version) • Kyle Cham (sound mixer: Philippine version) • Josiah Lateo (dubbing editor / recordist: Philippine version) • Mat Tabulinan (recordist: Philippine version) • Rodrigo Donato (dubbing editor / sound mixer: Spanish Latin American version) • Oliver Berg (sound recordist: Danish version) • Simon Dyrberg (sound mixer: Danish version) • Kåre Kabel Mai (production manager: Danish version) Irene Guiser (voice: Latin American version)
Whether it be the stadium performances complete with chanting crowds, or the Saja Boys performing “Soda Pop” in the center of a city, or the song montages, you’re enveloped in it
The songs themselves are quite immersive. Whether it be the stadium performances complete with chanting crowds, or the Saja Boys performing “Soda Pop” in the center of a city, or the song montages, you’re enveloped in it. I had layers and layers of vocals that are often spread around and over you, along with certain synthscapes that keep the tight production of the song intact, yet really start to hit emotionally.
Any helpful indie sound libraries on KPop…?
MB: I’m proud to say most everything you hear is original to the movie.
What have you learned while working on the sound of KPop Demon Hunters?
MB: That any time I get the opportunity to marry my music life with my film life, TAKE IT. I learned so many things in the spirit of problem-solving with tools I don’t normally use. It’s not often you get to world-build this granularly. Animation in general is a great bastion of original storytelling. This one is original and niche, and that makes it just so special.
A big thanks to Michael Babcock for giving us a behind-the-scenes look at the sound of KPop Demon Hunters and to Jennifer Walden for the interview!
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